# fish not eating?



## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

hey guys i have a new 20 gallon, with two live plants, amazon sword and a lily that is growing from a walmart bulb, and some plastic plants (going to switch them whith live when i can) and i got some fish from this guy, 2 glo fish and a neon (there were more but they died, looked kinda bad when i got them tho) and the nitrogen cycle is finishing up, no ammonia, almost no nitrites, and when i feed the fish, they barely eat, i tried to not feed them twice a day to see if they would get hungry and eat and it kinda worked but they arent eating more than a bit of a flake, i wonder what could be wrong?
ill post some pics in a bit
so cycled tank, fish that were used to each other, no predators, water is fine, ph is 6.8, temp is 76f
idk.....


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

Well, you could try feeding them every other day... I dunno, though. As long as they're eating SOMETHING, you don't have to worry *too* much. If they completely stop eating, though, you definitely have a problem. Neon and glo-light tetras are pretty small, after all.


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

CalvinKE said:


> i tried to not feed them twice a day to see if they would get hungry and eat and it kinda worked but they arent eating more than a bit of a flake, i wonder what could be wrong?


how many times are you feeding them a day? i heard to feed them every day, but only once, and only enough food so that every fish gets a few bites. some people on this forum said that i could skip every other day when feeding (which i was doing), but my LFS says that this method was starving my fish, so i went back to feeding once every day. i usually feed my fish just enough food for about 30 seconds. my LFS says to feed enough for 4-5- minutes and net out the rest, but i did this at first, and the fish never seemed to care much about the food when i fed them. i like the once a day, 30 sec - 1 minute feed time, cause the fish actually seem hungry when i feed them and strike the food (just as they do in nature). depending how many times a day, and how much you were feeding them, you may have been over feeding them. hope this helps you.


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

i was feeding in morning and night and i would stop the filter so it would all go down because there werent eating those and i would tap the food on the top so like 1 or 2 would fall at a time, now the neon is eating, the orange glo fish is going up to the food and swimming away, and the yellow one died during the night, im going to use the gravel cleaner today and see if that helps
and i bought plants online, should arrive wednesday or thursday

thanks for the help


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

the water is a little cloudy now too, idk if that helps


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

sounds like your overfeeding. i would start feeding once a day. then vacuum the gravel to get all the old food out that you can. lastly, if your filter cartridge is 1 month old or older, replace it with a new filter cartridge. if the filter cartridge contains carbon, it will start to release the bad chemicals back into your tank that it has removed after about 30 days of use. 

oh, 1 more thing. i don't know if it would cloud the water, but test your nitrates to make sure they're not too high. it's not good if they get high either.


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

well you could try diff foods i have some fish that are picky, try beef heart, brine shrimp, blood worms, diff types of flakes, i give mine 3 diff types of food a day and feed them three times a day, and they eat everytime like they are starving, and will still beg me for more food when i walk past the tank, i know they aint starving cause they are plump looking.

So i would try changing up their diets, i have even started giving them fresh produce, cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, and even the peas once in awhile to clear the intestine track.

It all depends on your budget too, its a little more costly, but not alot, i put id say about $20-$30 a month on food wich aint much but to some too much, its all what you are willing to spend.


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

Yea ive cleaned the tank and feeding less
I think i wasnt sure on how much to give them since i only had too but im going to buy more tests or maybe just get the water checked at a lfs but the problem is the closest one around me is 30 mins haha oh well but im planning to get 5 corys and 6 guppies, also, i know amazon swords dont repair their leaves, so if they start getting yellowish, should i just cut it to where there isnt anymore yellow, or the whole leave up to the stem, or take all of it off? 
I now have 2 filters btw, tetra ex20 from old 10 gal that im not using, and the penguin biowheel

And what makes food get some whiteish lookin stuff on it?


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

And im switching the food for them too, i have tetramin, tetra color, hikari betta pellets that they like, adf pellets bc they seem to like them too
What kinda of household foods could i feed them and how should i prepare? I googled but all i found was about zucchini for plecs or for bigger fish


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

CalvinKE said:


> And what makes food get some whiteish lookin stuff on it?


if you mean whitish stuff that forms on the food after it's been in your tank a while, that's mold from the food decomposing. i try to avoid this (can't be totally avoided), because as far as i know, there aren't any benefits to having the food decompose in the tank. you could also try a gravel vacuum every time you do a water change ( once a week? ),although some may think this is a little extreme (but i guess it depends on your food situation).

great move with the 2nd filter. that will certainly be a good thing.

as far as different foods go, i forget, but there is a good thread or 2 about it in the general freshwater or beginner freshwater sub-forums (forget which one). there are AT LEAST a few different things you can feed your fish, and variety is the best. i still only feed flakes, and need to pursue the different food avenue myself. 

i came so close to getting glowfish for my 10 gal fishies. they're pretty cool. it sounds like you have a good idea of whats going on with the tank, and that's a good thing. please keep us in touch with how things are going.


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

Molded food only been there for a few days, but i could be wrong, for water changes ive been basically just vaccumming out about 25% and refilling, i know i dont need to do that much for just 2 fish but i am until it gets stable and i will probably still keep vaccumming lol
I kinda know whats going on because i used to have fish like 2 years ago and now got them again but ive read alot and researched the fish i have/wanna get/ and are cool


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

before and after, not cloudy now, will get another pic, plants should get here tmrw or thurs


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

The pictures didn't show up. It may be my computer but not sure.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

get them some Plecocaine...


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## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

I've been meaning to ask, as I've seen your auctions on Aquabid, what exactly is Plecocaine? I mean, I know it's food for plecos obviously, but will other fish eat it?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

Plecocaine is good food for all species of fish,not just plecos.
i have a rule about my foods....if i don't feed it and believe in it ; i won't sell it.
and read my feedback on aquabid...i tell folks all the time..don't take my word for it..see what my customers have to say.
excellent food for rapid growth and good health and color for young fish and an excellent food for priming females for spawning...all of my fish love it...from the livebearers to angels , tetras , cories and discus..


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

I'm supprised no one else brought this up yet. But, I think they may not be eating due to stress. Your tanks not even fully cycled yet. If you're still showing Nitrites then your not finished. When you show no Nitrites, thats when its cycled. Even a lil bit of Nitrites can put alot of stress on your fish.

What are your levels now?


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

i checked yesterday and the nitrates are finally at 0


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