FishProfiles.com Message Forums

First time I've ever posted here so be patient. I recently bought 2 baby smoky angels, body size about that of a nickel. I put them in a 20 gal tank that has been set up for over a year. Tank mates are 2 upside down cats, one male cherry barb and 4 silver tipped tetras. From the start, the one angel would not eat any flakes. The other one was and is a hog. So, after 2 daysof the one not eating, I put froz blood worms in the tank and all fish ate with gusto. The one angel that wouldn't eat the flakes but did eat the worms still will not eat anything but froz blood worms. I've had this fish for 3 weeks now and it's getting on my nerves. You can tell it's hungry, not sick acting at all but just won't eat flakes. It will go for 5 days without eating (gets very thin looking) anything unless I finally "cave in" and give it bloodworms. Now what am I suppose to do with this fish? I've had angels for years and have never had one like this. I called the pet shop that I bought it at and they blamed me and said because I gave it "meat" that's the reason it won't eat anything but the worms. I tried to explain that it wouldn't eat flakes from the start but it fell on deaf ears. Advice would be greatly appreciated! I don't know what the parameters of the water are but it's an established tank and I do 20% water changes 2 times a week.

You really have two choices...

Feed it flakes and force it to eat them...I don't think it will starve itself to death and if, after two weeks, it's still doing okay, then it's eating the flakes when you're not looking...

OR

Vary it's meat diet with brine shrimp or mysis shrimp and feed it meaty foods forever...it's not necessarily a bad thing for it to eat these, but I'd vary the type of meat it eats...

Which option you choose is strictly your choice. I'd recommend forcing it to eat flakes, but there's a possibility I could be wrong...

Also, I hope you have a larger tank set up for those angels for the near future. They really could use a larger tank than a 20 gallon...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

Billy, yes, i have another established 55gal tank set up and it contains 3 larger angels, 2 young severums and other smaller fish and cats. I've considered putting this stubborn angel in with the big boys. They all eat like pigs and it would be either sink or swim for it. I just haven't put the new youngsters in this larger tank because they're still so small.
I'll try your suggestion and give nothing but flakes for 2 weeks. I haven't tried this up to this point because I was afraid this fish would actually starve itself. Will healthy fish do that?:88)

I had the same problem with my oscar just starve the angel and feed it nothing but pellets or flakes. then the angel will eventually be so starved and it will eat the flakes or pellets. Good luck!

I would recommend not feeding them for at least a whole day (possibly 2), and then giving them a small amount of flake/pellet. This probably wont work the first time, but eventually they will take it.
Did the same thing with my jewels that were brought up on blood worms.
If you have to feed your fish blood worm, only give them a small amount and start the above process over again.

Angels the size of a nickel mean they are still young. Depending on where you got them, the odds are the fry are raised on live food, thus, making them eat only blood worms.

Like suggested, starve them. Dont give them worms, just flakes.

They wont starve, fish usually can last 3-6 weeks with no food at all.

Leave very small amounts of food in the tank twice enough, not enough to pollute the tank, but enough to get the angel's interest.

3-6 weeks? I didn't realize they could go that long without eating. If that's the case then I need to get tough with this fish! I do see it pecking at the gravel and plants so it's looking for food at least. Spoiled fish is what I say!! Worse than little kids. Thanks for the feedback on this everyone!

If its pecking for food, odds are it's going to eat pretty soon. Let some of the food stay in the tank, and net some out when feeding, this way the angels learn that it is food.

I'm now convinced that this little angel has internal parasites. The web site AngelsPlus described it, sounds like this fish so they suggest turning up the temp which I did. It's suppose to stimulate the fishes metabolism so that they'll eat. It's eating alot better now, temp is at 88, eating bloodworms and brine shrimp with lots more enthusiasm. Poop is clear and stringy so that's good sign of parasites. Treating with Jungle Parasite Clear but also ordered anti-parasitic food from Petsmart. I think I'm going to treat my 55gal tank also with that. Can't hurt. BUT, it still won't eat flakes!! Go figure....

This stubborn angel is finally eating flakes! Pretty sure it had internal parasites because since I've treated the tank it's doing tons better and it's poop is normal. Keeping the temp around 82 seems to give it more of an appetite also. So I'm looking forward to it playing catch up to it's tank mate in growth. Happy ending

Clear poop usually intestinal flagellates, usually its treated really easily. Keep the temp to 85*F just in case. The higher temp helps the angels out too.

If it was flagellates, then the Jungle fiz tablets should have knocked it out. I'm treating my 55gal tank also because I have fish in that tank; severums, couple of danios, that I bought from the same place that I got the angel from. I never realized that internal parasites were so common in fish. Kinda of makes you wonder whether it's the LFS or where they're buying their stock from. ]
Glad I found this site, it really helped me recognize the symptoms


[span class="edited"][Edited by potpourri 2004-09-09 21:47][/span]
How long should I keep the temp at 85 for?

[span class="edited"][Edited by potpourri 2004-09-09 21:48][/span]