Hi all

As you might know, my moor Lucifer is in QT from coming home with finrot.
After almost a month in there, he's still looking very skinny. I've only fed him a few soaked flakes once a day (because he's very tiny), could this be the cause? I kind of doubt that myself, my other fishies got pretty fat anyway.
I'm still thinking he might have some bacterial infection, but he eats like a maniac and the poop is looking healthy. No stringyness or anything.
Is there any food that contains a lot if fat (fresh or flakes) that I can feed him? I also need to know if I need to feed him more..
I'm gonna try this before getting any medicine. If he doesn't get fatter after this, I'll treat him for whatever he could be having.

How big is he and how big are the pellets? Do you feed your other fish the same amount? Has he always been skinny?

Thank you for your reply.

He's about 4 cm (1.5 inches) not including tail.
The times he doesn't get flakes, I feed him one pellet a day. Other than that I sometimes give him one half a pea, of 2/3 half a pea if it's a big one.
Yes, he's been skinny since the day I got him, which was around Christmas. Again, there's nothing wrong with the poop. He's got kind of a slender body type too, do you think that makes him look more skinny than he really is?

The other fish are 5 and 6 cm (2 and 2.3 inches) not including tails.
I feed the bigger ones one pellet each in the morning and sometimes one in the evening. I also feed them half a pea each and other vegetables every now and then.

I'm not a pro on this, but I would feed all of your fish more. 1.5 inches is small, but he should be eating more. He could be malnourished or it could just be in his genes really...since he is a moor he might not have gotten a fair chance with food at the LFS and that is why he was skinny. I don't think there is anything wrong internally because he eats and poops like a healthy baby. Whether is genetic or being underfed, you should feed more. Now...anyone know how much more?

What size are the pellets? I feed my fish quite a lot more than that (only once a day) and then remove what they don't eat after about 5 mins...

The pellets are 3 mm when dry, and 4-5 mm when soaked.
I don't know really, I think it looks like a lot of food. I don't want to over feed.

Those pellets are bigger than what I am used to, but you should feed them more. Try feeding multiple times a day if you are worried about over feeding. Anyone know how much more?

I would get one of those cheap breeding nets, or even a floating container while you feed the little fish. Put him in there, and give him his food separately. That gives him enough time to eat without having to fight over the food with the other fish. That might be a big part of the problem. That way you can control and see perfectly how much he eats.

You also can give him, and all of your fish of course, something higher protein. Frozen bloodworms from Hikari are excellent for that, and the only kind that comes guaranteed parasite free. High protein foods will fatten him up as well. Mine always look like little balloons after a meal of bloodworms...
The package of worms comes in convenient cubes, so all you have to do is pop out one cube and give it to your fish. The cube will melt and expose the worms.

Thanks, I'll try and get some of that!

Hi Ranchugirl

What is a breeding net like, or what type of floating container could you use,I have awful trouble trying to stop my minnows from eating my moors food, they are so quick, he too eats sinking pellets but by the time he has saw the food so have four minnows, he hasn't got a chance.

I saw this thread where they had made a container out of a transparent plastic box (used for shipping strawberries i think?) and some empty flake food containers, to make it float. Unfortunately I can't seem to find it..

Here you go Natt It was pinned in the tip of the month forum

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=29307

Yes, that's the one. Thanks!