New Pair not Eating

[Robo]

Have bought a pair of Pigeon Bloods, and have had them firstly in a hospital tank for two weeks,to cure fluke, they have recovered and look great, moved them into our display tank and they are settling well, this is the 8th week with us and the female may have eaten half a teaspoon of food and the male even less.... they turn ther nose up at anything i try to feed them....i need discus chocolate...and yes ther are a few neons in the tank.

Thanks in advance
Rob

[stonedavid]

Hey Rob,
Just keep the food up to them they will eventually decide to eat. They look healthy enough, but if you notice any changes in colouration or weight loss then you may have something more sinister. You will always get one or two discus that are fussy eaters ie: only eat when you leave the room etc. If you have tetras in the tank this will help as no discus likes another fish taking their food. Give them time they should come around.
Hope this helps.
Pete

[Robo]

Thanks Pete
i guess we'll have to wait some more.
they seem happy enough, they come up to see what all the comotion is about at feeding time, and let food just drift by their lips????

[Phlipper]

Maybe it's to early to be too concerned just yet, they dont look sick and seem to have good condition, try and tempt them with some live food if concerned.

[Robo]

Thanks for the reply Phil,
I've tried Live shrimp, live worms... can't seem to tempt them.
They were an inpulse buy, not regreting the purchase, but confused because we've never had fish of this size or age before and we just assumed they were mature and full of wisdom... and know they have to eat to live...

Guess not.

[samir]

let them settle down in one place and they will eventually start eating. they will probably have a snack while you're away so you could leave some tetra bits in the tank. nothing to worry about atm, i'd stay away from the live food never know what they carry. if you have other discus that are eating keeping them with the pair may give them more confidence and coax them to eat.

[goldenpigeon]

try and get some live brine shrimp, they dont carry aprasites that can affect freshwater fish (but shouldnt be infested anyway). the discus love them too.

cheers

[mistakes r crucial]

What are the crystals on the bottom of the tank?
MAC

[Robo]

They are the casings of the crushed praziquantel tablets we used to clear up the flukes. the picture i posted was the day after we got them.

Rob

[elvip]

Hi Robo,
I recently got 2 large breeding pairs - leopard spots and anaconda.
It took them a week and a half before they would even accept food - and at this point in time they are only eating frozen blood worms (I am cautious about feeding live blood worms), and will not accept dry food yet.
Most discus I have bought before usually accept food by the following day.I think that this lot just needed to settle in first :roll:

I wouldn't worry - your discus will eat when they are hungry. As long as they are happy, healthy and not losing weight, then they should be fine - it is hard not to worry though :wink:
Cheers
Elvip

[Phlipper]

How about putting a little food into one of those cheap feeding cones available, that way they can pick at the food in it when ever they feel like it. Maybe they are more inclined to eat when the lights are off if they are feeling a little shy, and waht they dont eat from a feeding cone can simply be removed the following day before it fouls the water.......might work :idea:

[Robo]

Just an update......

They are still looking great, they must be eating something, i still can't see what.

So far so good. :?:

[Merrilyn]

The picture you posted shows normal dark droppings on the bottom of the tank (along with the bloodworms and prazi crystals).

If your fish are still passing normal droppings like in the pic, then you have nothing to worry about.

They are obviously eating more than you think. If they weren't eating, there would be no evidence of droppings.

Adult fish do tend to take longer than juveniles to settle into a new environment, so I think if you just give your fish a little more time, they will be fine.

Keep us posted.

[Robo]

Thanks for your comments.

I'v potsed some current pics of them in the display tank.