Help!!!

[alan]

My friend bought a pair of dwarf fishes two days ago but they are not intaking any food. He's feeding them frozen bloodworms and one of them appear much skinnier than when he bought them. What should he do??

[corr]

It could be a lot of things. We really should have more details like water quality and stuff. Are they dwarf gouramis, dwarf rainbows... ?

I'd be doing large water changes and feeding a variety of other foods in the meantime. Not long ago, I bought my first salt water fish (a damsel) and fed it some blood worms. I was astonished that this fish wouldn't go near it. Well I didn't do my research very well and found out later that they're vegetarian. I bought some OSI spirulina flakes and he goes nuts for it.

[alan]

Oops, sorry...it's dwarf puffer. He did ask the guy from the pets shop and did some researches after buying them. I did the same for him too but the sites say they do eat frozen and live bloodworms. My friend tried feeding them flakes too but they wouldn't eat them (similar to what we found out on the web, most dwaft puffers don't eat flakes). The water condition was not great when I was at his house, it was kinda cloudy. I think this was cost by the frozen bloodworms which have been sitting at the bottom of the tank for two days. The tank does carry a filter and it seems to be running well. He did change the water (1/3 of them, using chorinated tab water) after I posted and the fish are more active after that. We suspect it's the water condition but we are not sure.

[corr]

He can try brine shrimp too. Make sure that leftover food doesn't sit in the tank too long. It can quickly fowl up the water, which is my guess what has happened. Make sure he does some more water changes and vaacuum the gravel too. Try some new food but only a little at a time. Be patient. If the puffer wasn't already sick when he bought him then it's either the water quality that's causing him not to eat or he is still getting used to his new surroundings.

[Shane Tesser]

I second the brine shimp idea....most fish go nuts for it...i have two indian fresh water puffers..both of which i have managed to get to eat flake..and they are doing well....alot better than i though, perhaps as corr mentioned...there is just a small instability in the water? I know most puffers love snails..but then you risk an infestation of them....you didnt mention what size they were....so thats why ill guess and say brine is a good choice as it is small enough for the smallest of mouths :D

[Youkai]

I've got a couple questions too...

Is the tank brand new?
If the puffers are WC, and this is almost 100% certain, they may be harbouring a parasite load.
Does your friend know EXACTLY what species they are? Puffers range from fresh to saltwater. Some are tolerant of salinty swings, but some are not. If it's being kept in fresh when it really needs brackish water, or vice versa, it could be having an affect on eating habits...

[alan]

They are dwarf puffers and are pretty small in size. The tank is new and we are pretty sure that they go into fresh water. One thing my friend didn't do which I strongly disagree on is that he did not put any decorations into the tank yet. However, he's gonna go buy some shrimp today (luckily stores are open in TO on this victoria day) and see how it goes.

[Youkai]

Well, if the tank is new it is cycling. That would easily explain why the fish aren't eating. High ammonia and nitrite would be the culprits. Lots of frozen food being left uneaten will make it worse.

[alan]

Youkai- can you expand on that? I don't really get it...sorry...

The fishes didn't eat the shrimp, but they are intaking a very small amount of the frozen bloodworms, which i guess is the first good sign...

[Youkai]

When a tank first starts out, it's perfect. But there are no bacteria - and that's what breaks down the fish waste. As those bacteria start to rise in number, there will first be a heavy load of ammonia before there are enough bacteria to handle it. A by-product of this is nitrite, and that's broke down by another kind of bacteria that must also build up in number. This process can take up to 6 weeks. Ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish, and could explain why the puffers are acting strange.
A tank should always be cycled before adding the 'choice' fish. You can do that with household ammonia (be careful!), or you can try some really tough, compatable 'starter fish'.

[Shane Tesser]

Lets not forget that blood worms are often very bad for having parasites on them, as well as being far too much of a gut load for alot of fish to digest...infact a heavy diet of these can be fatal to some species as they will overload....good advice Youkai. :D

[alan]

Thanks guys, those are great infos
Hopefully the puffers will eat soon :)