I got my kamfa juvie about 2 weeks ago.. he is refusing to eat everything except for a couple blood worms and a tiny piece of market shrimp which he will chew for a while, swallow a tiny piece then spit the rest back out..

he has been getting less active in the past couple of days,

i have tried every pellet i have ( and i have ALOT) and the only one he put in his mouth was NLS only because it lands on his face (I have to line it up) .. he chews it for a little and swallows most of it but spits the rest back out almost looks like he is choking. He doesn't look sick, no white poo but not much poo at all... He is getting really skinny and i am getting worried... i put one of my fry in the tank with him to get him more active... it helped a bit but still not eating at all..

what do i do?

IDK Tina. Normal for them to not have an appitite when they first arrive, but if it's skinny and not active, that is not a good sign. I would try some mysis shrimp, or cut up a piece of night crawler. Might try some live crickets too. Maybe the movement will entice him to eat.

Thanks for the advice Joe.. but i'm afraid he wont be able to digest live food such as crickets etc.. his stomach is pretty small.. might go buy a couple of those really tiny ones and see what happends...

any other suggestions?

not sure if it's just that he is not use to pellets or if something is really wrong with him..since i have had him he must have ate a total of 3 NLF pellets and 10 blood worms (not cubes.. worms) and maybe 5 tiny really really tiny pieces of shrimp...

oh I am sooooooooo frustrated with this fish

This post has been edited by christina: Nov 24 2008, 10:08 PM

Even if there is no signs of white poop. There still may have internal parasites.
Usually that is what causes the fish to not have an appetite. I would try putting him in a small bucket
and treat him with some internal meds for 3 days and fast him during the treatment.
After that, put him in a small tank so it is easy for him to find the food.
he should start to gain his appetite back.
Good luck and I hope he pulls through.

This post has been edited by james: Nov 24 2008, 10:11 PM

Here is what I got advice from James (Our Chingmix's master).. since my fish was doing the samething when he got spinal injured.

If he eats Bloodworms, then there is a good sign... he likes soft stuff..so feed him bloodworms much as he can.. this would stimulate his appetite... doing this for one week... then fast him one day (on the water change day)... Next day, soak the
pellets for 1/2 hr before feeding him..but 2 pellets a time... and slowly increase as he wants more.

I don't like to feed my sick fish with shrimp... I think that it makes thing worst... Fresh meat shrimp is leading to GAS !!!
Don't mean to advertise for Chingmix (this is the very first time, I use this type)... but the order came at the right time
and now my sick fish tries to go after the spoon before I can put in the pellets...

Gook lucks !!! Let me know if it works for your fish too!!!... We are learning, so if something works, we treasure it!!!

That's a sign of sickness. It happened the same thing to my King Kamfa_RUS, I treated him one month medication then he started eating again (I've never seen any skinny fish like mine before). I would do whatever James said. GL

This is the very reason I have taken to proactive treatment. You never know what these guys can get/come in with

Some may not want to hear it or take it as insult , but we hobbyist need to have information to keep our investments alive.

Do as James says and med him... follow direction closely and it can`t hurt.

Also see if he will eat blanched peas to clean the insides... and GOOD LUCK

I agree with Joe.
Entice hims with fresh meaty food.
Try a small earth worm, usually they will take live worms real well.
If he's still not getting an appetite, you should treat him for hex.
Usually this is the first sign of hex before the white poop.

ok well i just treated him with REFISH meds (a treatment for internal parasites) i am going to starve him for 3 days during treatment and then put him in a 10 gallon and see if he will take the food (soaked pellets, BW etc.) ...he will eat bloodworms now but not many at all then i have to clean the tank of all the leftovers...

thank you everyone for your suggestions... i really like this fish and for some reason i am getting attached.. maybe because he is volnerable? not sure but i feel really bad for him cause hes so small and cute...

well we'll see how this works out..

wish me luck!

This post has been edited by christina: Nov 24 2008, 10:38 PM

Forgot... must be frozen peas to avoid pesticides and preservatives. 20-30 seconds in the microwave. Peel skin and squish into ball to feed. It will sink

If you see white poop and all else fail, you can alway back it up with metro.
Proper treatment with metro is a sure thing for hex.
Good luck.

i have metro... i have used it in the past but was not effective for treating HEX with my fish.. but when i use the refish all works out fine.. not sure if it's just my luck.. but hey if it wasnt for bad luck i would have no luck at all

Thank you Roundhead.. i will let u guys know how it goes.. he should poop soon because of the one pellet he ate.. lol

thanks again everyone!

With any juve sa cichlid that won't eat I usually try some flake food. Some juvies might already be used to it. If not then treat as internal worm or parasite.

Christina look take a small tank add salt to clean him out then add cloat or metro for a while try seachem brand its the contanaor with thr white powder and you get a little spoon with it to put in tank dont feed him he will come a round and eat so when hr eats give him medicated food from jungle dont give up

Beyond the med treatment, this is what I got my kamfamalau to eat pellets again after after few months of starvation: put a bunch of different pellets together with enough Garlic Guard to soften them. Then mix them up to turn into pellet paste. Keep it refrigerated and feed your fish a very small amount to begin with. The paste should sink, and your fish will most likely take a bite of it. It might not like it in the few attempts, but eventually it will eat like a pig.

Here's the old link of my thread - http://www.flowerhorncraze.com/Kamfamalau-...p;hl=kamfamalau

Thanks guys... He is being treated now just incase he has an internal problem...and he will be starved for 3 days.. then i'll put him in a smaller tank and see how he does with eating..

Nam what is garlic guard?

I know someone who brought fish back from VN and they were not eating so he gave them garlic.. but not sure if it was ground into a paste or if it was just rubbed on the pellets...

What's and where do I get it nam

Christina hi I have the same problem with my faded and I'm of to the store to get metro or maybe float

Christina hi I have the same problem with my faded and I'm of to the store to get metro or maybe f cloat

i dunno if this will help, but mine has also been giving me worry.

tina i finally got mine to hold down a couple pellets last night. only think i did was pre-soak the pellet. the tk took the pre-soaked ones in a heartbeat. chewed them up a bit but kept them down. then i topped that off with a small amount of mysis shrimp. untill the pre-soaked pellets deal he wouldn't really touch anything unless i was jonny perfect shot and got the stuff to land on his face.