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I moved 6 6"-8" Tilapia into a 45 gallon aquarium from my IBC to feed them more and grow them out but for some reason they aren't eating. They've been there for over a month and except for a few days when they did seem to be nibbling they just don't eat. They also don't move around too much. One of the larger ones just died so I thoroughly tested the water and everything was perfect except the Ph was at 6 but hasn't always been that low. I did a 50% water change which brought the Ph up to 6.4 and they moved around a little bit more but then stopped moving again. Anyone have any ideas what might be happening?

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What is the temperature?  We find that ours don't eat as soon as the temp drops below 69 degrees.

The temp is around 66-68 but has been higher. The fish in my IBC are at 65 (I try to keep it around 70 since I'm not breeding) right now and eat like there's no tomorrow. I moved mature fish before and they didn't eat much for a few weeks but these guys don't seem to be interested in eating at all. Moving them again to another tank would just cause additional stress so I'm just monitoring them and their water closely to try to figure it out.

I had put another fish in from a different tank to see if he would eat and raised the temp to 77. In 3-4days the new fish had died but after I took him out of the tank the other fish seem to have started eating now. Not sure what the issue is/was since I have fish in cooler water that eat just fine.

Spoiled little children.

Sylvia Bernstein said:

What is the temperature?  We find that ours don't eat as soon as the temp drops below 69 degrees.

I've found that fish stress (especially from moving fish from one tank environment to another) sticks around longer than you'd like. The fish become sensitive because of the stress and anything else that's "off" with your system perpetuates and elevates that stress. I'd go out of your way to make things more comfortable for them. Raise the temperature for a while and alternate using potassium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate to buffer your pH up to at least 6.8 or so. Avoid rapid changes in pH like the plague and make sure they're not constantly being exposed to sudden changes in light or temperature. Once the little guys are happy, they'll be able to handle the little stress points in their life again.

Also, read "One-fish, Two-Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by Dr. Seuss every night before they go to bed. They like it when you sing, but cuddling seems to stress them out for some reason. Physical affection doesn't seem to be their love language I guess.....

Yeah I found the bedtime stories help. I did raise the temp and Ph and they are back to normal now. Don't know how they survived as long as they did not eating. I guess adult fish don't adapt to change as well as younger fish.

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