# Help! My severum has stopped eating!



## AnnieC (Jan 5, 2011)

Everything has been going so well in my tank, currently, there are 5 Australian Rainbowfish (2-3 inches now), 2 Emerald Rainbowfish (~2") and 2 rotkeil severums (~3") in my 55 gallon tank. We are planning on soon getting a 125. Everything has been going well, and all the water tests have been perfect, but all the sudden, the other day, one of my severums has stopped eating. All the other fish are acting fine. I feed frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms in the morning and Omega One pellet food in the evening. Every other day or so, I feed peas in the afternoon. Ammonia is between 0 and 0.25, pH is 7.6, Nitrites are 0, Nitrates are approx 5, using the API master test kit. Also, yesterday, my tank really clouded up all of the sudden, but the water quality is still reading the same. I keep the water temp about 80. Does anyone know if there is anything I need to do, or what I can do to save my severum. On hand I have some Rid-Ich +, some Melafix, and some Pimafix, but if there is something else I need, I should be able to run out and get it (I'm a SAHM and we only have one vehicle, so me getting out can be difficult sometimes)


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

I hear nothing that warrants the use of any medication at this time. Many people make the simple mistake of going into panic the minute something isn't the usual with their fish, dumping in medications that in turn cause more harm than good.

You mention that your water is cloudy, is it white cloudy, green cloudy, or brown cloudy? If not sure, take a cup of tank water and pour it through a coffee filter and then examine the color it leaves behind. If white cloudy is the problem it is likely a bacterial bloom and the best thing to do is nothing. 

Can I ask about your maintenance schedule? How often, how much water changed each time, any chemicals added, etc? Are there live plants in the tank? If so, what species?

Have you noticed any other symptoms in the fish besides the lack of eating? Is it just the one fish that is having a problem or all of that species in the tank? Any change in coloration, behavior, fin damage, etc? Can you post a photo of the tank? Of the fish in question? Have you tried introducing any new foods? How often are you feeding? What kind of filter are you running on this tank? The more info you can provide, no matter how trivial you may think it is, the easier it is to help you.

The best thing to do right now is to watch, wait, and work on sorting out potential problems through process of elimination. I can help you with that. If a treatment of some sort is needed I will be able to help you with that also... but right now, medicating with anything would be a mistake.


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## AnnieC (Jan 5, 2011)

The tank is a white cloudy, I would guess, no coffee filters here to run water through, lol. Typically, we do about a 25% water change every other week, we test the water 1-2 times a week. We don't add any chemicals when we change the water, as we have well water. There are no live plants in the tank. No other fish are showing any symptoms, including our other severum. We feed them brine shrimp and bloodworms (frozen) in the morning, and Omega One pellet food in the evening. We also give them peas every other day or so.

the severum that has not been eating has been pretty much been acting normal, except for at feeding time, then it goes and hides behind driftwood.

As for filtration, we have a hang on the back Aquaclear filter.


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

There is great significance in the fact that the fish appears to be fine until feeding time and then instead of feeding with the others it goes to hide. That sounds like a stress/dominance issue. If you can post a photo of the tank that would help a lot. Sometimes its a matter of how the tank is decorated (or lack of decor) that is an easy solution to problems such as this. When you feed do you drop all the food in one place or in multiple places over a period of minutes, so the others can feed as usual and this fish can feed from elsewhere without fear or worry of being bothered, chased away, or harassed?


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