I have a fish, he won’t eat anything good for him. He eats mostly sinking discs, but he’s a Mexican cichlid that’s a close cousin of the dempsy family (istlantum). Every time he eats he gets swim bladder problems.
The latest bout seems to have lasted 2 weeks. That seems like an awful long time to not eat to me.
I’ve tried freeze dried tubifex worms, krill, hikari veggie discs, tetra rich mix discs, tetra flakes, ocean nutrition veggie flakes, ocean nutrition brine shrimp flakes, freeze dried bloodworms. The only thing he’ll eat is tetra rich mix.
Here’s his species.
http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=5
I also tried cichlid staple from hikari and cichlid bio gold floating pellets.
I stop feeding him when he flips upside down. It usually corrects itself in about 7 days, but this recent bout took approx 15 days. I was considering killing him, but he straightened out.
He refuses to eat peas, shelled, and with or without garlic.
I should add that despite the family relationship with Dempsey fish and the central American cichlid species classification, this is a vegetarian species that typically algae grazes in the wild.
Ray, this isn’t a pathogen based disorder. No medicine is necessary. Its a blockage in the intestinal track that puts pressure on his swim bladder. Quit cutting & pasting your answers.