Red Spotted Green Lago Tefe Not Eating

[RedestWing]

Hello,

About 3 1/2 weeks ago I got a Red Spotted Green Lago Tefe. Well, to make long story short, he/she has not had a single bite to eat since I got him/her. When I feed all the others I got, he/she will get all excited and just sorta hang with them while they eat. All water conditions are fine, temp is at 84 and fish has no signs of illness. To be honest, this fish is the most active in my tank. I know for a fact that He/She is not getting food from any other source cause I always watch while my Discus feed just to see how they are doing. When I first got this fish, it was having bowel movements and everything looked OK. Any advice would be very helpful

[jesse]

Hello RedestWing,

How old are they ?
Where did they come from ? (straight form the amazone or from importer)
what food did you try to give them ?

I had the similar problem with 2 RSG.
It took me a long time to understand that they only eat brime shrimps or blood worms in a special way: I have to throw the frozen cubes of food straight to the aquarium.

I tried several time to make them eat something else like colorbits.
I tried to starve them a few days, nothing..

Maybe someone in the community would give us a trick..

regards,

Jess

[Jeff in NC]

Hi Steve,I would check with the person you got the fish from and see what they were feeding.I raise the temp a little for new fish to make them a little more comfy .Has worked for me on ones that would not eat.Jeff

[Tad]

Steve,
couple of questions:
Is the new RSG the only new wild in your tank?
Is the RSG the only wild in the tank?
What are you feeding at this time?

From my experience Wilds tend to be foragers and not as aggressive at feedings as my domestics. For example If I feed live foods like CBWs to my domestics, their helping will be gone in a few minutes, but in my wilds only tank the same helping might sit on the bottom for an hour or more before they are gone. My wilds like to take their time eating and are not that competitive as the domestics.

As for foods, again from my experience my wilds like live foods the best and do take time to become accustomed to bits, flake and other prepared foods. If your wild is having problems eating you might try some live foods like Worms or brineshrimp to see what happens.

I also agree the wilds like a bit higher temp from 86-88 degrees F.

JMO,
Tad

[dalelad]

Hello,

About 3 1/2 weeks ago I got a Red Spotted Green Lago Tefe. Well, to make long story short, he/she has not had a single bite to eat since I got him/her. When I feed all the others I got, he/she will get all excited and just sorta hang with them while they eat. All water conditions are fine, temp is at 84 and fish has no signs of illness. To be honest, this fish is the most active in my tank. I know for a fact that He/She is not getting food from any other source cause I always watch while my Discus feed just to see how they are doing. When I first got this fish, it was having bowel movements and everything looked OK. Any advice would be very helpful

try dosing tetramisole or levamisole into your water to treat this fish of worms. just drop me a pm for the dosage if u intend to try this out. cheers..

[RedestWing]

Sorry it has taken so long to reply. Well, here it is now a month and a half and still he is not eating. I keep tank at 87, i have 5 other discus in tank. 2 other Wilds and 3 Domestic and 2 german Blue Rams in a 75 gallon tank. I feed Tetra Color Bits, Flakes , Brine Shrimp, Black Worms, Blood Worms and Beef Heart Mix. I have noticed that he is really watching the others eat very close. I swear he seems to want to eat but just fights it. Last night i seen him peck at a blood worm and then he was done. As for the other Wilds I have, they are like Oscars when it comes time to eat so I am a bit confused.

I have heard from many of people that they have had Wilds go as long as 2 - 3 months and then would begin to eat Heavily. I really do not want to medicate due to the fact he is VERY healthy lookin and is one of the most active Discus I have.

[DeaneSA]

I have recently (6 weeks) recieved four red spotted greens as a direct import from South America. For the first three weeks the only thing they would consider eating was very actively moving food eg. live mosquito larvae, baby guppies and live blood worm. I was pulling my hair out until I realised it was the movement they were after. The other thing that made a difference, but I am not sure why, was doing water changes with peat filtered water. Has your fish been de-wormed and had external parasites removed?

Deane