New Uaru not eating.

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J

jason longboard

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2007
3,830
95
81
california
125 gallon.

lots of drift wood, some plants, temps and all good, shop had it for a couple months Ive watched it grow.

Its in now with my new chocolate temporalis, silver dollars some small cats, and some geos.

The Uaru and the silvers are the biggest fish all around 4 inch.

I know Ive gone through this before but its been a while, when the other fish feed, the Uaru slowly moves away and hides or just watches, WITH THAT DUMB LOOK ON ITS UARU FACE!

Anyways, then it all chills back down, he starts roaming around, LOOKING FOR FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD! Biting at little black pebbles and such, even the fake plant.

They said he ate black worms, flakes and sinking pellets.

Ive tried 4 different quality flakes, hikari pellets, Sumo Max pellets, hikari alge wafers.

Im going to get some bigger sinking pellets to see what he does. I cant try too much because I dont want to over feed. Ive got tons of filtration though and will change water tonight.

The thing is all the other fish eat fast, then hes like DUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH when are you gonna feed me DUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Pry just settling in Im sure, but its my first Uaru, I watched lots of tanks with my stock so I picked him.

Will he just get hungry enough?

I cant get the dumb look on his face out of my head now. DUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH which way did the food go.............
 
1. Yes, give him a little time.
2. Give him some food he is familiar with. If he doesn't eat that; then something is wrong - and that might be overly active tankmates.
3. Veggies are a good idea - the fact he is foraging is a good sign - he's probably getting a little something there.
 
Uaru are intelligent with lots of personalities, but can be moody sometimes. Just because it doesn't eat like a pig doesn't mean he's dumb.

Not sure what (if) your lfs folks were thinking - the majority of the diet should be veggie matters. Pretty common knowledge.
 
How long have you had it? They are shy fish when they're kept as individuals, at least until they get older, so much like discus which are purchased as single specimens, it's going to be scarce until it settles in.

Comparatively speaking, uaru are far from dumb fish. Uaru are some of the most inquisitive and intelligent cichlids I've owned, and as such they are skittish when you make large changes or do something they're unfamiliar with. Maybe the silver dollars are too busy for it, or it's unsure of your other tankmates so far.

You say your temp is "all good," but what does that mean? Uaru like it pretty warm.

Mine ate primarily pellets but be sure to give them spirulina-based stuff as well as fresh veggies. Mine liked Romaine, some liked shelled peas, they will eat zucchini when offered to plecos, etc. They also like algae discs.
 
I know they are smart, I was just trying to be funny. Kinda my thing on here. It was in with discus and two other uaru. The uaru stayed away from each other for the most part this one always wanted to be front and center at the glass. I'm assuming he got the black worms from being in with the discus. Now with me, I have all the spiralina and good foods you can buy. He swims around with the silvers mostly. Ignores the geos and bumps heads a tad with the chocolate. Then they will be be cruising with each other again. When I said the temps are good, I meant if you read as much info as I have, then you see mid 80s, so that's what I meant. I'm thinking he just needs to settle. So though I know they are not dumb, actually I love severums and chocolates and saw them being slightly similar that's what I liked. However, he just has that look like beeker from the muppets at feeding time.



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1) Uarus are often kept in groups, not as loners
2) he's a cichlid and has been put in a tank with other cichlids with established territories
3) he was just thrown into an environment he doesn't know
4) he doesn't recognize the "creature" hovering over the water or staring at him

He's likely trying to figure out where to stay in the tank, who in the tank might want to kill him, whether or not it's safe to eat anything, and who you are. That takes time. This of course assumes he's not sick and wasn't otherwise traumatized in the move.

Be patient. If he was well fed he can skip meals for a long time. Veggies, set somewhere in the tank out of the traffic zone, is probably a good idea.
 
I rearranged the tank too last night. Looks better and they all seem very cool with each other. It's truly only feeding time that he goofs out. I'm gonna try to get some sinking pellets today. I use a mortar and pestle to grind certain quality foods so the sink faster and are better size, but I think he's used to eating off the bottom. The silvers get the flakes too fast. The only pellets I have now are high protein, I'll see what this other shop has.


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Drstrangelove, I know what your saying but the last few cichlids I've added were eating and bossin around within minutes. Was just really seeing if it was a uaru thing.


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