Getting new Cichlids to eat

[kfennell]

I have a 500G tank that had just a few small cichlids in it and had been up for 2 months and was already cycled. I got 9 new VERY large (7-12in) african cichlids from a local who was moving. They have been in the tank for 5 days, but so far half of them arent eating and the other half are only lightly eating. Everyone else is eating a lot.

What I have tried:
Turning down the current in the tank a fair bit, since his tank only had maybe 2x turnover, mines turned all the way down to around 4x.
Turning the heat up. My tank was at 76 and his ~79, mines at 77.5 now.
Different foods, 2 flakes, 3 pellets, and blood worms. Including what they ate before
Checked that there is no ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or chlorine in the tank.
Changed water change from 75 GPD to very little. (auto change)

All of the fish are fully colored up, except the biggest the Rostratus Cichlid, who I see having good colors at time, but not when the lights are on or when I am near the tank.

Ideas?

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Well that’s a relief. I was thinking you meant getting to cichlids to eat Meaning eating the cichlids. I’m like ?. duanes could maybe help

 

[Deadeye]

Any idea what the previous owner were eating.
I know my mbuna don’t eat as much as their size lets on. They aren’t as voracious eaters as Americans imo.
They are also temperamental and may be a while or so before they really feel like eating.

 

[kfennell]

Yeah Omega One 2mm cichlid, I have tried it and it got more to eat, but still some not eating.

 

[Deadeye]

What I’ve done for mine is go without feeding for a bit to get them hungry and feed in small amounts at a time. Mine don’t touch anything that hits the ground so they eat a bit and I just pour in slowly. Sometimes they are really hungry, sometimes not.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I have a 500G tank that had just a few small cichlids in it and had been up for 2 months and was already cycled. I got 9 new VERY large (7-12in) african cichlids from a local who was moving. They have been in the tank for 5 days, but so far half of them arent eating and the other half are only lightly eating. Everyone else is eating a lot.

What I have tried:
Turning down the current in the tank a fair bit, since his tank only had maybe 2x turnover, mines turned all the way down to around 4x.
Turning the heat up. My tank was at 76 and his ~79, mines at 77.5 now.
Different foods, 2 flakes, 3 pellets, and blood worms. Including what they ate before
Checked that there is no ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or chlorine in the tank.
Changed water change from 75 GPD to very little. (auto change)

All of the fish are fully colored up, except the biggest the Rostratus Cichlid, who I see having good colors at time, but not when the lights are on or when I am near the tank.

Ideas?

I wouldn’t worry about the ones eating lightly. Are the ones that aren’t eating tasting the food and spitting it out? Sometimes that can be a sign of Malawi bloat, I would try kensfish African cichlid flake with metronidazole. It has garlic added to make it more palatable and since I’ve started using that a couple years ago, I haven’t had any instances of bloat.

 

[kfennell]

One I have seen taste food once, the other two no interest. I don't think it's very likely they have MB as they were eating very well before, but it could have been triggered by stress I guess

 

[Joshuakahan]

One I have seen taste food once, the other two no interest. I don't think it's very likely they have MB as they were eating very well before, but it could have been triggered by stress I guess

There’s no way to tell for sure, at least not yet anyway. Maybe try feeding them again after a day or too. If they’re not eating then or spitting food out, I might suspect MB, also maybe try adding some garlic to entice them

 

[The Morning]

I am actually surprised that there was not a spike in ammonia in that tank. Those are very big fish and from the sounds of it there may not have been enough beneficial bacteria to handle the new inhabitants. African cichlids are voracious eaters. I have added fish to tanks and had them eating within an hour even after being shipped via mail. I also find it suspect that your nitrates are zero?
That being said I have gone 10 days without feeding my fish while on vacation and have never had a problem with the health. I would wait it out for a few more days before starting any medication.

 

[kfennell]

Me too, I am only using an API master test kit for ammonia testing, but it certainly is not "green" if there is ammonia its less then 0.5, but the color has never changed. Remember I have been changing 20% of the water per day so the nitrate buildup would be slow, ill go check it again