Hey gents, I know were veering off the usual beaten path of plants, and algae algae algae with some more algea hehehehe, just kidding, I almost forgot the awesome tanks I see around here. Anyways, got me a new GBR, the other day. Looks like a male. Since adding him to my tank with tetras, harlequins and a few zebra loaches, all of which are healthy for over 7 months now, he has just gone into extreme hiding and not eating and basically freaking out. Ideally I would like him to learn to eat at the top with everyone else. Any tips or tricks or general info to get me started on keeping these guys happy. Currently I have him floating in a perforated holding jar in the same tank now, which just helps me provide him with food directly without interference and clean filtered water.
New kid on the block...so feeling intimidated by the others. How big is your tank...can you put a divider in? He's gonna stay skittish if you keep him in the jar,as he can't claim a territory in the tank for himself. Your best bet IMO...a divider
Definately new kid on the block syndrome. Tank is a 80L, plenty of space, neat clean with nice mopani setup and a bunch of ferns, anubias and valisneria. I do have a larger 250L but with the CO2 setup, I'm feeling a bit unsure of adding him to that. Besides, how do I even feed that guy then? Anyways, good point - he seems to have claimed to back of the tank where no one can see him and hasn't eaten it 2.5 days. Hence catching him and trying to get him to eat in the mean time. hmmmm - or should I just let nature take its course.
Eating at the top you say so you only feeding flakes? Maybe get another type of food to cater for him.
I agree with JAX about the jar. I think rams should be the dominant species in a community type setup and only be kept with small tetras,guppies,etc. They also not typical surface feeders and might starve if not enough food reaches them.
Okay well it's only the loaches that could be pushing him around at all.... Any they're quite chilled. Any food that you guys have had success with?
Hatch some BBS Dave...I have yet to see a fish ignore that... (except when mating). Plus...pound for pound, you wont find anything close to it with regards to nutritional value...
Take him out of the jar. Feed a variety to find out what he eats. Mine have always been fine with flakes.
No...not that I remember. They tend to hover around the bottom. Maybe try some sinking food or as suggested brine shrimp
Get some granules in stead of flakes. It sinks faster and the bottom feeders have a better chance of getting food. Brine shrimp and lobster eggs are also good appetisers for fish that doesn't want to eat.
My GBRs prefer the tetra prima granules out of all the dry food I feed them.. They're not really comfortable feeding off the surface.. I agree, if you can feed him ok, then leave him to establish a territory, mine took a full week to come out from housing at the back, now they're very prominent..
Morning Gents, thank again for all the feedback. With your input I got hold of some blood worms, and managed to have some luck with those. I had to hold my hand underwater and let it sink and they ate from it. I think this is how they were fed at the fish shop. So over the upcoming weeks I'll see if I can get them into a routine that suits them and myself. Also, like you said RoGe, they're out much more now too. Happy days for now.
Just remember you have to feed them a balanced diet...bloodworm alone will cause some serious health issues.
