New Storebought 9-Month Old Flowerhorn Not Eating

Hey everyone,

About 24 hours ago, I got a 9-month Flowerhorn from a local petshop here in Saudi Arabia. It's a beauty!

However, it still has yet to eat anything. The store owner said they fed him Kok pellets in the morning then beef heart and/or tilapia for lunch (which I'm about to buy now). I did hear that chicken hearts are far from ideal as they're very fatty.

This morning, he ate like 3 pellets (out of 10, which I've since removed) and he ate half a chicken heart this afternoon. Otheriwse, he has shown no interest in any of the other foods I've tried (dried mealworms, dried shrimp, fresh raw shrimp, small cichlid pellets, and even frozen bloodworms).

I'm paranoid that he's not eating since they're supposed to be voracious eaters. Also, he's losing some of the darkness in the spots in his abdomen (closer to the tail).

My theory is that he's still stressed. He has been in the same tank for the last 5/6 months, and while transportation was fine, getting him into his current tank was a bit stressful: I tried to carry him by hand but he kept squirming around so it took a while before I could finally lift him out of the bucket and into the water.

Here are some details about the tank:

• A 50-gallon tank that has been running for 6 months
• No tank mates (there was a relatively small Labidochromic chisumulae cichlid that he chases around + a pleco in there but he was being really aggressive with it so I moved them into another tank for now)
• A few decorations (one small plant for him + a black stone). There's also some old bleached coral that stays hidden behind the plant, which I used to initially cycle the tank (good bio media)
• Gravel substrate
• Temperature is at a 27c (80f)
• pH at 7.4-7.6
• Air stone
• Tank if ofc cycled, but nitrates at 40+ppm, which is confusing because I did a 50% water change yesterday and another one today, so something is wrong there. I checked my tap water parameters and there are very low nitrates so that can't be the issue. I did a quick rinse of my filters cuz they were severely gunked up, but maybe it's time to replace one? Idk, it seems like nothing I do reduces below 40ppm for more than 2 days.

I've been in a hobby for about a year now, so I'm relatively new + I've never kept a monster fish before. I know that monster fish can be easily stressed out and not eat for a while, but I was really hoping to get some insight about my new buddy because it's been a dream to get this fish for a while now. It's not easy to find FH's in Saudi and I did some serious fish hunting to find this guy.

When should I be worried? Also, it seems that the pet store exclusively fed him raw meats (heart + filet), but he's not eating shrimp. How do I get him to eat the foods available? Or is this an old dog can't learn new tricks kinda thing? Do I just need to be patient and wait until he's hungry enough? I don't want to starve my new friend But obviously I will if I have to. I kind of made a lot of sacrifices for this guy, and I really want to make sure he's healthy and happy so any advice or insights would be great.

Anyway, if you've read this much, thanks so much!

TL;DR
My Flowerhorn won't eat and I'm paranoid. What do I do?

 

It sounds like he is eating, you said he ate 3 pellets and some chicken heart. If you only purchased him a day ago, it's not unheard of for the fish to refuse to eat for a few days. Did you try all those foods you listed in one meal? Try to pick one for each meal to avoid over feeding and polluting the water.

Adult fish can go over a week with no food and be fine. I wouldn't start panicking, especially since he did take some food. If you want to train him to take a specific food, you'll need to present that as the only food available. If he refuses it, skip a meal, don't offer a different food as he'll learn he doesn't have to eat whatever it is you're trying to convert him to.

I would wait to do this though since he's so new. Let him settle in and see what food he's willing to take on his own after he's more comfortable.

If there are no nitrates in your tap water, they could be coming from the gunked up filter. Waste trapped in the filter still breaks down and releases nitrates into the water even if it's in the filter. I'd start by trying to get those cleaner (without ruining your cycle).

 

It sounds like he is eating

Thanks so much.

Yes he did eat three tiny little pellets and half a chicken heart. I suppose I'm being paranoid but I was expecting a vacuum cleaner of a fish!

But I'm also worried because he hasn't shown any interest in anything else, and I know chicken heart is supposed to be a treat--not a meal.

I suppose I'll wait and see how the next week pans out. I'm traveling on Monday though, so I just want to figure this all out before my brother takes care of him.

I would wait to do this though since he's so new. Let him settle in and see what food he's willing to take on his own after he's more comfortable.

By this you mean every night offer him a selection and see what he takes? Or do you mean offer him one every day?

I'd start by trying to get those cleaner (without ruining your cycle).

I have some new filter cartridges. I'll replace one of the two older ones with a newer one that's been soaked a bit. Hopefully that will help!

Again, thanks so much for your advice.

 

By this you mean every night offer him a selection and see what he takes? Or do you mean offer him one every day?

I would still only offer him one type of food per meal. If given an assortment, he may just choose his favorite. He may be willing to eat the other foods if that was all that was presented to him, but it may seem like he refuses it if he's given the choice of a different food within that same meal.

If this were my fish I would try the following:
1) not worry if he doesn't have a huge appetite within the first week or so
2) find at least one food he does like to eat. If he's already eaten the pellets, maybe stick with those for now. This way you know there's at least one food you can fall back on, and that he has an appetite and isn't sick. See if he'll eat this food consistently for a few days.
3) each day try 1 other food. Gauge his interest. If he seems interested but hesitant, maybe try this food again the next day also, even if he didn't eat it the first day (be sure to remove uneaten food). Keep track of what foods he willingly takes, add these to your list of foods he'll eat. If he refuses to eat anything else besides the pellets then you know you'll have some work ahead of you.
4) to try and train him to take other foods, I would not feed him for a day or two, and then only present the food of your choice for another couple days. If he keeps refusing, feed him some pellets (or any foods from the list of ones he likes to eat) so he doesn't go too long without food and restart.

 

Thanks again. Just to clarify, the pellets are special ones marketed for Kok growth, so I'm not sure they're a reasonable 'meal' per say.

That being said, I'll follow your advice.

As for nitrates, it seems like a trickier issue. As I said, I two 30-40% water changes in the last 24 hours and am worried about getting rid of too much beneficial bacteria. I want to replace my filter cartridge but don't want to cause a bio crash or anything. I already rinsed out my filter media the day I bought him, so I'm not sure what my options are. Been doing research all day and the advice is always the same: do water changes, add plants (not possible with FH), get an algae scrubber (kind of broke right now and can't afford it since these 'specialty' products are so expensive here). Any advice on that end?

 

Thanks again. Just to clarify, the pellets are special ones marketed for Kok growth, so I'm not sure they're a reasonable 'meal' per say.

That being said, I'll follow your advice.

As for nitrates, it seems like a trickier issue. As I said, I two 30-40% water changes in the last 24 hours and am worried about getting rid of too much beneficial bacteria. I want to replace my filter cartridge but don't want to cause a bio crash or anything. I already rinsed out my filter media the day I bought him, so I'm not sure what my options are. Been doing research all day and the advice is always the same: do water changes, add plants (not possible with FH), get an algae scrubber (kind of broke right now and can't afford it since these 'specialty' products are so expensive here). Any advice on that end?

I would take a look at the ingredients of the food, not just what it supposedly does. Make sure it's not filled with a bunch of fillers. I'm not sure what foods you have available to you locally, but new life spectrum is a good pellet if available.

What were the nitrates levels before the changes? I'm wondering if they were very high to begin with, or if your tank is truly producing that much nitrate in between the changes

 

I use an API freshwater test kit and its been consistently reading between 40-80ppm, never 160+ (dark red) before and after each water change. And I really mean consistently, no matter how often I do water changes.

I thought maybe the test was messed up, but I tested my tap water (which is what I use to for water changes+ dechlorinator) and it read 0ppm so I'm not sure.

I would take a look at the ingredients of the food, not just what it supposedly does. Make sure it's not filled with a bunch of fillers.

This is the food. 50% protein, seems like the rest is filler? What do you think?

 

Definitely not a fish food expert here. Some people would argue that the use of "meals" in the ingredients is poor quality, but from my understanding the meal is essentially just all of the fish or shrimp parts are being used, not just the higher quality parts. Which is what a fish would eat if they ate a full shrimp anyways. The wheat is a filler, but that's not the end of the world as most foods do have some fillers. I would say the food is OK/decent, and if you can get your guy eating a variety of foods I see no issue using those pellets also.

That is strange about the nitrates. If they end up at 80 before a 50% change it would make sense that they only go down to 40, but it seems odd that they increase so much. What kind of pleco was in the tank and did you only just move it to another tank? The only thing I can think of is either overfeeding or the pleco. Plecos are big waste producers, especially the larger species. How frequently were your water changes before the most recent two you mentioned?

Just for comparison, here are some pictures of the new life spectrum I mentioned. This is considered by many fish keepers a good quality pellet. The protein isn't as high as yours, but I've got to be honest and say I'm not sure how much protein a flowerhorn requires.

 

Definitely not a fish food expert here. Some people would argue that the use of "meals" in the ingredients is poor quality, but from my understanding the meal is essentially just all of the fish or shrimp parts are being used, not just the higher quality parts. Which is what a fish would eat if they ate a full shrimp anyways. The wheat is a filler, but that's not the end of the world as most foods do have some fillers. I would say the food is OK/decent, and if you can get your guy eating a variety of foods I see no issue using those pellets also.

That is strange about the nitrates. If they end up at 80 before a 50% change it would make sense that they only go down to 40, but it seems odd that they increase so much. What kind of pleco was in the tank and did you only just move it to another tank? The only thing I can think of is either overfeeding or the pleco. Plecos are big waste producers, especially the larger species. How frequently were your water changes before the most recent two you mentioned?

Just for comparison, here are some pictures of the new life spectrum I mentioned. This is considered by many fish keepers a good quality pellet. The protein isn't as high as yours, but I've got to be honest and say I'm not sure how much protein a flowerhorn requires.

Just to update: my buddy is eating raw shrimp now and isn't shy about his earlier-mentioned pellets. Seems to be all fine for now (besides the nitrate problem). Thanks for your advice

As for nitrates, going to keep doing small daily water changes and hope for the best

 

Personally, anything beside quality pellets in unnecessary. Brine shrimp, frozen krill and bloodworms that are parasite free from a good brand make a good treat once a week.

Chicken heart and beef heart are bad treats as they contain wrong proprtions of amino acids and some bad for fish fats that harden in cold blooded fish.

Try getting food from northfin or new life spectrum or hikari bio gold plus.

 

Definitely not a fish food expert here. Some people would argue that the use of "meals" in the ingredients is poor quality, but from my understanding the meal is essentially just all of the fish or shrimp parts are being used, not just the higher quality parts. Which is what a fish would eat if they ate a full shrimp anyways. The wheat is a filler, but that's not the end of the world as most foods do have some fillers. I would say the food is OK/decent, and if you can get your guy eating a variety of foods I see no issue using those pellets also.

That is strange about the nitrates. If they end up at 80 before a 50% change it would make sense that they only go down to 40, but it seems odd that they increase so much. What kind of pleco was in the tank and did you only just move it to another tank? The only thing I can think of is either overfeeding or the pleco. Plecos are big waste producers, especially the larger species. How frequently were your water changes before the most recent two you mentioned?

Just for comparison, here are some pictures of the new life spectrum I mentioned. This is considered by many fish keepers a good quality pellet. The protein isn't as high as yours, but I've got to be honest and say I'm not sure how much protein a flowerhorn requires.

Meal is very tricky word in ingredients, all it means is dried. Some brands use fish meal that's made from leftover parts of fish, some like northfin use fish meal made from whole quality fish. Some brands mention fish without meal, as they can list ingredient by wet weight to get in at higher in ingredients list. NLS doesn't use meal to avoid the stigma associated with the word meal.

It's better to see whole sardine meal than just fish meal for sure. From a trusted brand like NLS you can ignore lack of meal but I won't from any other brand.

Something needs to be used as a binder to hold the pellet together, mostly that's where wheat comes in for high quality brands. Soy, corn, rice are all fillers.