Kelberi peacock bass not eating.....

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Mihajlo525

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 4, 2015
225
1
16
Canada
>>>BEFORE COMMENTING READ THE WHOLE THING<<<< 5 days ago I bought a healthy wild 7 or 8" kelberi peacock bass from an experienced fish keeper for $100. He kept him in a 75 gallon as a grow out because his 20" wide black diamond stingrays would have ate him in his 400 gallon (he got him when he was 3" only). I have him in a 120 gallon with a 13" oscar that doesn't touch him, a 5" wide reticulated stingray, three 6-7" goldfish, an 11" bullhead catfish, 12" pleco, and a 6" striped raphael catfish and none of these fish pay any attention to him at all... I would throw in night crawlers and a few times he bit it and spit it back in and out rapidly but only to spit it out and not eat it, the only time he really even ate was a few rosy red minnows when I just dropped them in, but after that he literally will chase them only to stupidly look at them when he catches up :irked:... I've tried E-V-E-R-Y THING! I've tried feeder goldfish, night crawlers, red wrigglers, small whole frozen shrimp, store bought shrimp, and he only ate a few rosy reds... The guy i bought him from kept his tank at 88 degrees so I raised my 120 to that temp and that's when he ate a few rosy reds and started being a MICROSCOPIC bit more active, he still likes to stay close to the bottom while being darkly coloured and doing NOTHING! The guy i bought him from would feed him 2 earthworms A DAY in a smaller tank and he still refuses to somehow eat in mine. He has the exact same temp as in his home aquarium and my tank has little to no ammonia in it since I have 240 gallons of filtration on it and do weekly water changes. Plus my stingray is doing wonderful and they're super sensitive to water conditions so the water quality is good. Honestly my stingray won't even go a mile near anything other than black worms but atleast he EATS something unlike the KPB... He was doing well in a smaller tank and eating anything that dropped in the water and I've done my best to keep the water PRISTINE and to replicate his water parameters in his home tank but for absolutely no reason I cannot even fathom why he won't eat :swear: ... Can anyone please shed light on why this PB is being so stubborn? THANKS FOR READING
 
you bought him less than a week ago. some fish take a while to acclimate to their new surroundings, Ive had polys go a month before they ate for the first time in my tanks. Give him time, when he is hungry he will eat. P.S. when you say "little to no" ammonia, if there is ANY ammonia in the water it can effect appetites and behavior.
 
When i meant little to no ammonia I meant no matter what you do there will always be ammonia in your fish tank no matter how small of an amount because fish constantly produce waste.I don't think It'd be bad water quality doing this since i have 240 gallons filtration and do weekly water changes, and if anyone would be effected it would have been my stingray. But thanks regardless online I usually read that they took up to 5 days.
 
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