HELP!...my 12 years old alligator gars have suddenly stopped eating!!!

badar7

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Jul 9, 2011
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lahore,Pakistan
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my 12-14 year old alligator gars(size almost 3 feet each...about 32 n 34 inches) have stopped eating without any reason..i have kept them from about 7 years n never countered this problem....they are not eating from last sunday...its been 7 days...they used to eat like vampires....slashing water all over me every time....its a pair...n no tank mates apart from a black pleco..........they r living in these SAME conditions from more than a year (same tank mates,same fresh town water,same 500g tank..) noooooo changes were made ..
on last sunday i just fed them simple fish....(a normal eadible fish from the market, rahu)....i made pieces of it n fed it to my alligator gars.....i have a doubt ,is this possible that since it was not a WHOLE fish..its bones got stuck in them..?....i used to feed them with chicken n beef as well, apart from live fish.....but nevr a sliced fish...
last water change was a week ago...(ie 15 days ago from now)

after this incident i have changed water twice.....1/2..then 1/3...on this wed n friday....
no funky stupid gadgets...i always used simple town water...tank is 500g...
 

badar7

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Jul 9, 2011
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lahore,Pakistan
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and they are sitting at the bottom of the tank....they used to sit like this only at night..for few hours.....but now they have significantly increased sitting like this....50% of the time they are sitting.....they look slugish...not ative like before....
thier body is totally clean
 

Oddball

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Might want to check the town water for any changes to their purification practices. We've seen fish go off their feed when California switched from chlorine to chloramine. There were continued problems until a water treatment became available to break the chlorine/bromine bond.
 

Oddball

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This may sound a bit far-fetched but, I've have fish sulk (although, I've had others that went nuts) if there has been any seismic activity in the area (I used to live in SoCal). Pakistan experienced an earthquake earlier this year. Has there been any recent activity?
 

pagojoe

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Jul 4, 2009
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Hmm, is water temperature the same? Changes in water temperature will sometimes stop them from eating, particularly a drop in water temperature. Change in lighting in the room or tank? They can actually go for a long time without eating, although I would think it is unusual if they have been eating on a normal schedule and suddenly stopped, along with becoming inactive. That sounds like the air conditioning in your tank room has been lowered a few degrees, since a colder temperature will slow both their movement and their feeding, and may make them stay sitting on the bottom?
 

Pole

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Sep 8, 2013
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Or maybe those market fish could have carried some kind of parasite or some kind of chemical. I would agree with the town water post by oddball.
 

Pole

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GL with those beauties man, hope things go well BTW u could ask the fishermen if they use cyanide, however be careful how u approach them. Plus it could be a change in hardness and pH in the town water.
 

badar7

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Jul 9, 2011
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thanks everyone :)

the temprature was almost the same....no significant change in water or temprature...34 degree celcius...it goes to like 36/37 plus in peak summers..
the lights were the same...assss alllll conditions wereee...
mmmm....n i cant say anything about the fish carrying anything....

as far as earthquakes are concerned ...i dont think taht would b a problem....few years ago fell houses fell to ground...they were doin fine...
a smaaalllll one came about 15 days ago...but a very small one...i hardly felt it...confirmed it from news channel...

there mightttt b a drop in the water temprature.....but it would b veryyy small
 
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