Loss of appetite

[colinlp]

Hi all, I have a bit of a problem, at the moment nothing major but I would like to keep it that way if possible


1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
We have 2 pigeon bloods and 4 red Turqs, over the last couple of weeks I have noticed that the PBs have been hiding a bit more than usual and generally not eating. That is not to say they don't eat anything but it is slowly getting worse, one more so than the other. They look fine physically and what poo I've seen looks OK. It seemed to start after a visit by our young grandchildren who ran around like loonies.

There is no problem at all with the Turqs






2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/ white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds)

Eating next to nothing and being reclusive (very out of the normal)






3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.

None



Tank/Water

4
. Tank size and age, number and size of fish

65 Gallon 7 months old and 6 discus 4" - 4 1/2"



5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?


Water changed 25% daily with half aged water half treated tap water. Tank running for 7 months, planted with gravel bottom



6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _____29C

- ph _____6.8

- ammonia reading ____0

- nitrite reading ____0

- nitrate reading ____<10

- well water ____

- municipal water ____yes


7. Any new fish/plants added recently

Nothing added since Discus were introduced in January

Cheers guys, we would be very grateful for any advice, I'm sure it's nothing much but I would rather catch it early if it is

[Eddie]

I think maybe the commotion was probably a bit of stress and the fish may just need to feel safe again. Give them a little more time to feel comfortable.

What foods are feeding?

Eddie

[colinlp]

They have been eating Beefheart, Tetra Prima and White worms. Hopefully you're right, I noticed last night that the smaller one's stomach had shrunk quite alarmingly and it had lost some body colour but fins look normal in every way though

[colinlp]

Had a deterioration with the smaller of the two, it has lost most of it's colour now and is hiding full time behind the plants in the corner. It is showing an aversion to food getting as far away from it as possible or at least that's what it looks like along with weight loss. Still no obvious signs of actual illness as such but there is something wrong. Any ideas how I can begin to help?

[nc0gnet0]

How is his breathing? Is he breathing from oth gills or just one? Does he have any clamped fins? Loss of apetite can be caused by any numer of things, being bullied, scared, parasites, bacterial infection, poor water quality, etc etc. You going to need to spend some time observing him to see if you can spot anything else.

[colinlp]

Breathing is fine and the fins look fine, it hard to get a good look at him but when I do there is nothing to see apart from behavioural problems. Water quality is good and the tank is spotless so I don't think that's the issue. There has over the last couple of weeks a change in the hierarchy within the tank and meal time has become a bit of a challenge for some as the dominant fish sit guard over the lumps of beefheart.

If it is a case of bullying should I be looking at rearranging the tank or removing the fish for a while? I'm getting a new tank next weekend, much much bigger would that help the situation? It will still be a few weeks before that is ready to take the discus though

[Eddie]

Might want to QT that pigeon for better observation/treatment.


Eddie

[colinlp]

I sat on the floor last night for a couple of hours watching him, he does mix with the others more than I thought but does tend to hide still. When food goes in the tank he tends to back off straight away but then he will eat any bits that drift by him or occasionally swim mid tank eating bits and pieces floating nearby, so that's much better than I feared. Also his poo is still brown so that looks good, I'm starting to be convinced that its a confidence problem.

That particular fish was sick for quite a while after we got the batch of fish, spending about a month on his own it QT but didn't like it much on his own. I'm loathed to put him back as he is still in better shape than when we took the chance and put him in the main tank. I took out a big rock yesterday and trimmed the swords back heavily to open the tank right out so hopefully that might make a bit of a change for the fish too. I think I'm going to hold fire a little longer and see what happens, do you think this is the right thing to do?

[Eddie]

Sounds good Colin, keep us updated. It may very well be a confidence issue as not all fish are created equal. Might have to give him a few shots of liquid courage (tequila). lol just kidding, dont do it. :o

All the best,

Eddie

[colinlp]

LOL yes that would do it, with salt and lemon!!

Something I forgot to mention yesterday was I increased the temperature to 30C / 86F, only a tiny amount but it may make a difference.

Thanks again for your help, it looks now as if I was worrying over nothing really. If I run into more problems I'll post back but I'll let you get off and rescue people/fish with real issues for now.

Cheers

[Eddie]

LOL yes that would do it, with salt and lemon!!

Something I forgot to mention yesterday was I increased the temperature to 30C / 86F, only a tiny amount but it may make a difference.

Thanks again for your help, it looks now as if I was worrying over nothing really. If I run into more problems I'll post back but I'll let you get off and rescue people/fish with real issues for now.

Cheers

Cool man, maybe the slight bump in temp is all the fish needed to gain its appetite back. Its always good to hear about fish coming around on their own, without meds/chems.

Take care and all the best!

Eddie

[colinlp]

Not been a lot of progress but progress has been made. the little one is eating quite well but only from the sidelines. However I noticed this evening that his eyes look a little cloudy. Is this a sign of something? What should be my course of action here? Absolutely nothing done at all yet

[dark_spell]

my pigeon has been doing this since I added new additions to my tank. he used to be the 2nd bully of the group but I think his rank fell that's why he's been hiding and not eating.

[colinlp]

Any ideas on the cloudy eye, I've read it might be due to poor water quality but mine seems to be good an it gets a 25% change every day without fail.

Interesting on the second bully, that would certainly explain the behaviour of the other Pigeon. 2 or 3 weeks now and I hope to move them into their new tank, I'm hoping that will sort this problem out.