Feeding problem

[Julian]

Hey so a couple days ago i purchased a pair of Apistogramma Sp. Abacaxis but i can't get them to eat anything except live blackworms. I've tried a few different frozen foods and dainichi pellets but they don't seem to want to eat any of it. Wondering if anyone has any tips.

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[MacZ]

Are they wild caught? If so, any live food is preferred. They don't know frozen or dry foods. At least they eat at all, so they're not sick.

1. Leave them time to acclimate. A few days are nothing.
2. For frozen food sometimes waiting a few days fasting them helps.
3. If you can put it in the filter outflow you make it move. That also helps.

What is the substrate in your tank like?

 

[Julian]

No they aren't wild caught nor are their parents. I might try contacting the breeder I bought them from to see what he was feeding them. The substrate is just fine white sand.

 

[MacZ]

No they aren't wild caught nor are their parents.

Then this is unusual.

I might try contacting the breeder I bought them from to see what he was feeding them.

I would have asked right away before the purchase.

The substrate is just fine white sand.

No leaf litter, no mulm? Are they foraging around the tank? If so, frozen foods might work after all. Just have to be on the ground.

 

[Julian]

oh well yeah there's leaf litter but I only just put it in a week before I got the pair so it hasn't really broken down yet. Also if they don't eat the food right away is it okay to leave it on the ground for them to find later or will that ruin the water quality?

Here's a picture of the tank for referance.

 

[MacZ]

Also if they don't eat the food right away is it okay to leave it on the ground for them to find later or will that ruin the water quality?

Try with a really small amount. That won't do a lot bad for the water quality.

 

[Mike Wise]

Live baby brine shrimp has always worked for me, even on the largest apisto species.

 

[Julian]

Well i've noticed they did start eating the frozen food off the bottom of the tank a few hours after I put it in, and just a week and a half after getting them and the female has already laid eggs. If anyone has any tips that would be very helpful.

 

[MacZ]

Well i've noticed they did start eating the frozen food off the bottom of the tank a few hours after I put it in

Just as expected.

If you want to raise the fry: Live Artemia Nauplii as soon as they start free swimming. And don't do any maintenance but waterchanges. Water out, water in. And some humic substances (you can brew up some from leaf litter, alder cones and rooibos tea) That's all.

 

[ciri3]

It's common for Apistogramma Sp. Abacaxis to be picky eaters initially. Keep offering a variety of high-quality foods like frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, and small pellets. Patience is key; they may eventually accept other foods.

 

[MacZ]

bloodworms,

Especially with those only the high quality. We often hear of deaths in Apistogramma (and other dwarf cichlids) from red mosquito larvae. Since several theories are off the table there are only two left:
- Either the quality is rubbish from the start (contaminated in production) or people don't handle them correctly (broken cooling chains), both is a problem of cheap mass production and consequently carelessness in the industry.
- Or batches have high concentrations of an allergen, as there is often a correlation (not a proven causation) of the fishkeepers showing allergic reactions from touching the stuff, and the loss of fish.

 

[Mike Wise]

I know that I'm allergic to, what my allergist called "insect debris". That's the chitonous exoskeleton of arthropods of any kind. Years ago I had my bronchial airway close completely while feeding frozen bloodworms. I had to run upstairs to get my asthma inhaler while not able to breath. It worked, since 'I'm not dead yet' (Monty Python and the Holy Grail").

 

[yukondog]

I'm glad you're alright, I know all too well about the rescue inhaler and unfortunately remember just about all of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

 

[Mike Wise]

Anti-allergy injections, 3 per day, 3 times per week for 3 years and I'm almost allergy free.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Especially with those only the high quality. We often hear of deaths in Apistogramma (and other dwarf cichlids) from red mosquito larvae. Since several theories are off the table there are only two left:
- Either the quality is rubbish from the start (contaminated in production) or people don't handle them correctly (broken cooling chains), both is a problem of cheap mass production and consequently carelessness in the industry.

I'm pretty sure it is to do with the environment that commercially collected supplies come from, basically only grossly organically polluted water supports high enough densities of bloodworms (Chironomid larvae) to be commercially viable.

I've fed all my fish live <"ranched"> bloodworms from clean water and I've never had any issue with them.

cheers Darrel