I have an african cichlid who doesnt eat and has the sucken belly, he still acts fine, looks healthy besides the sucken belly. I set up a sick fish tank but i cant catch him for the life of me, any alternatives?
fish not eating
- Thread starter Catlid
- Start date
Milky
Follow the white rabbit.
A hollow belly and refusal to eat can be a sign that the fish is infected with internal parasites.
The fact that you can't catch him (I have a heavily planted tank, I sympathize) complicates things, otherwise I'd say isolation would be a good first step. Have you tried catching him asleep? In the morning, just before you turn the lights on, turn on the room light so you can see, and (very quickly, you only get one chance) put the net into the water near the fish you want to catch, and scoop him up before he knows what's happened. It's not ideal, scares the heck out of them, but it does sometimes work.
Since he's refusing to eat, you can't feed medicated food, which would be the second thing I'd recommend.
If it was my tank, I would keep a very close eye on all the fish, look for white, stringy poop - signs of internal parasites. If they showed signs of having parasites, I'd start soaking their food in Metronidazole and feed them this way for ten days.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what to do about a fish that refuses to eat and can't be caught, other than hope that he'd eat little bits of the food. You can try feeding them really enticing foods (live, frozen, etc.), I don't know if that will help but it's worth a try.
The fact that you can't catch him (I have a heavily planted tank, I sympathize) complicates things, otherwise I'd say isolation would be a good first step. Have you tried catching him asleep? In the morning, just before you turn the lights on, turn on the room light so you can see, and (very quickly, you only get one chance) put the net into the water near the fish you want to catch, and scoop him up before he knows what's happened. It's not ideal, scares the heck out of them, but it does sometimes work.
Since he's refusing to eat, you can't feed medicated food, which would be the second thing I'd recommend.
If it was my tank, I would keep a very close eye on all the fish, look for white, stringy poop - signs of internal parasites. If they showed signs of having parasites, I'd start soaking their food in Metronidazole and feed them this way for ten days.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what to do about a fish that refuses to eat and can't be caught, other than hope that he'd eat little bits of the food. You can try feeding them really enticing foods (live, frozen, etc.), I don't know if that will help but it's worth a try.
I am also worried that this fish could diseased. When they stop eating, it is always a bad sign. 
Please let us know what happens...
Please let us know what happens...