Half Banded Spiny Eel hungry all the time?

[ella777]

He is 5-6 years old and has been fed frozen bloodworms his whole life. I've tried feeding him daphnia but he refused to eat it, I also can't find brine shrimp anywhere.
I feed him half a block each day meaning he gets 3½ blocks a week. He is apparently very healthy so I'm not too worried.
The problem is, he always seems hungry. Whenever anyone goes up to the tank, he comes up to the surface of the water for food.
I usually give him a little more when he does this as I don't want him to starve.
Is he actually hungry or just greedy? Should I continue feeding half a block everyday?

 

[joeyr188]

He is 5-6 years old and has been fed frozen bloodworms his whole life. I've tried feeding him daphnia but he refused to eat it, I also can't find brine shrimp anywhere.
I feed him half a block each day meaning he gets 3½ blocks a week. He is apparently very healthy so I'm not too worried.
The problem is, he always seems hungry. Whenever anyone goes up to the tank, he comes up to the surface of the water for food.
I usually give him a little more when he does this as I don't want him to starve.
Is he actually hungry or just greedy? Should I continue feeding half a block everyday?

If you’ve been doing it for that many years than I think he is greedy

 

[ella777]

If you’ve been doing it for that many years than I think he is greedy

Forgot to say, I haven't had him for that long, I've had him since October 2022.
I didn't used to do this, he started about 2-3 months ago.

 

[Ichthys]

In my book, if a fish is hungry I feed it.
But it’s probably not all that healthy if it’s only eaten bloodworms it’s whole life. Just stop feeding bloodworms. It’ll eat other foods when it’s hungry enough.

 

[DoubleDutch]

In my book, if a fish is hungry I feed it.
But it’s probably not all that healthy if it’s only eaten bloodworms it’s whole life. Just stop feeding bloodworms. It’ll eat other foods when it’s hungry enough.

Think you can forget that. Our two only eat bloodworms as well and a sometimes a little bit of tubifex.

Ours lay for the glass to ask for food. To be honest they can't be hungry hahahah

 

[Colin_T]

Is it skinny?

what does its poop look like?
white poop could indicate intestinal worms.
see section 3 of the following link if you suspect worms.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

you can feed them raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. Just get some frozen prawns and keep them in the freezer. Defrost one, remove the head and shell and throw these bits in the bin. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small bits and offer a few pieces at a time. See if it eats them.

if you have live shrimp in the tank, use cooked prawn/ shrimp so you don't introduce diseases

 

[ella777]

Is it skinny?

what does its poop look like?
white poop could indicate intestinal worms.
see section 3 of the following link if you suspect worms.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

you can feed them raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. Just get some frozen prawns and keep them in the freezer. Defrost one, remove the head and shell and throw these bits in the bin. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small bits and offer a few pieces at a time. See if it eats them.

if you have live shrimp in the tank, use cooked prawn/ shrimp so you don't introduce diseases

As far as I know, he isnt skinny at all. According to a false eel person on here, hes very healthy.
I've actually never seen his poo so I have no clue. I have never ever seen him poo before.
I honestly dont think he would take shrimp/prawns. He seems to be a very picky eater.

 

[ella777]

In my book, if a fish is hungry I feed it.
But it’s probably not all that healthy if it’s only eaten bloodworms it’s whole life. Just stop feeding bloodworms. It’ll eat other foods when it’s hungry enough.

He is healthy but thank you.