Hydrolycus Armatus stopped eating!!!!!

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Anderman

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jun 8, 2007
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I have had this guy since Aug 2009. He is about 18" and he used to eat smelts,shrimp,scallops and the occasional feeder. This past week he has stopped eating. Before he would eat 6+ smelts and would always be first to the glass to eat. Now he just sits in the corner and once in a while cruises around the tank. He lost a tooth a couple of weeks ago but it came back same as it always does. The only difference in the last month was I had to raise the heat and put some salt in the tank as a precautionary as I accidentally introduced some feeder fish with ich. I since lowered the temp back down and kept doing my couple water changes weekly but other then the temp change and salt nothing else has been changed.
The tank is a 450 gallon with 8 rays,2 black arowanas,mbu puffer,3 lenticulata pike and a tigrinus cat. I do weekly and sometimes twice a week water changes. Tank has been set up for a couple years now and has sand a little bit of gravel for substrate. The sump is a 145 gallons loaded with media.

I am going to pickup some prazipro as thats about all I can use in the tank with the rays. I am thinking he may have picked up something from always eating frozen food and maybe even picked up something from a feeder fish that I drop in once in a while to keep the fish on there toes!

Does anybody have any ideas out there?

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Every time my scomberoides didn't eat it was because of something with his teeth. Either re-growing or sticking in his on flesh or whatever.

Make sure to give it a thorough dental check first ;)
 
Never owned a Armatus that big, but my big tiger goes on a hunger streaks when hes replacing teeth. If you are going to medicate that tank i'd suggest also using metronidazole + prazipro for internal don't use together to be safe, also use Copper salt if none of your fish are sensitive to it, will kill all external invertebrates.
 
He has only done this once in the time you have had him? Mine seems to do it every few months and the fasts can last for up to two weeks but after it seems to have had enough,it's back eating again like it never stopped.
 
krichardson;5116496; said:
He has only done this once in the time you have had him? Mine seems to do it every few months and the fasts can last for up to two weeks but after it seems to have had enough,it's back eating again like it never stopped.
This is the first time he has stopped eating since I have had him(Aug/2009). He has lost teeth lots of times but never stops eating. I was wondering if my lenticulata pike are stressing him. The pikes are over 12" now and seem to rule the tank and chase the Armatus and Mbu puffer. Maybe stress is causing him not to eat?
 
I don't know much about pike cichlids so I can't speak on that point but the teeth coming and going are normal though...Keep an eye on things to be sure if or not something is bothering the armatus.My twelve incher lives with a datnoid that is much bigger than it. The dat chases him and every other fish in the tank around but the armatus still snatches his smelt from the water surface.
 
replacing teeth... check and see if any are shedding or coming in.
 
I guess I won't know for sure what the problem was as you couldn't visibly see anything but...I did a treatment of prazipro and some extra water changes over the last few weeks , plus I shut off the lights and used CFL blue bulbs and he is back eating again!! :headbang2
 
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