not feeding

[mother10cat]

Hi All, can anybody help me my 12inch REDTAILxSHOVEL NOSE has not had a thing to eat for 2 wks, i have owned h/her for 3 mnths has been eating Feeder Fish, Prawns,Mussels,etc, lives alone in a 4x2x2 swims around as normall all day long really full of it but will not touch a thing was hand feeding i have tried all types of food but no success, water parameters are spot on i have done water changes 2x wkly since problem started but stil no changes any advice will be apreicated, Thanks Richard.

[MatsP]

We really should have a "standard" answer for this one. The most likely scenario is that your fish is polluting the water more than your filter can cope with. Check 3-4 times daily for ammonia and nitrite. If that turns up anything, then you have your problem.

I'm moving this to "South American Catfish (everything else)", as that's where it belongs.

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Mats

[Back]

My lima shovelnose is less hungry if water temperature goes down (probably due to lower metabolism) But you wrote that your water should be OK.

Other than that I 'd say the same as MatsP meaning that there is something wrong with the water anyway.

[MatsP]

It's worth noting that I don't believe the water is "permanently bad", but rather that at some point it spikes with some amount of ammonia/nitrite present.

Back is right, temperature will affect metabolic rate -> less feeding at lower temps - that's why pond keepers only feed a little bit in winter.

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Mats