I highly doubt feeders are the problem when there is an ammonia reading of .5ppm.
What kind of filtration do you have since you only say "enough filtration".
What kind of filtration do you have since you only say "enough filtration".
Jack Dempsey Growth Problem
- Thread starter Rawrzer
- Start date
i disagree with gtbeast i think jack dempsey are fast growers mine grew about 6 inches in about eight months . (but i dont know if you consider that slow)
You said that your ammonia level is like that because you did not do this week's change. In a healthy, established tank, the ammonia won't register. Nitrates would indicate the water was not changed soon enough. I agree that your tank is not at ideal parameters for growth and overall health. Adding the feeders only worsens the situation. I have 14 dempseys in a 75 (relax- I am growing them out and manage a lfs where I can rehome them when I downsize). The tank has an FX5, and a hydro-sponge filter. Even with that filtration, I still change 50% weekly. My dempseys are slowing in growth rate, but that has more to with volume of water than chemistry of it.
You should never have ammonia in your tank. Are you cleaning the gravel? How are you cleaning the filters? How long has it been set up?
Yeah sucks when this happens. I have a mayan that is around 3" and has been for about 2-3 yrs now. Meanwhile the texas I got at the same time is almost 9". Im upset because a previous mayan I had some years back grew to about 8" and was a total monster. This one does hold his own against the JD but he ain't growing.
like i said the only reason i give feeders is because my clown knife refuses to eat anything else. ive even tried starving him and he still wont go for pellets. theres no big chain stores around me like anywhere. and the small time stores here don't sell ghost shrimp and i havent found meal worms yet. on my tank as far as filteration goes ive got 2 20 gallon rena filters on it and a 40 gallon eheim. its been set up about 2 months and theyre only in a 40 because like i said its the best i could do on such short notice. i moved to new york and expected to take my large tank with me but it ended up not being able to fit in the car. im staying with my dad right now but after christmas im moving into my permanent house where ill have a 180 so thistanks completely temporary. and yeah when i do the water changes i clean the gravel and such. I'm just happy that no one fights. and i don't think that the feeders are making the ammonia go up because i dont give huge amounts at a time to where the feeders stay alive in the tank. i have a separate 10 gallon that i keep around 100-200 feeders in and feed to my tank over the course of awhile. And i really hope my JD's growth spurt happens soon (if its going to happen) so that my other fish don't completely outgrow him haha
Rawrzer;4608659; said:
you should never have any ammonia. do more water changes.
Rawrzer;4608677; said:
with your stocking your underfilter and not doing enough water change. Oscar alone need 10x turn over rate for hob filters and 5x turn over rate for canister. with what you have now you should be doing more water changes. testing your water will let u know how often you should do a water change.
Because of your stocking levels, and not enough on water being changed out is most likely the reason your JD hass not grown any.
What kind of fish are the feeders? Some kind of goldfish? Feeders are an unhealthy diet to begin with and you said they're pretty much all he manages to eat?
If feeders are the only thing your clown knife eats, then they're the only thing he will ever eat so long as you keep feeding them. What's the longest you've withheld them for? Are there ever live feeders swimming around in the tank waiting to be eaten? If so, your fish probably haven't learnt to associate you and things you put in the tank with food.
I switched from a cheap brand of pellets to a quality brand once, my archer fish refused to eat them for about 2 weeks until he finally gave in. Now he gobbles them without hesitation.
In the current circumstances, it doesn't sound like your Dempsey is getting regular nutrition. Does he actually try to eat or is he timid at meal time?
I think the first, best, step would be to get all of your fish eating pellets.
If feeders are the only thing your clown knife eats, then they're the only thing he will ever eat so long as you keep feeding them. What's the longest you've withheld them for? Are there ever live feeders swimming around in the tank waiting to be eaten? If so, your fish probably haven't learnt to associate you and things you put in the tank with food.
I switched from a cheap brand of pellets to a quality brand once, my archer fish refused to eat them for about 2 weeks until he finally gave in. Now he gobbles them without hesitation.
In the current circumstances, it doesn't sound like your Dempsey is getting regular nutrition. Does he actually try to eat or is he timid at meal time?
I think the first, best, step would be to get all of your fish eating pellets.
All of my fish eat pellets BESIDES the clown knife. I tried starving him for 2 and a half weeks and he still didnt go for pellets and I didn't particuarly want him to die from starvation so i gave in and gave feeders again. there are NEVER feeders swimming around in the tank and the fish have established me as their feeder/ handler for a long time now and always associate me with food when they see me. Also the feeders are rosies becasue i know goldfish are suupperr bad. the jack dempseys feeding response is immediate. he never is lazy hes always active and eats as soon as i drop pellets in. alot of times he doesn't even eat feeders becasue the oscar or clown knife gets to them first. I give my fish cichlid sticks, hikari gold, and cichlid staple so as far as varied feeding and not alot of feeders I'm good. and Koyote as far as water changes go ill try to do more depending on water conditions. should I maybe do around 2 a week now? maybe even more?
