Jack Dempsey's wont eat

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H

Hackney

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 19, 2010
62
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Cincinnati
I got a pair of Jack Dempseys around 3" to 3 1/2" on 11/14/10 and these guys will not eat at all. They wont even look at the food. I never had this problem when my tank was african cichlids. Everytime i introduced a new fish he was eating with the others by the next feeding.
I've tried the foods i had laying around Hikari Cichlid Gold, Omega one pellets, random flake food i had (unknown brand it was in a zip lock baggy, frozen emerald entree. What's going on? Ph is good, temp is good, water quality is perfect.
I DON'T GET IT!
 
Got them on 11/14/10. It's been ten days
 
Try some frozen bloodworms. If they dont go for that you might be looking at some water quality issues or possibly internal complications with the Dempseys.
 
As far as water quality goes. its crystal clear w/ a 25% change weekly. where can i get the frozen bloodworms? lfs?
 
If the bloodworms don't work out for you, pick up some tubifex worms and press them onto the glass. The current of the water should make them appetizing and wriggle like alive worms and that might get them eating something again. That's how I got my EBJD to start eating again after recovering from shock.
 
One thing to remember, when you get fish... they sometimes take a couple weeks to warm up to new surroundings. I'd up to a 50% change once a week and offer them frozen bloodworms. Fish NEVER refuse them.... But if they do, as mentioned you could be looking at some internal issues. Which you'd need to probably treat them with an anti parasite med. I've had success with Jungle Parasite Clear, but I'm sure others can suggest meds as well.
 
Okay.. I got some frozen bloodworms and the dempseys have been tearing those up for several days. However, they refuse anything other than the bloodworms. Maybe they dont recognize the pellets or flakes as food? Ideas?
 
Hrmmmm....they waited 10 days without eating (then they ate bloodworms)..The standard advice seems to be to feed nothing but pellets untill the JDs come around, but I wouldn't want my fish to go more than about a week without food...dunno. Are the JDs the most submissive fish in the tank?
 
Hackney;4654137; said:
As far as water quality goes. its crystal clear w/ a 25% change weekly. where can i get the frozen bloodworms? lfs?
Click to expand...


One thing to remember, is just because your water looks crystal clear doesn't mean the chemistry is ok. The fact that they ate the bloodworms is a good sign, but I'd up to either 2-25% changes a week or 1 50% a week. Don't offer them anymore bloodworms, just offer a few pellets until they come around. Mine are picky and wont touch pellets. Eventually, that's all they'll be offered.
 
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