its been almost 2 weeks??? MAL question

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fwlion

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 24, 2005
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NASHVILLE,TN
its been almost 2 weeks since mine and yama's MAL came home and they still aren't eatin not one pieace of food and MINE not his mine hasn't even hardly MOVED

water parameters are FINE

his temp. is in the mid 70's, mine is sittin in the low 80's

we've offered cut market shrimp, small live crayfish, small goldfish, silver sides, fish fillets, nightcrawlers, and freeze dried krill

his actually does a LITTLE moving around
mine does NOTHING I haven't even seen mine go up for a gulp or nothing its been in the SAME spot for the entire time mine has been in the tank

what can we motivate these guys with
 
Are you sure it’s still alive? As an obligate air breather you should at least see it come up for air. Does it respond to stimulus like a gentle nudge with a net? If It’s not dead are you 100% sure the temps in it’s tank are in the low 80’s. I find mine (annectens) definitely slows down in lower temperatures. I also find a lot of fish tank style thermometers to be unreliable and have personally switched to temp guns that reptile people use. They’re cheap and give you an instant and reliable reading. I find the best thing I can do for an acclimating animal is to leave it alone. The more I mess with them (not saying you are messing with your fish) the longer the acclimation takes. Lungfish are well adapted to go without food for extended periods. Does the fish look outwardly healthy? Not too skinny? If it has decent body mass it is not likely to starve. Who knows what the conditions of its captivity have been between Africa and your tank. It may just need more time to adjust than other fish you have worked with. My annectens is also very sensitive to the goings on around its tank. Is your fish in a quiet area without a lot of external stressors? Is the lighting over its tank bright? Does it have places to hide in its tank? When I got my annectens it hid most of the first couple of months I had it. I kept it in a large rubber maid tub with lots of floating plants, out of the way for a couple of months. As far as sickness I have no clue. I hope someone else can chime in on that subject.
Good luck with your fish, I hope it turns out good for you and the fish.

Dan
 
he is about 13in. not real thick but not unhealthy looking (if that makes any sense). he is in a 30g. for the time being, with 2 different caves in the tank and floating lily pads to subdue the lighting, no he isn't dead he does responde to directly stimulous, he is in a VERY LOW traffic area,

i drop the food in near him and go check to see what has happened after a few min. to a few hrs. and the I REMOVE THE UNEATEN FOOD but there is a small clawLESS crayfish walking around the tank and a small goldfish swimming around the tank I have watched both live prey items mess around right infront of him face with NO RESPONSE
 
It sounds like you have all your bases covered. I'm stumped! Lets hope some one who has experienced this behavior can contribute. Until then it sounds like you are doing every thing right. I know some times I will loose an animal and rack my brain trying to figure out what went wrong. Sometimes I never find out. I think you may still have time to see a turn around. Please let us know how this progresses.
Dan
 
It took my SAL a while to acclimate. He was scared of anything. I found that once I got my SAL a place to hide, he became more comfortable with his environment. Now that he's settled in, he recognizes me (i.e. my appearance means food). Try leaving food for him overnight every couple days. The SAL I got had been at the store for a couple months (according to the store....also the store is in the middle of nowhere, not much market for such an animal). He may just need a bit more time to get used to everything. If he doesn't eat anything in the next couple weeks I'd worry.
 
My new MAL wouldn't eat for the first week or two. Then he started eating feeders, only at night. Now he eats whatever...Mine still sits in the same corner all day every day. Not the most active fish lol.

DSC00997.jpg
 
marbles take longer to acclimate than WALs from what ive seen.
just give him time.
try dropping in food at night and leave it there til morning. (i know its bad for the water,just do a waterchange in the morning.)
he'll start eating eventually.
just wait..
 
Hey Fwlion, just wondering how things are turning out, did your lung start eating?
Hope every thing is good,
Dan
 
I see your like me Ding you like to see updates

well he has started eating chopped market shrimp a little bit, he has gotten a LITTLE bit more active NOTHING LIKE WHAT YOU READ ABOUT ETHIOPIANS YET

although Yama's MAL has started his killing spree mine hasn't yet (we ordered ours together me and Yama)
 
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