CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

i just bought an 8" JD for 5 days. He did not eat and he's really scared of people who walked by his tank.. (1-2 feet away).
Help!!!!
the only i can think of is PH level.. it's low.. but he's supposed to be very hardy.

Not too unusual for large cichlids to go off their feed for a while after a move. What size tank is he in? What's the foot traffic like in the room with his tank? Do you have a background? A hiding place or two? (S)He's feeling insecure after the move to your quarters, and needs to feel safe. Take a look at your whole setup, including the tank's situation in the room, and see if you can make it more friendly for him.

He is in the tank 45 gallong with blood parrot. I have a pipe for him to hide whenever he saw me he goes in there. I usually sit like 2 feet away from him. I hope he will eat soon.. because he's getting weaker. I just put some epson salt to raise ph level up. Maybe tomorrow i'take my water to petco for them to test.

I agree with DanRad. My JD has gone as long as a week without eating, when something is bothering him. He mostly hides in the big bell I have in the tank and his fins are down most of the time when he comes out.

I wouldn't worry too much about him. Keep the water quality up and he should be fine when he gets used to his new surroundings.

Just out of curiosity -- have you checked ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

yes, I already checked that. This is a 2 weeks aquariun tho. I put part of the gravel,water from an already established aquarium over. PH is low . I put 5 tablespon of epsom in yesterday. I probably will put in some baking soda later on (I read somewhere in the internet that baking soda will increase PH level)

IMO it's often counter-productive to go overboard adding stuff to the water to get pH into a specific range. JD's particularly have proven to be pretty hardy, and don't need too much pH pampering. If you're having a pH crash, start doing small daily water changes till it stabilizes. Couple of questions:

What is pH out of the tap?
What is pH in the tank?
Are ammonia & nitrite reading more than 0?
What size is the tank?
What is water temp?