Jack Demspey losing color and not eating. Also, Black Shark not eating

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insanesquirle

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 4, 2011
12
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Indiana
I feel like a pretty big noob when it comes to running an aquarium, but after running a 30 gallon aquarium for a while I decided to upgrade to a 75 gallon. This week I bought a black shark and a Jack Dempsey (which after a little reading, seems to be an electric blue jack demspy). It's been 4 or 5 days and the jack demspey seems to be losing color. It was black with blue spots before, but now it's turning more of a gray with lighter blue dots. I've read that in some fish they will lighten up if their substrate lightens up. It had a darker substrate at my LFS but is now in my aquarium with sand. I'm fearful that something may be wrong with it because its lost so much color. Anyone know why it would lose so much color so fast? I know that JD's lose color when stressed. It's also not eating. I'm TRYING to feed it cichlid staple pellets, is this ideal? Could it be that the jack dempsey and the black shark just dont like the pellets? They dont even go for them, it's like they dont even know it's there. Or could it be that they just need a week or two to get used to being in a new aquarium?

I need help bad. In my 30 gallon I had red belly piranhas, and it was really easy to find information on their care, but these two fish, especially the black shark has been horrible finding information on.

Thanks for all the help!
 
Im embarassed to say this but im not exactly sure. I dont have a test kit or anything like that, I occasionally go to a LFS and have them test it for me. I've always been told that my water was completely fine for the fish I had, and the fish I have now. Should I buy like a master test kit or something? Man, I have so much to learn.

What I can provide for you is that I have a 75 gallon aquarium, with a rena xp3 filter, which is rated for around a 170 gallon tank, a 75 gallon powerhead, an air pump rated for 100 gallons, and two heaters rated for 75 gallons a piece. I also do frequent water changes. Perhaps too frequent lately because I had a 14 inch pleco in my tank for a couple of days that threw sand around madly and clouded the tank up horribly. I had a problem at first with my tank because there was so much waste on it, so I bought a vaccume that didn't take away water, it just sucks up the waste and puts the water it sucks up right back in. I use that ever day to suck up waste. Is this a problem? Could it be that I am taking away all of the food from the bacteria?
 
insanesquirle said:
Im embarassed to say this but im not exactly sure. I dont have a test kit or anything like that, I occasionally go to a LFS and have them test it for me. I've always been told that my water was completely fine for the fish I had, and the fish I have now. Should I buy like a master test kit or something? Man, I have so much to learn.

What I can provide for you is that I have a 75 gallon aquarium, with a rena xp3 filter, which is rated for around a 170 gallon tank, a 75 gallon powerhead, an air pump rated for 100 gallons, and two heaters rated for 75 gallons a piece. I also do frequent water changes. Perhaps too frequent lately because I had a 14 inch pleco in my tank for a couple of days that threw sand around madly and clouded the tank up horribly. I had a problem at first with my tank because there was so much waste on it, so I bought a vaccume that didn't take away water, it just sucks up the waste and puts the water it sucks up right back in. I use that ever day to suck up waste. Is this a problem? Could it be that I am taking away all of the food from the bacteria?
Click to expand...

No need to be embarrassed man, we're all here to learn...the first step of what I would do is go to your LFS and have them test your water and see if that has to do with anything. Next, I would get rid of that vacuum that sucks up the waste and puts the water back in. This may seem like a good thing to have, but your doing nothing for your water quality really. Lastly, I would maybe grow out the black shark a little more (if you really like him, if not, skip this step), then get rid of him. They can get nastier/meaner the bigger they get, and not to mention, they get over 2 foot and will surely outgrow your 75g. If you want to know how nasty/mean black sharks (Labeo chrysophekadion) can get, just pm a member here by the name "arapaimag". His killed one of his 4 ft+ arapaima's over time from sucking on its scales I believe, it also killed many other monster fish he had

Oh and its always good to have one of those master test kits handy.

Also try feeding your fish a variety, this will help bring out your fish's color...a good variety will be pellets (new life spectrum brand is best IMO), cichlid flakes, and frozen foods such as brine shrimp
 
insanesquirle said:
I feel like a pretty big noob when it comes to running an aquarium, but after running a 30 gallon aquarium for a while I decided to upgrade to a 75 gallon. This week I bought a black shark and a Jack Dempsey (which after a little reading, seems to be an electric blue jack demspy). It's been 4 or 5 days and the jack demspey seems to be losing color. It was black with blue spots before, but now it's turning more of a gray with lighter blue dots. I've read that in some fish they will lighten up if their substrate lightens up. It had a darker substrate at my LFS but is now in my aquarium with sand. I'm fearful that something may be wrong with it because its lost so much color. Anyone know why it would lose so much color so fast? I know that JD's lose color when stressed. It's also not eating. I'm TRYING to feed it cichlid staple pellets, is this ideal? Could it be that the jack dempsey and the black shark just dont like the pellets? They dont even go for them, it's like they dont even know it's there. Or could it be that they just need a week or two to get used to being in a new aquarium?

I need help bad. In my 30 gallon I had red belly piranhas, and it was really easy to find information on their care, but these two fish, especially the black shark has been horrible finding information on.

Thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...

Oh and this is true, but it might not explain why your JD lost his color so fast. I would still get your water tested because I still have a feeling your fish aren't eating because there is something up with your water (because after 5 days they should of settled in by now)...maybe you didn't cycle the tank properly before adding the fish? Thats just one possibility
 
I went and got some cichlid flakes today. I couldnt find the brand you suggested but i've spotted the black shark eating a little bit. Still havnt seen the jack dempsey eat. I cant afford a master test kit until thursday, so it will have to wait until then, but my LFS just tested my water a few days ago and they said its parameters were fine.

Cycling the tank: Before the JD and the shark, I had four 4 or 5 inch Red belly piranha in it. The tank has been standing for a little over a month, and when I set it up, I set it up with as much water from the 30 gallon I had the piranha in as I could. It's just the two of them in the tank right now, so I dont think I've introduced them too quickly and it's the bioload.

Thanks for the help!
 
Also, you mentioned that the vaccum isn't helping my water quality. I do weekly water changes on top of using the vaccum. With sand, the fish poop is a lot more noticeable than with rock, so I basically use the vaccum to keep the tank looking nice and then the water changes for water quality.

Is the vaccum still a bad thing even though I'm doing water changes?
 
insanesquirle said:
Also, you mentioned that the vaccum isn't helping my water quality. I do weekly water changes on top of using the vaccum. With sand, the fish poop is a lot more noticeable than with rock, so I basically use the vaccum to keep the tank looking nice and then the water changes for water quality.

Is the vaccum still a bad thing even though I'm doing water changes?
Click to expand...

Oh, you should be fine then
 
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