# Large rhom stopped eating



## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

My 13-14" rhom hasn't really eaten anything other than a small piece of smelt, during the past 10 days +/-, roughly.

i can't figure it out. he is acting normal and looks normal, no diseases i can detect from sight.

i've had em about 2 1/2 months and this just started happening. he usually chows down on anything i put in the tank at night time.

my parameters are normal and i have yet to feed him any feeders, so this seems highly unusual. never in close to 5 years keeping p's have i had this problem.

does anyone have any idea? maybe he is just being fussy.


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## holeinnet (Feb 15, 2009)

Hi, What size tank is he in and is there an undergravel? Sometimes the water looks clear but there's waste under the gravel causing high PH and ammonia. Check the levels, or clean the gravel and you might want to give him some Feeders. It usually stirs up some activity and that's the majority of what they eat in the wild. He might be missing that part of his diet and that could actually be the problem. Good luck! -- MC


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## FishermanCanada (Feb 12, 2007)

big rhoms seem to be fussy sometimes. my 13-14 inch rhom took 3 weeks before he started eating shrimp i had to starve him.. My 16 inch also puts his nose up at it sometimes. Its the good shrimp too.

its probably nothing , just watch him. remember these guys can go months without eating so 10 days is nothing.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

damnit, he still has not eaten...now it is close to 3 weeks w/out any food. probably a little over that time frame.

as i said, the parameters of the water are fine. he is in a 125g by himself and his behavior appears to be normal.

i know if he was new to the tank, that this would be kind of normal from stress and adjusting, but he ate fine for about 2 months before this. in fact he ate fine from day 1 since i've had him.

i don't know if he could have something going on internally??? i'll probably just wait it out to see if he comes around, but as this continues i am getting more and more concerned.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

My rhom has gone months without eating for no reason...and then he will snap out of it and eat like he is starving. Large rhoms seem to just go through these phases. I only feed my rhom once a week anyways...and if he doesnt react to the food when I wave it in front of the tank....I dont feed him. I say it over and over...people on this forum overfeed their fish. It is easy to see if a fish is malnourished...he will loose his fat storage in his dorsal area....and you will see his ribs. As long as you are not seeing this....I wouldnt worry about it...and I would stop offering him food all the time. I would let him wait it out a bit.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

thanks for the reply GG, i was getting a little worried. i usually feed him 4x's/week in small amounts, well, small amounts for a 13"-14" rhom.

i agree with you about overfeeding. it doesn't seem to be as obvious with large rhoms, but i have seen SO many large pygos that appear to be overweight and fat. mine looks fine, and i know it would take quite a while for a fish of normal weight to appear malnourished.

i do think that part of the overfeeding pygos, may be fear of cannibalism. however, people need to be aware of when their p's are becoming grossly overweight. it's cruel to overfeed, even if the fish will accept a ton of food.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

True...they also need to understand that hunger is not the cause of aggression in the tank.

Good luck with the rhom...I am sure he is just taking a small break from eating.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

a rhom that large will be fine for a while without eating. I would just try mayby every week or even try some feeders. garlic gaurd could work, but he should eventually eat on his own.


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## Yanfloist (Oct 1, 2007)

your rhom will come along...I wouldn't worry about it.


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## Pat (Jul 19, 2004)

Just a shot in the dark...

Do you run carbon in your filter? 
You probably recall, if you've read about HITH issues, you've read that there's strong evidence that HITH is sometimes connected to carbon use. It's speculated that the removal of certain minerals can offset the mineral balance in the fish.

Not saying here that your rhom has HITH but it may be a cause of a mineral imbalance of some sort, that's of course under the assumption you're using carbon.

Just a a thought... since the more obvious things have been mentioned by the other members.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

thanks for the replies. for now i am just gonna see what happens. he did manage to find the salvini into his mouth, yesterday...lol because i knew that was coming. the others are too fast moving for him.

if this continues for a while, i will look more into the carbon issues regarding mineral balance. i am just surprised he ate well for the first two months i had him, now almost nothing.


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