# My Semi Agressive Fish Isn't Eating



## SMOOOZZZ (Sep 24, 2012)

We have semi agressive fish in our tank had them for 2 weeks now. We purchased the largest fish last weekend he plays with the other fish in fact he keeps them in line. He looks active but when we feed the flakes he hides under the bridge and the other fish are agressive and eat fast. I have put flakes and the pelets that drop to the bottom but he's not interested in eating. Is there a type of food he only eats? What can I do, I'm concerned!

Here's a picture of my fish


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

that looks like a cichlid. we need a little more information though. What size is your tank? What are all of the other tankmates? what are your water parameters?(Ammo, Nitrite, and nitrate) What is your Water change schedule?


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## SMOOOZZZ (Sep 24, 2012)

it's a 30 gallon tank.we have a variety of other fish.we had to cycle the tank for 6 weeks and now the fish are good.all of them eat except the large ornage one.


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## zwanged (Nov 4, 2012)

if I'm not mistaken that KIND of looks like a gold severum...but those nose looks a little too pointed. But yeah definitely some type of cichlid. 

I think most cichlids are generally omnivorous. That said they should accept cichlid pellets. His mouth is pretty small...is the food you're giving it bigger than his mouth? Have you tried food like 1mm spectrum cichlid pellets? my 2" severum (similar looking to your fish) likes those. If all else fails try frozen bloodworms. Do you have live plants in the tank, and do you see the cichlid eating them? I see my severum eating my hornwort plant and he is pretty small still.

You can buy them at the store, cut up a small part of one of the cubes (like 1/4" of a cube) and put into a small bowl of tank water, then add them in to your tank after a few minutes. My severum and other cichlids *loves* bloodworms. They shouldn't be the main diet though, as they are fatty, but can be used as occasional treat or food just to get them eating again. 

I think the fish will get more aggressive when he gets bigger. You really need to get that fish identified.

You should post pictures of all the fish in your tank for people to ID so we can see if you're overstocked. But my guess is you either are or will be overstocked when the fish get bigger.

Let me know if this helps.

-Zeke


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

What are your actual water levels? we need to know exactly what fish and exactly how many of each you have. you could be overstocked, if you have a particularly aggressive fish, or overcrowded, it could make your cichlid stressed out and it will hide and not eat.


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## SMOOOZZZ (Sep 24, 2012)

thanks for all the great info there is a total of 6 fish including the cichlid.yes he is hiding when the others are eating and is having trouble picking up the food.i have some small tablets that i have broken in half.i will add another pic of the rest of the fish.


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

actually, you look like you have primarily cichlids. I can tell from that pic you have (what looks like) a honey gourami, a jack dempsy, and a demasoni. so you have quite a few aggressive fish in there already. Severums are very docile fish compared to what you have in there already.
If it just can't fit the food into it's mouth and you have pellets, you can break the pellets up, or you can soak the pellets in water before feeding, it makes them squishy and alot easier to eat.


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## zwanged (Nov 4, 2012)

Your tank is pretty much a cichlid tank.

The blue and black striped one near the bottom I'm pretty sure is a demasoni cichlid. 

Demason's Cichlid - Pseudotropheus demasoni

The two fish with dark color and blue spangles are another type of cichlid. I initially thought EBJD (electric blue jack dempsey) but now that I look at more pictures and other posts here I think it's regular Jack Dempseys. Those can get quite large by the way and 30 gallons is not going to cut it for all these fish....when they get bigger you probably need a 75 gallon tank. 

The yellow fish looks like a gold gourami. Peaceful fish.

Golden Gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus)

-Zeke


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## SMOOOZZZ (Sep 24, 2012)

Ok so it makes sense he's a bit stressed out and we don't have the correct type of food. Do you suggest a smaller Cichlid to accompany him and would that lower his stress level?

It's so frustrating the fish stores don't give you good advise only suggest what type of fish you should buy and nothing else.


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## zwanged (Nov 4, 2012)

It's tricky. 30 gallons is not a lot of territory and you have a lot territorial fish that produce a lot of waste. 

My new tank is 75 gallon and i have only 3 fish: red-spotted severum, blue acara, and firemouth, and I will be about 80% stocked if they get to full size.

As a rough guide, try putting your tank parameters (tank size), filter type, into aqadvisor.com

put in your fish species, and it will tell you how much you are overstocking your tank. Note that you can click 'juvenile mode' to put in smaller fish sizes (in inches). 

It also will tell you if there are any serious issues with your setup (it's not perfect, but a good rough guide).

As an example, try this link:

AqAdvisor - 30 gal tank


As you can see your current tank setup has some serious stocking and compatibility issues. You picked a lot of beautiful fish but it's definitely not optimal for a 30 gallon tank. You could do the gourami and a school of smaller tetras or maybe even a few dwarf rams but not much beyond that. Jack dempseys and that other cichlid (severum?? not sure) are going to get too big for your tank.

Going forward I'd strongly recommend researching the fish online as much as you can before you get them at the fish store. Most fish store sales people just want to make the sale. I've learned this hard way as well...i lost my community tank last year due to poor maintenance/bad compatibility issues.

-Zeke


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## SMOOOZZZ (Sep 24, 2012)

Thank you all for your advise, I stopped over the fish store and purchased the 1mm spectrum cichlid pelites. The person at the store said it is very common for this type of fish to hide and they search for food when it's dark, and that since we only had him for 1 week give him time to adapt he will be fine. Do you agree? Not sure if I should believe them...I'll keep you guys posted if things don't change. My last resort is to take him back, I don't want him to die however the good thing he doesn't look sluggish and he's active around the tank. :fish-in-bowl:


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