The Puffer Forum

Ratchet has stopped eating and I don't know what to do. This is his 5th day without eating anything. I have tried snails, clams, and shrimp both shelled and deshelled. He just doesn't want it. He'll come to the surface when I offer him food and go to take a bite but he either just puts his mouth on it and then swims away or takes a bite and spits it out. I just don't know what to do for him.

The last time I checked the tank ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0, and nitrate were around 15. A friend gave me some smaller type of chiclid but they were in there for like 4 days before I took them back. They were quarantined before hand. They tore my tank to pieces. Could this have caused him to stop eating? He lives with 5 clown loaches that he gets along well with. It's a 120 gallon tank and it's been up for 5 months now. Temp is 79 degrees. I'm about to get up and clean the tank right quick and do a water change to see if that will help. I was tempted to net him so I could get a better look at his mouth but i'm afraid to stress him out. He belly isn't caved in but it isn't rounded either.

Any ideas?

First of all, don't worry too much yet - fish can go a long time without eating.

Did he stop eating at about the same time you introduced the cichlids? He could just be stressed out. How is his behavior otherwise, as in is he swimming around as normal? Not breathing hard or hanging out near the surface? Color still good?

Sounds like the cichlids may have upset the apple cart a little. They can be aggressive little terrors and Ratchet may be feeling stressed, like already stated. They can go for a quite a while without eating and if he's not showing other signs of stress I wouldn't be all too concerned yet. My Suvatti just came off a three week hunger strike with no ill effects.

I've never seen a healthy puffer turn down a live earthworm.

Yep, after having problems getting my Congo to eat, and now he's eagerly taking earthworms, I would suggest going the worm route and see what happens. Even if he doesn't take them the first time, keep trying. My Congo turned them down for nearly a week before he finally decided to try them, and now he likes them. So give that a go.
Sorry he's being difficult though, as I know it's frustrating.

I'll try the earthworms. His color is a bit lighter than it normally is on top and a bit darker on bottom. He shows no signs of stress. No heavy breathing. He does seem bummed out though. He stays under his driftwood and rarely comes out i.e. only when I feed him.

I tried him on red worms and he didn't like them but i'll give the earth worms a go.

Thanks

Well it is officially day 7 of Ratchet's refusal to eat. I've offered him everything under the sun including live night crawlers but he just laid on top of it instead of eating it. I think later he may have bitten it in half but he didn't eat it. No obvious signs of stress, no heavy breathing and frantic struggles to swim. He just sits under his driftwood and doesn't move anything but his eyes. Everynow and then he'll turn around and find another posistion. I am becoming disheartened. For those of you who have dealt with hungerstrikes, did your fish just suddenly start eating again or was it a slow process?

I just want my Ratchet back. The depressed, mopey, non-eating creature in the tank right now is nothing like him.

I've had to move my Baileyi a time or two to different tanks since I've had her, and each time I move her, she stops eating. I've had her go as long as your Ratchet, but then out of the blue, she will eat. Your puffer can handle not eating for a long time, so I would not worry unless he's looking extremely thin or showing any other signs of distress. It may just be a waiting game.

Just thought I'd update and tell you guys Ratchet still won't eat. Tuesday will be the two week mark. I'm really starting to stess about this. It's starting to show that he's not eating He stomach isn't sunk in yet but he's beggining to look a little gaunt. I'm just not sure what else I can try for him.

i think Dadof4s' "apple cart" theory "holds water"
another facet of this theory is the addition of the three new clown loaches
when i added ghost shrimp to "ollies" tank (T. Miurus), he became reclusive, lethargic, and lost his apetite
shortly after removal of the shrimp, he became his "grumpy old self" again
if possible, it may be a good idea to get things back to the status quo, prior to Ratchets eating issue
or maybe even get everybody else out of there (at least temporarily)

oh goodness hun! i cant imagnie what torture this must be for you id be worried sick if Kukah stopped eating. and i recently had a DP who was on a hunger strike, and im not particularly attached to my DPs, but i was really worried about him and my nose was GLUED to the front of tank when he wouldnt eat. eventually, he pulled through. i fed live brine shrimp... i know thats a tad small for a fahaka, but maybe its worth a shot... i tried everything under the sun like you, i was basically at my whitts end... and he was EXTREMELY skinny... but the second the brine shrimp hit the water, his belly was fat... maybe the taste will get him in the mood to eat and you can start with other things again. have you tried live crayfish or fiddler crabs? maybe he wants something moving?

i feel for you, i really do, i dont know what i would do if i lost Kukah. good luck

EDIT: i just thought.... can you find out if those cichlids were given any gold fish before you got them, like at any point? maybe they were quarantined but they may not have shown signs of IP until later. its very very common for cichlid owners to feed goldfish and the previous owner may not have considered those goldfish as a threat since they would be eaten quickly and not swimming around... i know thats how i thought before i knew better with my cichlids

Have you checked the temperature, maybe warmed it up a bit for him? Douggie sometimes refuses to eat, even going a couple of weeks when the temp isn't to his liking. For Doug it's when it gets too warm, but for most it would be the opposite...

any progress, changes?

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.

I'd just like to say that I am sorry you have to deal with this, I'm sure it's frustrating because I've had to deal with a similar situation. When I first got my large Congo, he would not eat. And it went for a very long time and I actually thought he would die, it was that serious.
I know you tried earthworms before (is there a difference between regular earthworms and night-crawlers?), but I had to try several times before my Congo started eating them. So just offer them to him each night, and the next day remove them. Then offer them again, and keep doing that. Eventually my Congo took a bite and now he's eating normally.

I really do hope things improve for you.