Need good advice with L046 not eating

Jono

Member
Feb 7, 2017
5
0
1
Denmark
Hi, just bought six L046 last weekend, but they wont eat at all, is this normal?

Water is fine acording to my Quicksticks, no nitrit and nitrat is about 25 and ph is about 6.5
I know sticks are not that accurate, but only give me a hint of the quality of the water, but i dont think thats it.
Water temp is 29c .

I got some L134 same weekend and all is fine with them.

Anyone?
 

blinkywcd

Member
Jun 20, 2010
22
0
1
Sydney
I have a couple of questions :
1. are they in a tank with other fish or other L numbers ?
2. what are you feeding them ?
3. did you or can you ask what the previous owner was feeding them and at what time of the day ?
L046 are and can be a shy L number and do not compete well for food with other more dominant fish.
 

blinkywcd

Member
Jun 20, 2010
22
0
1
Sydney
Thought of something else that might have an influence on them eating, are they wild caught or tank bred. If they are wild caught and in some instances tank bred they could have worms this will have an impact on them eating.
 

Jono

Member
Feb 7, 2017
5
0
1
Denmark
They are all tank bred, and alone in the tank.
Yes they are really shy, and only move around at night.
They get carnivore tablets and JBL novo tabs, whitch i clean up after 2 days as they are not eating them...
 

blinkywcd

Member
Jun 20, 2010
22
0
1
Sydney
Hi Jono, ok you can try them on frozen daphnia , cyclops , rotifers , Spririlaina shrimp and mysis shrimp as well as just plain brine shrimp... and a couple viformos tabs thrown in for good measure and see what happens from there.
I as many in Australia do not feed our L046's blood worm as they have a hook on them which can get caught in small fry's throats and they literally choke on them not being able to eat them or dispel them ...
Hope this helps
Learning through asking questions is how I have got my info, thanks to others here in Australia.
 

Raul-7

Member
Oct 21, 2011
36
0
6
CA
Hi, just bought six L046 last weekend, but they wont eat at all, is this normal?

Water is fine acording to my Quicksticks, no nitrit and nitrat is about 25 and ph is about 6.5
I know sticks are not that accurate, but only give me a hint of the quality of the water, but i dont think thats it.
Water temp is 29c .

I got some L134 same weekend and all is fine with them.

Anyone?
Nitrate is high; they prefer lower nitrate levels. How often do you change the water?
 

Jono

Member
Feb 7, 2017
5
0
1
Denmark
I change 30% water 2 time a week now, and my nitrate is about 10 now PH is still a bit too high i think, will do something about this soon.
I will get some RO water later this week, and start using RO and tap mixed water.

My L46 i eating now, just not mutch, and they never move from the cave, so i don't get to see them mutch :) but i guess thats normal too.
 

Raul-7

Member
Oct 21, 2011
36
0
6
CA
I change 30% water 2 time a week now, and my nitrate is about 10 now PH is still a bit too high i think, will do something about this soon.
I will get some RO water later this week, and start using RO and tap mixed water.

My L46 i eating now, just not mutch, and they never move from the cave, so i don't get to see them mutch :) but i guess thats normal too.
They are shy and prefer to eat with the lights out. That's why they do poorly in community setups.

As long as they don't look emaciated and they have that blue tinge in their finnage [with no visible parasites or fungus] then they should be healthy.

Your pH is fine; actually close to ideal. I keep mine in the 6.5 range and they breed. Slightly acidic is all you want - below a pH of 6 and things become unstable. The biological capacity of your filtration will begin to suffer - the bacteria need alkalinity to survive. In the wild the water is always moving and changing as to avoid the negative effects of waste build up; in the aquarium not so much.

It is well known from documented research papers that the nitrifying bacteria operate at close to 100% effectiveness at a pH of 8.3, and this level of efficiency decreases as the pH lowers. At pH 7.0 efficiency is only 50%, at 6.5 only 30%, and at 6.0 only 10%. Below 6.0 the bacteria enter a state of dormancy and cease functioning. Fortunately, in acidic water (pH below 7.0) ammonia automatically ionizes into ammonium which is basically harmless.

In the "normal" nitrification cycle, 7 carbonate molecules are consumed for each molecule of ammonia processed to nitrate. For this reason, active biological filters need carbonate in the water to function efficiently.

Temperature also affects the rate of growth of nitrifying bacteria.
 

dw1305

Global Moderators
Staff member
May 5, 2009
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36
Wiltshire nr. Bath, UK
Hi all,
It is well known from documented research papers that the nitrifying bacteria operate at close to 100% effectiveness at a pH of 8.3, and this level of efficiency decreases as the pH lowers. At pH 7.0 efficiency is only 50%, at 6.5 only 30%, and at 6.0 only 10%. Below 6.0 the bacteria enter a state of dormancy and cease functioning. Fortunately, in acidic water (pH below 7.0) ammonia automatically ionizes into ammonium which is basically harmless.

In the "normal" nitrification cycle, 7 carbonate molecules are consumed for each molecule of ammonia processed to nitrate. For this reason, active biological filters need carbonate in the water to function efficiently.

Temperature also affects the rate of growth of nitrifying bacteria.
Biological filtration is more efficient in warm, base rich conditions, but those figures for the lower rates of biological filtration at lower pH are based upon the assumption that the filter organisms involved in microbial filtration in aquariums are the same bacteria that you find in waste water treatment.

More recent research, using RNA markers, has shown that the nitrifying organisms in aquarium filters (and low ammonia situations in nature) are mainly from the Archaea and that they have a much wider range ecological tolerances.

Dr Hovanec's original research was focused on Nitrobacter, Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira and of these we now know that only the last is a major player in aquariums.

References are:
"Freshwater Recirculating Aquaculture System Operations Drive Biofilter Bacterial Community Shifts around a Stable Nitrifying Consortium of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Comammox Nitrospira".

"Ammonia-oxidizing archaea have more important role than ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in ammonia oxidation of strongly acidic soils".

and

"Temporal and Spatial Stability of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in Aquarium Biofilters".

cheers Darrel