New Tatia Intermedia will not eat!

[Industrial]

I found another tatia intermedia at a LFS the other day. She wasn't labeled on the tank and I asked the guy and he told me he had no idea what it was and I ended up getting it for six dollars. It is about two inches long. I put it in my guppy fry tank so it can grow out a little and she hasn't eaten yet and it's been a few days. My larger tatia intermedia ate night one. I also tried spot feeding a sinking wafer and she did not eat it. I tried bloodworms, brine shrimp and glass worms. None of which she ate.

Can anybody give me some ideas?

[Marc van Arc]

Aren't you missing any guppy fry?
Patience is the key word. It'll eat when hungry, don't worry. Also, given the fact that it is a guppy fry tank I take it there's little - or even no - shelter. Give it some wood so it can hide. That'll certainly improve its wellness.

[Industrial]

He has plenty of shelter and the tank is dimmer due to an incandescent bulb. He hid behind the filter first, then moved to under a java fern and now he is in a rock ornament. I have about four two day old guppy fry, but the second the older guppy fry see them, they eat them. The older guppy fry are about 1 1/2 inches so there is no way the tatia could even fit them in his mouth. He could eat the smaller ones, but after the initial guppy feeding frenzy there were about 4 left that are still there. Plus they are all hiding in a very thick web of java moss.

I want to move him into my main tank, but I want to wait until he eats and gets somewhat comfortable first because the other tank is definitely not for the slow and shy. Even my glass cats are eating out of my hand to get the food first.

[Industrial]

Update, a few days ago I saw him laying on his side in the middle of the tank and I thought he was dead (I always seem to forget where their gills are). I poked at him with a plant and he hopped up and swam away. He has come out to eat once (he didn't get any food though because he gave up after about a minute). He has been in hiding for two days and laying on his side in hiding too. What should I do?

I am going to try frozen bloodworms tonight to get him out of hiding, I am really hoping that it works!

[Marc van Arc]

He has been in hiding for two days and laying on his side in hiding too.
I am going to try frozen bloodworms tonight to get him out of hiding, I am really hoping that it works!

Hiding and laying in strange positions and strange spots are perfectly normal for Auchenipterids. As long as it isn't very skinny (like your first specimen in the beginning) there's little to worry about.
Wrt bloodworms: I'd thought you'd have done that sooner? Defrost and put the food gently on the surface after lights out in order to keep it floating. Surface feeder! It won't be able to resist ime.

[Industrial]

Mine hasn't really been surface feeding too much. She only really seems to go for sinking wafers surprisingly. She doesn't move for Hikari flakes, sometimes she does for my tetramin flakes, but she doesn't really swim around for more than 10 seconds. I haven't seen her come out for any bloodworms, glassworms, brine shrimp or mosquito larvae. I haven't noticed either of mine really surface feeding. My male used to surface feed a lot, but now he doesn't come out as much and just scans the bottom for a second or two looking for food.

It seems that my males appetite has decreased. And the female is only really going for wafers right now. I was most worried about them laying on their sides, and in the males case sometimes on his back. But since I hear this is normal, I am relieved. Maybe once they start to fatten up some more they will come out during feeding more as well.

[Marc van Arc]

Mine hasn't really been surface feeding too much. My male used to surface feed a lot, but now he doesn't come out as much and just scans the bottom for a second or two looking for food.

I may have misinterpreted the lenght of your specimens and have to correct myself. Surface feeding becomes less in this species once the fish starts to grow . Juvies are still rather surfaced bound ime, yet larger specimens tend to stick to the middle and/or bottom layer. Occasionally they'll go the surface.
I'd call Centromochlus perugiae for instance a true surface feeder.
Sorry for being unclear.

[Industrial]

lol no problem. Like I said, when I first got my male he would eat from the surface. Now he occasionally goes up there but usually stays in the bottom or mid level. The female is 2 inches and she does not surface feed at all. I've yet to see her swim off of the bottom for food.

Do they need to be full grown (4-5 inches) to start breeding?