My fish are not eating properly

[Kirk Brooks]

Hey guys, I'm quite new here but have been reading and learning a lot on these forums. I have a second hand tank approx 5x1x1 with a lot of fish in it. I have had it for a few weeks now. Roughly I have:

15 demasoni (3 about 3 inches the rest half that size)

3 electric yellows (1just died)

4 Bala sharks (only about 2 inches I will move them if they get too big)

1 venustus (3inches)

1 blueberry zebra

2 sailfin plecos (2-3 inches that will also be moved once they're too big)

1 male melanochromis Auratus

Most of these fish came with the tank, the problem I have is they don't seem to be eating much of this new food I got them. 'Aquamunch African Attack' sinking pellets (3mm long 1mm wide) They will put the food in their mouth, chew it and spit it out. The smaller fish don't seem to fit it in their mouth at all. It's like the food is too hard for them to eat. So last week I had been giving them extra and it just sits on the bottom and ruins my water quality and now my tanks going green which I'm trying to fix now. I fasted them for a day and as soon as any pellets hit the ground now i stop feeding, but they definitely arent eating enough now. My fish don't seem to go for the floating pellets either. I was wondering is their anything I can do to get them to adjust to this food? Do I need smaller pellets? Try different brands until I get one they like? I'm lost for ideas and worried about losing more fish.

Any help and advise is very much appreciated!

[kasman]

Iv had pellets that have been toO hard aswell the fish didnt like them. I cant coment on aquamunch as iv never used it. But i can almost garantee ur fish will eat nls, hikari or new erA availabel from our sponser aoa and techden. Id try something else.

Hows ur water quality btw? Amonia nitrate etc?

[evilpierre]

Garlic lots of garlic you should put Garlic in your fish food always .... and try another food maybe, they are used to being fed flake food or something else Tech Den is selling a good garlic product at the moment too.

[Kirk Brooks]

Thanks very much, i might try some other brands and see how they go. Water quality is low, i think this is from the overfeeding. Lesson learned for me there.

Ammonia 0.25ppm

Nitrite 1ppm

Nitrate 40ppm

I am about to do a 30% water change to try recover this then test the levels again on the weekend to see if they settle down.

With garlic, can you just add it to current food? If so how much? I didn't realise fish liked garlic.

[The Tech Den]

Garlic is a bit of old trick and used in a lot of home made foods and have been a favorite to help fish get onto foods. A bit of problem when you know you have a good food but they will not take to it and you can get garlic and rub it into the food but this is one we are now stocking and you could soak your food in it - I have not tried it but would think you would be able to use a spray mist bottle and spray the food.

If you want to try other foods there is the tried and True Hikari, Sera, New Era and New Era is a little different with a soft plyable finish as some fish just do not like the textures and not being baked is good for nutritional holding and disperses easily in the gut.

Its good to try a few different brands or types and keeps their diet varied so if it is not a big issue feed a few different types or brands.

Garlic Sup

[Donny@ageofaquariums]

Thanks very much, i might try some other brands and see how they go. Water quality is low, i think this is from the overfeeding. Lesson learned for me there.

Ammonia 0.25ppm

Nitrite 1ppm

Nitrate 40ppm

I am about to do a 30% water change to try recover this then test the levels again on the weekend to see if they settle down.

With garlic, can you just add it to current food? If so how much? I didn't realise fish liked garlic.

Well theres your problem.

Ammonia and Nitrite will firstly kill a fishes appetite.

Nitrite of 1ppm is a double whammy as it will slow down a fishes metabolism, meaning they digest for longer AND take longer to get hungry.

I wouldnt be feeding if I had nitrite of 1ppm

As far as foods go, I love the newlife spectrum cichlid 1mm.

At first it seems too small for big fish, but they adapt quickly.

But yea srsly

I would be doing a 50% water change, and feeding lightly every second day until that nitrite is below 0.5ppm.

Your fish would rather be hungry.......... than having a stroke on the bottom from nitrite poisoning.

Good save though doing the test.

Its always good when you can pick up on symptoms like lack of hunger......... and then test to discover the problem.

kudos

[Gringox]

My fish go nuts when I give them Aquamunch Colour Advance. Even my toga loves it and he wont eat any other pellets.

[Kirk Brooks]

Well I might try somehow add some garlic to my current food so it doesn't get wasted, and buy some more to give variety anyway. I ended up changing out 40% and will fast the fish tomorrow and test the water Saturday to see how much it has improved. Thanks for all the advise, great forums here