15 replies to this topic

[Donna]

Hi Everyone,

I am a bit worried about Big Sev. Every day Big Sev was eating two or three Bloodworm blocks and some flakes. This has gone on since I adopted her last year when her original owner went on holiday.

She recently ate two new gold rams I bought (stupid me). She has been eating normally after that.

For about a month now, she has not been eating properly. Water conditions are really great, I have had no disasters now for some time. All other fish have not changed behaviour at all.

She looks at the food, but will not "go" for it as before. She will "go" for the algae pellets for my bristlenose, but just spits it out.

I have three very active silver dollars that are recent additions. Everything else is as before. Just dwarf cichlids and bristlenose.

I have no idea how old she is.

Any ideas.

Thanks,

Donna

[Poncho]

Hi Donna,

I've had fish turn off food I had been feeding them for months before too. I had a pair of Chalinochromis popelini who were raised on pellets and flakes up until adulthood and actually spawned a few times before just refusing point blank to eat the food anymore. It was at the time when Mal's Blackworms started handing out samples at club meetings and so I tried some of these and the popelini went nuts for them. I got myself some more blackworms, incorporated it into their diet along with the pellets and flakes and didn't have any more problems.

There may be underlying health problems, I'm not sure, but maybe try mixing the food up a little bit for Big Sev. Daphnia and brine shrimp usually get fussy fish excited about food.

[Donna]

Thanks Poncho,

Will do!

Regards,

Donna

[Donna]

Just an update. I posted that the fish was not eating in April, and as far as I know, the fish has not eaten anything substantial since then. I have been offering bloodworm and flake and pellets.

Big Sev used to eat four blocks of bloodworm in a sitting before.

How long can a large fish like this go without food? It appears healthy enough, is not losing weight or condition to speak of (although because changes are slow they may go unnoticed).

There is no fry in the tank as I have taken out the bristlenose, and all that is left is three silver dollars and two gourami, unlikely they are breeding and Big Sev is finishing them off before I can notice.

Any suggestions?

Regards,

Donna

[smellsfishy]

try something moving? feeder fish, mpanga(many people will donate these:P) guppies.
let us know how it goes.

[lawdog]

Donna, I would suggest that if she hs not eaten anything substantial since april and appears not to have diminished that he is fining food from somewhere within the tanks environment or as I have seen mine do eating everything they can once the lights go out. I would avoid feeders like the plague, as it is one thing to oppurtunistically grab a nearby fry and something again to try to force this diet choice. Whilst they are omnivores they do not have the mouth for lare scale predation. Have you tried blanched green peas or lettuce, or julian sprung green algae sheets. Also if you are sure it is female it may just be that she is ready to spawn and has not mate.

[Donna]

Hi lawdog,

I have never tried feeders, and after taking advice on this forum, would probably never try it.

She takes the algae pellets but just spits it straight out.

She ate two gold rams that I bought, saw one actually half hanging out of her mouth, which is fair enough, I never had a large fish before, so just didn't think about it.
It was after that she stopped eating.

I also thought about her being the only Severum in the tank, it must be tough not having any other "peeps"

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate them.

Regards,

Donna

[sydad]

Hi Donna,

What I am about to say will probably NOT be helpful with regard to your severum, but may possibly assist in preventing a recurrence of the problem.

Together with a number of other ANGFA members (mainly from the eastern states), I have experienced problems when feeding heavily with blood worms: both fresh (live) and frozen.
These are not worms at all, but the larvae of midges, or chironomids to use their species name. These live on the bottom of ponds and as a major portion of their diet, eat decaying vegetable matter. To enable them to do this they have substantial mandibles composed primarily of chitin, the same material with which their bodies are coated (and which comprises the exoskeleton of most insects)
These chitinous mandibles are largely indigestible, and when blood worms are fed heavily (as it seems you were doing), the mandibular organs can form an impacting mass in the gut of fishes, with often disastrous results.

I have autopsied numerous fishes with this problem, but to date I have not personally experienced the problem with cichlids, though a couple of friends report that they have with dwarf cichlids.(Most of my losses were with rainbow fish).
I consider that the problem could well arise, even in a fish as large as an adult severum, if enough worms were fed at a time.

I know this is speculative, but the symptoms you describe are those of a fish with an inability to swallow food. Sorry to appear a wet blanket, but there is little that can be done if the outlined problem is the case.I do however remember, many years ago, watching some (long gone) friends dropping magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt) crystals into aquaria. These were readily taken by fish, and my friends swore that the purgative effect had saved fishes experiencing evident eating problems. Could be worth trying.

Syd.

[Donna]

Hi Syd,

Thanks, that is valuable information. I have actually used the magnesium sulphate myself on one of my dwarfs in the past, and I still have the pack. I will give it a try. Might try the pea trick as well.

I will cut down on the bloodworm, I love it because the fish enjoy it so much, but I will try to mix and match it a lot more. Can you suggest a suitable food? I mainly stick to South Americans, can't see that changing, although I have a couple of adopted Gourami. Is there anything that will suit them all? Can you recommend a safe level of bloodworm? Or should I stop using it altogether?

Thanks again,

Regards,

Donna

[sydad]

Hi Donna,

I do not suggest completely eliminating blood worms from the diet as I consider them one of the best foods available: they just need to be fed in moderation, with small feedings at any one time. I certainly would not give more than one block of the frozen product at any one sitting, and I would ensure that they were thawed and dispersed so that the fish could not swallow large quantities at once. This should eliminate the described problem.

As for what you should feed your severum, I would suggest that your mix and match suggestion is a good one. Practically anything that the fish will eat should be OK. I am not aware of any other food causing the gut impaction problem with fishes such as severums, but I would always feed meaty foods (such as beef heart) cautiously.

Syd.

[Donna]

Hi Syd,

Thanks for the reply. I have never fed my fish on feeders or beefheart.

Just bloodworm, flakes, algae wafers, brine shrimp (they don't like the brine shrimp when offered with bloodworm), pellets and I offer cuttings to graze on after pruning my planted tank and that is about it.

I have had a dwarf go down with what looked like a similar thing quite a while ago now. I tried some green peas (boiled, peeled and broken up) last night. Big Sev had a go at them but seemed unable to swallow, but was quite happy putting them in her mouth. I tried the magnesium sulphate, and she had a go at that too. I was not able to observe if she injested any of it though.

Thanks again for the help,

Regards,

Donna

[Donna]

Just a quick update on Big Sev.

I still have not observed her eating. My first post was in April, so that is a fair while now. She is still taking food, but it seems to be spat straight out. I am all out of ideas.

Anyone have anymore?

Regards,

Donna

[werdna]

Has it got a sunken stomach? Or looks healthy?

[Donna]

Hi Werdna,

She looks healthy. Still chases, changes colour depending on her activity (she gets dark vertical bars at feeding time, and other variations depending on mood) she looks pretty much the same, eyes are clear.

I have three silver dollars who go on like they have never been fed so there is no left over food in the tank. Tank is mainly algae free except for a really odd spattering on a piece of wood. Tank is all gravel and river rock, I just put a few plant trimmings in when I trim for them to graze on.

Everything seems normal, except she goes for the food but then just spits it out. Syd has given me a really good explanation and I am sure he is right. I guess what I am really asking, is how long can she go on like this if she is not eating? She was in really good condition prior to stopping eating. Should I put her down? Or is there a chance she is eating? I don't know what to do, I don't want her to suffer. Severums are such gentle, beautiful fish.

Thanks,

Donna

[werdna]

I wouldnt worry about it.
It must be eating something, else after 2 months it would be dead.
If it is still coloured up, looks fine and acts normal, I would say there is nothing wrong!
Why put down a fish that isnt obviously suffering?

My Frontosa male always spits out a little of the food when I feed him, it looks like he isnt eating, but If you look careful he spits out very little compared to what goes in.

You say she was in good condition before she stopped eating, but has her condition worsened at all? If not, dont worry about it.

[Donna]

Hi everyone,

COLD CASE

Just thought I would do an update on this story. Big Sev is still going strong. She has resumed eating with gusto and is happy. The three silver dollars are also fine. I have no idea what she lived off all those months, but I never saw her eat, yet now, I watch her eat every night. The only thing I can think of, is there may have been left over food on the filter that she was eating after dark.

Anyway, case closed.

Regards,


Donna