Ratchet won't eat!

[Pufferpunk]

is there a difference between regular earthworms and night-crawlers?

Nor really. Nightcrawlers might be a little larger.

[qtrhorse89]

Well operation shrimp on a string was not a success. He just ran away from it. So I left it in the tank and turned his light off. I'll remover it in the morning and try another earth worm. It does seem some of the ghost shrimp are missing so he might have eaten them, they won't do him much good though they are 80 percent water.

[Pufferpunk]

You could leave an algae wafer or flakes in there for the GS to eat. Then if the puffer eats the GS, he'll be eating what they are eating.

[eieio]

Sorry haven't been on. It's day 14 of the hunger strike and no obvious improvement. He lunged at a ghost shrimp but missed and lost interest. I'm going to try tying a piece of string to a shrimp piece and dangling it in his face again. I kind of wish he'd just get mad and then bite it and remember that food is actually good. *sigh*

The temp is a cozy 79 and hasn't changed. Parameters are all where they need to be. I can't remove the clown loaches I have no where else for them to go. He was originally in the tank with 5 loaches though and had no problems. His tank looks exactly like it did before all this mess.

Will keep everyone updated. Fingers crossed he'll eat soon.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"another facet of this theory is the addition of the three new clown loaches"

this post is why i mentioned additional clown loaches:

Concerned for Ratchet
by qtrhorse89 on Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:24 pm

He's not behaving as he normally does.

120 gallon tank
1 5inch fahaka
3 convict cichlids
2 clown loaches (supposed to get some more later on in the week so they can school)

[qtrhorse89]

Ah sorry for the confusion eieio. I see what you are saying. I still can't remove them as I have no where for them to go. I have a 10gallon but the heater is crapping out and I don't want to risk it. I feel so bad knowning this is all my fault. If he dies i'm going to be beside myself.

PP that's a great idea. I'll add some food for the ghost shrimp.

[pufferpuggirl]

Don't blame yourself qtrhorse89, sometimes puffers do things for odd reasons, doesn't necessarily mean it's your fault.

[qtrhorse89]

He all. I was really sick over the weekend so I wasn't able to post. Ratchet is improving although he is not back to himself quite yet. He is eating the ghost shrimp and he's been swimming around his tank more often. Last night I fixed his market shrimp and he actually came out to the front of the glass and did his happy swim but he still wouldn't eat the shrimp. This is better than before though when he wouldn't even look at the food. I'm hoping i'll start seeing him eat soon! Today is officially three weeks. His belly is flat but not sunk in so I have to assume he is eating something in that tank.

[pufferpuggirl]

Awwww, sorry that you were sick, but good to hear that Ratchet is looking better and is up & about. Do keep us posted, and we hope to hear nothing but good news!

[Flutter]

Yay, he's starting to eat again

[Pufferpunk]

See? Just a moody fellow!

[qtrhorse89]

Thanks all for the replies and support.

Yeah PP I have learned that he is quite the moody fellow. I have to move in the fall and I am now most definitely not looking forward to the temper tantrum that is going to follow. He's still eating ghost shrimp and swimming around. I think he might be picking at the market shrimp but he isn't actually eating it as of yet. I'll keep you guys updated and hopefully he'll be back to his normal self soon.

[qtrhorse89]

Well a quick update. We are back to the drawing board. He's still not wanting to eat. I think this tuesday will officially make a month of this fiasco. He acts hungry. He dances for the shirmp, he lunges at the shrimp, he take a bite of the shrimp.....then hastily backs away opens and closes his mouth quickly while shaking his head and then he swims away never showing interest in the shrimp. He's still eating the ghost shirmp, his tummy is just barely starting to look caved in. Any ideas on why he seems to want the shrimp, acts like he wants the shrimp, and then doesn't want the shrimp? His coloring still looks fine and even as i type he is swimming around making faces at his reflection. I am confused! His tank is a bit on the dirty side but i'm wary of cleaning it because I don't want to upset him.

[Flutter]

Darn. Have you tried earthworms?

[Pufferpunk]

Be sure all those ghosties are gutloaded, if that's all he'll eat!

[Nick]

I am beginning to expect a local protozoan infection of the mouth/throat. It causes fish to feel extreme pain when attempting to swallow, and thus they are actually hungry, and actually begging for food, but when they try to eat, the agony is so great they cannot swallow and spit the food. Occasionally they will get hungry enough to force down a few bites, but not often. This sounds like what you are going through. I recommend dosing his tank with metronidazole(preferably in a pure form, not a combo med) and twice daily doses of flubendazole(Wormer Plus, can be imported cheaply from the UK). Since he cannot eat, you must kill the infection where it resides. Luckily, it seems like a local infection, and as such, treating the water, for a change, WILL actually help - every time he pulls water through his mouth and out his gill ports, medicine kills the parasites that keep him from swallowing. in extreme cases, you can even use a 30x concentrated solution of flubendazole, and inject it into Rachet's mouth with a dropper, forcefully. That will nearly instantly kill many parasites.