I haven't seen any of my fish eat for about 5 months and they are still alive and doing fine.

[oPleco]

This is not an emergency whatsoever.

I have not seen my fish eat any of my fish food flakes since September. I kept feeding them for a month, but would incorporate large breaks between feeding sessions, and I would give them very little food just in case they were eating the food off the sub-straight. They wouldn't even acknowledge the presence of the food during this time period. Probably around mid October, I stopped putting food in the tank entirely, and they have been doing fine. I noticed that they stopped eating food when the temperature outside dropped, but I do not suspect this...

I do have a planted tank, but since I do not have the money to drop 50+ dollars on plants that I could find outside, I decided to plant my tank with plants I find. I found various mosses and different plants in rivers and ponds. Unfortunately, with these plants came some unwanted guests: snails. These little buggers reproduce so quickly that I have to manually remove them. Anyways, what this explosion in the snail population did tell me was that there probably were a lot of plant matter or algae to eat. I do suspect my fish are eating this algae as well, but I am unsure of it. I have a golden molly and 2 cherry tetras in a 20 gallon tank (minus all the snails).

I can attach a picture of my tank if any of yall are interested. It is dreadfully cold here in Tennessee, and I do not have a heater, so my fish aren't moving much, however the water temperature is very much bearable, and the room I keep my fish in is around 75 degrees fahrenheit.

As mentioned, I have a snail problem. I do not know if this is affecting the fish at all, but I do suspect a rise in ammonium levels from all the snail poop (correct me if im wrong please). I was considering buying a pea puffer or 2 in order to eat all the snails, but I do not know if this is the right course of action.

Every day I learn new things about fish keeping, and today is no different. This is in no means an emergency, just some guy wondering whats going on behind the scenes.

Have a great day!

 

[Andy Sager]

This is not an emergency whatsoever.

I have not seen my fish eat any of my fish food flakes since September. I kept feeding them for a month, but would incorporate large breaks between feeding sessions, and I would give them very little food just in case they were eating the food off the sub-straight. They wouldn't even acknowledge the presence of the food during this time period. Probably around mid October, I stopped putting food in the tank entirely, and they have been doing fine. I noticed that they stopped eating food when the temperature outside dropped, but I do not suspect this...

I do have a planted tank, but since I do not have the money to drop 50+ dollars on plants that I could find outside, I decided to plant my tank with plants I find. I found various mosses and different plants in rivers and ponds. Unfortunately, with these plants came some unwanted guests: snails. These little buggers reproduce so quickly that I have to manually remove them. Anyways, what this explosion in the snail population did tell me was that there probably were a lot of plant matter or algae to eat. I do suspect my fish are eating this algae as well, but I am unsure of it. I have a golden molly and 2 cherry tetras in a 20 gallon tank (minus all the snails).

I can attach a picture of my tank if any of yall are interested. It is dreadfully cold here in Tennessee, and I do not have a heater, so my fish aren't moving much, however the water temperature is very much bearable, and the room I keep my fish in is around 75 degrees fahrenheit.

As mentioned, I have a snail problem. I do not know if this is affecting the fish at all, but I do suspect a rise in ammonium levels from all the snail poop (correct me if im wrong please). I was considering buying a pea puffer or 2 in order to eat all the snails, but I do not know if this is the right course of action.

Every day I learn new things about fish keeping, and today is no different. This is in no means an emergency, just some guy wondering whats going on behind the scenes.

Have a great day!

There's practically no chance they would be alive if they weren't feeding on something in the tank. If they actually haven't eaten anything, they would be skin and bones by now. If you want to, post a few close up pics of your fish and that will tell the tale. Take shots face forward and from the sides.

 

[oPleco]

I recently performed a slight water change, which is why the water is cloudy (I think). The images are attached. The fish look healthy to me.

 

[V227]

There are so many edible micro organisms that exist in an established aquarium environment that could potentially sustain a small fish.

A large Cichlid probably wouldn't fare very well.

 

[oPleco]

What would you consider an established aquarium?

 

[V227]

I consider an established "aged" aquarium to have, not only the filter media saturated with benificial bacteria, but also the substrate to be infused with abundant aerobic & anaerobic bacterias.

Detritus, mulm & algae should also be present. This provides food for the microbes.

It might take as much as six months, probably longer, to reach what I would consider established or aged.

 

[Andy Sager]

I recently performed a slight water change, which is why the water is cloudy (I think). The images are attached. The fish look healthy to me.

Well, based on the Molly, this should show you that what little you have been feeding is all the fish needed you to feed. I would have liked to see a face forward shot of the Serpae because he does look a little skinny from the side but the real test is behind the head where the "meat" is. When fish don't have enough to eat, they absorb their own flesh as fuel ( no differently than people do. ) As you can see in this picture, the back silver dollar is losing weight and you can see that behind the head and at the rib cage where the red arrows are pointing to while the front silver dollar has a nice full body all over. Mollies are omnivores where they can survive for some time on just vegetation like algae and plants. Serpae Tetras however need more meat protein to maintain body weight. The coloring on yours in the picture is dull which can be why the fish looks skinny even if it isn't but that would also be a sign that it's not being fed the right foods to keep their nice red coloring like these have:

 

[joshuakenneth]

This is not an emergency whatsoever.

I have not seen my fish eat any of my fish food flakes since September. I kept feeding them for a month, but would incorporate large breaks between feeding sessions, and I would give them very little food just in case they were eating the food off the sub-straight. They wouldn't even acknowledge the presence of the food during this time period. Probably around mid October, I stopped putting food in the tank entirely, and they have been doing fine. I noticed that they stopped eating food when the temperature outside dropped, but I do not suspect this...

I do have a planted tank, but since I do not have the money to drop 50+ dollars on plants that I could find outside, I decided to plant my tank with plants I find. I found various mosses and different plants in rivers and ponds. Unfortunately, with these plants came some unwanted guests: snails. These little buggers reproduce so quickly that I have to manually remove them. Anyways, what this explosion in the snail population did tell me was that there probably were a lot of plant matter or algae to eat. I do suspect my fish are eating this algae as well, but I am unsure of it. I have a golden molly and 2 cherry tetras in a 20 gallon tank (minus all the snails).

I can attach a picture of my tank if any of yall are interested. It is dreadfully cold here in Tennessee, and I do not have a heater, so my fish aren't moving much, however the water temperature is very much bearable, and the room I keep my fish in is around 75 degrees fahrenheit.

As mentioned, I have a snail problem. I do not know if this is affecting the fish at all, but I do suspect a rise in ammonium levels from all the snail poop (correct me if im wrong please). I was considering buying a pea puffer or 2 in order to eat all the snails, but I do not know if this is the right course of action.

Every day I learn new things about fish keeping, and today is no different. This is in no means an emergency, just some guy wondering whats going on behind the scenes.

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Your fish are likely getting enough nutrition from algae, biofilm, and other natural matter in the tank, which is why they’ve ignored flakes. The snail population can increase waste and ammonia, but as long as your water parameters are stable, your fish are fine. Pea puffers can help control snails but require specific care and can be aggressive, so manual removal or careful management is usually safer. Overall, your fish seem healthy and are just adapting to the natural food sources in your tank.