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Gudgeon not eating right


Andy_1984

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been feeding the fish on sinking pellets for a few months. they are really really tiny so fitting them in his mouth isnt a problem. the problem is ive noticed him lose more weight and he's not really taking the pellets anymore. he wont take them even if they drop in front of him.

 

i tried to feed him on the floating pellets he used to take easily, he can fit them in his mouth no problem but doesnt seem to be able to break them up or swallow them and they end up getting blew back out while he tries to digest them but the roach and rudd end up getting the pellet he just blew back out.

 

breaking them shouldnt be an issue they are extremely soft to begin with and water turns them to mush immediately, gudgeon doesnt even make an impact on them.

 

 

any ideas ?

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

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been feeding the fish on sinking pellets for a few months. they are really really tiny so fitting them in his mouth isnt a problem. the problem is ive noticed him lose more weight and he's not really taking the pellets anymore. he wont take them even if they drop in front of him.

 

i tried to feed him on the floating pellets he used to take easily, he can fit them in his mouth no problem but doesnt seem to be able to break them up or swallow them and they end up getting blew back out while he tries to digest them but the roach and rudd end up getting the pellet he just blew back out.

 

breaking them shouldnt be an issue they are extremely soft to begin with and water turns them to mush immediately, gudgeon doesnt even make an impact on them.

 

 

any ideas ?

Try some live food, daphnia or brine shrimp larvae. Feed them to the gudgeon through a bit of airline.

The problem isn't what people don't know, it's what they know that just ain't so.
Vaut mieux ne rien dire et passer pour un con que de parler et prouver que t'en est un!
Mi, ch’fais toudis à m’mote

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Try some live food, daphnia or brine shrimp larvae. Feed them to the gudgeon through a bit of airline.

 

how would i do that ? he's a shy eater and a real challenge to tempt him to even come get hand fed. he'l hit the food real fast then bolts away to eat it.

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

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Gudgeon is just refusing to eat at all now.

 

ive put him in a separate container with tank water to give him a chance to find the food and have put in maggots and some small bits of chopped up prawn but not interested.

 

starting to get worried about it now its lost so much weight.

Edited by Andy_1984

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

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put it back in the tank after 2 hours. hadn't touched a thing. reckon its on its way out. wont eat prawn(cant get live food right now like cory mentioned), tiny pellets, maggots, the floating pellets he used to love.

 

beginning to wonder if force feeding is an option.

 

feeling right helpless.

Edited by Andy_1984

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

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done a water test.

 

ph 6.0 ppm

ammonia 1.0 to 2.0 ppm

nitrite 0 ppm

nitrate 5.0 to 10 ppm

 

a little puzzled by the ammonia level, ive never had an ammonia spike. could it have something to do with the 5 minuscule perch i put in last week that mysteriously vanished. i done a 20% water change a few days after they vanished and rinsed out the filter in old tank water. its been a week since.

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

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I'd try to get that ammonia cleared, but to be honest it isn't sounding good for the gudgeon. Don't try to force feed it, the stress will kill it.

 

I'd leave it to settle for a day and then see if you can get some tiny bits of chopped worm down it, if you can't get any other live food. In my experience, though, if they stop eating there's something wrong with them (or with the water) and the not eating is just a symptom, not the actual problem.

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ammonia will be sorted just hope its not too late as he has all the symptoms of ammonia poisoning, done a little googling:

 

lethargic

sits on the bottom all day

doesn't eat

looks like its gasping for air, but not by much gills just go a little more than usual

 

no red markings or odd colors associated with ammonia poisoning, so im hoping its not too late.

 

in a way i hope it is ammonia causing it as it gives me hope it can recover.

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

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80% water change and filter a really good clean, media was flushed out well and truly with each bucket of tank water. gudgeon has started rooting around in the gravel. a few small pellets were put in earlier and he seemed to have a go at them but hard to say if he ate any. but looking good so far.

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

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