I've been fairly quiet for a while, so I figured I would give an update and ask for some help today. All is well in the panda tank. Parameters are as follows:
Tds 52
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
PH 5.2
Temp 87
Due to my work schedule and the relatively light bio load, I've stretched their water changes to 60% weekly. I've continued using muriatic acid to adjust ph because the tank has been very stable, and it takes 5 seconds to dose it. Additionally, every time I do a water change I put a small pile of substrate on one of the rocks they are constantly hovering over and it's usually cleaned off the next morning. Fun!
Now the help. I still can't get them on a steady diet. The just won't eat what I want them to. The only thing they really go after is worms, and they go after worms like they are starving. They refuse pellets completely, and they mostly ignore everything else usually only giving other food items a small nibble. After that, they pretend it isn't there. I've tried splirulina flakes, romaine, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli and peas. Nothing. This is something I HAVE to get sorted soon. I'll be going away for a few months soon and
Paige
is going to be left to care for them. While she is more than capable, my goal has been to streamline all of our tanks maintenance and downsize where possible to make her already busy schedule a bit easier. I'm also concerned about the long term health of the fish. Eating so little for so long can't be good for them. I would really appreciate ANY advice.