Help With Peacock Eels

[Tommy Gunnz]

Hello everyone! I am sad to report that last night I spent most of the night watching one of my three peacock eels pass away. I am not positive on the exact cause, by my feelings are that I somehow accidentally jabbed it a little too hard while vaccuming my tank last week. It basically was completely bent about an inch from the tip of its snout and had a large bubble (this is the best I can think to explain it) on its belly just under that spot. I also noticed that its gills were bright red, as if they were full of blood. I first noticed that it was in my tank lying upside down, but would every so often dart across the tank as if nothing was wrong. My first question is just to ask if any of these symptoms could be anything other than my assumption that It was accidentally crushed. Of course, I am sooooo very careful when maintaining this tank because I know that these little guys are very elusive and almost always buried in the substrate. I have had these three peacock eels for over four months now and with at least weekly cleanings, I have never had this problem before so I just thought I would check.

I also have noticed that this eel was especially thin and frail looking. In fact, all the eels appear to be the exact same size as when I bought them. So, my second question is how can I ensure that these eels are getting the food they need and I am also wondering what may be the best food to offer them. I was told by the store I purchased them from that they would do just fine on a combination of frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, and/or mysis shrimp. I have all three readily available and usually rotate through them throughout the week, but I admit there is really no method to my madness on which food I chose to feed on whatever day.

The real problem that I see (or at least think may be a problem) is that very little of the food I put in there makes it to the bottom of the tank. I also have a couple bala sharks, two tinfoil barbs, two rainbow sharks, four clown loaches, and a pleco in the tank. (It is a 155 gallon tank). The substrate is the garden variety gravel that can be found in any pet store (the rocks are pea sized or less). The eels have no problems what so ever dissapearing into the gravel in less than a milisecond, so I am pretty sure this substrate is fine for them (the fish store I got them from had them in a larger size substrate so I figured anything finer would be better). I am very limited to where I keep these eels since my other tanks are all set up with larger substrates or I have nothing but fry in the other tank and would like to keep those from being eel food.

So basically, I am wondering if I am doing anything wrong by keeping these eels. I really would hate to have another one die and so any information or suggestions would really be appreciated. Since I have lost alot of faith in the person I bought these amazing creatures from, I hope that someone out there might be able to point me in the right direction. Thank you for any help or info! I will keep tabs on this topic in case you might need any more information! Thanks again!

 

[jayjay]

basic, but have you tried hand feeding them? have you seen them eat?

it could of cut itself on the gravel and the cut got a bacterial infection.

sand would be a solution to that.

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

JayJay,

Unfortunatly I have not hand feed them basically due to the fact that I never see them. Actually, the one that just died was the only one I ever saw on a regular basis. Sand is really an option that I would like to stay away from due to a lot of research telling me about the problems that exist with such a fine substrate. I took a closer look at the gravel though and you may be right about the stones cutting into them.

This may be a dumb question, but how would I go about getting my eels to take food from me by hand? I really have never seen them eat at all before, but I do know that they roam around in the night thanks to my newly installed moonlight type fixtures. I have also tried to feed again around 10 o'clock in the hopes that more of the shrimp or worms make it to the eels but again, I have never seen them eat anything. In fact, as soon as I make any noise such as open the tank lids to put in food, they just bury themselves again and I havent had the time or patience to wait for them to emerge again.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[cane76]

i have experienced no problems with sand substrate and i would highly recommend it for eels

 

[MasterP]

If the problem your afraid of is anaerobic pockets or however they are spelled the ones that form in sand and then when released can destroy your tank will only happen if your sand is stirred around around which should not be a problem with two eels burrowing themselves. It helps if your sand bed is about an inch and you can stir your sand when you do weekly maintanance to further decrease the odds off getting those pockets. Personally i woud change to sand.

 

[jayjay]

well you would put the food in your hand, say a shrimp and then find 1 of the eels and put your hand by them very still, eventually they will notice it is food and come to eat it, after they get used to eating from your hands this process will speed up as they will regonise you are food not danger.

or you could leave the lid open turn the lights off, then drop food in at night ?

but i would switch to sand.

 

[nmonks]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: keeping (small) spiny eels in tanks with gravel instead of sand is effectively a death sentence.

The problem with all spiny eel species is that they are prone to mysterious bacterial infections. This is one reason that traditionally a little salt was added to a spiny eel aquarium, even though few of them are actually brackish water fish. In captivity spiny eels tend to scratch themselves when digging into the substrate. Spiny eels dig, the same way fish swim and birds fly. They have to do it and you can't stop them.

I've written an article on sand in aquaria to try and explode some of the myths. I have used sand in all my aquaria for 10+ years and never had any of the problems people believe occur. Yes, you need to plan ahead, and no, you can't just dump in sand and hope for the best, but seriously, it isn't any more difficult than running a tank with gravel.

Your fish will love you. Your plants will love you. So go now and buy a big bag of silical ("silver") sand from your nearest garden centre. Remove the fish to some buckets with lids. Take out the gravel, or at least reduce it to a depth of 2.5 cm or so. Stir in some pond/aquarium soil or laterite if you want really good plant growth. Now dump a similar depth of sand on top. Amazingly enough, the sand doesn't vanish into the gravel, and your spiny eels will now have lots of lovely soft sand to dig into.

In an aquarium without rooted plants, life is even easier. Take out all the gravel, and sling in 2.5 cm of sand. The spiny eels and catfish will stir this sand completely, from top to bottom, and there is zero chance of anaerobic decay.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Ok, gotcha and I have to say thank you all for giving me such good advice. It was such good advice that I have been allowed to free up one of my tanks for setting up a sand substrate tank. This leads me to more questions though so I thought I would post some of them in the forum while I do the research I need.

First question would be: Won't the eels uproot the plants if I choose to add them? (So far I have only used fake plants. You know, baby steps...)

Next question would be tank size. If I plan to keep only the pair of peacock eels that I have right now, what size tank would be the minimum required? (I have a 10 gallon which would be easiest for me to learn from, but also a 50 gallon tank which would require a lot more time to set up and all that. If the larger tank is needed though, I would be willing to do it. The eels are about 5 or 6 inches long right now)

Then I suppose my other questions still stand about the feeding of eels and how to be sure they are getting the proper nutrition that they need. I understand the hand feeding process better now and just dont think it is really viable right now since I would hate to scare one or both eels into digging profusely and getting injured.

Again, thanks for all the help!

 

[jayjay]

you definatley will need the 50g at least 10g is way to small.

if you keep them in the tank on their own, there is no way they won't get fed.

 

[nmonks]

First question would be: Won't the eels uproot the plants if I choose to add them? (So far I have only used fake plants. You know, baby steps...)

Obviously fake plants are fine. If need be, silicone them to a rock. Put the rock in the sand. Problem solved. Another way round is to use plants without roots. Java fern, Java moss, and Anubias spp. all encrust rocks and bogwood and couldn't care less whether the substrate is an inch deep or a mile deep. Nothing the spiny eel will do will disturb them. Floating plants also don't care. I'd really recommend buying some hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum). Spiny eels really like plant cover above them, and if there are enough floating plants, they will actually "burrow" through the plants, which means you can see them more easily. Floating plants also stop the spiny eels from jumping. For whatever reason, fish don't usually jump through plants, only open water.

My experience is that sturdy plants, like Vallisneria and Amazon swords, tend to be quite secure, and digging fish don't uproot them unless they are really big species (like a cichlid or big plec). But then, such fish would uproot them from gravel, too.

Next question would be tank size. If I plan to keep only the pair of peacock eels that I have right now, what size tank would be the minimum required? (I have a 10 gallon which would be easiest for me to learn from, but also a 50 gallon tank which would require a lot more time to set up and all that. If the larger tank is needed though, I would be willing to do it. The eels are about 5 or 6 inches long right now)

A 10 gallon is probably a bit small for two spiny eels over the long term. Your fish will probably not get very much bigger -- they don't seem to in home aquaria -- but potentially they could double in size. (Be sure and read CFC's excellent pinned topic on these fish. There are several species sold as peacock eels.) So I'd plan on something in the 20-30 gallon range, at least. The 50 gallon tank would be ideal, and I'd suggest getting some more. Two reasons: one, they like the company, and two, you can try breeding them. This is rarely done in home aquaria but not apparently because the fish are difficult. It's just no-one bothers.

Then I suppose my other questions still stand about the feeding of eels and how to be sure they are getting the proper nutrition that they need. I understand the hand feeding process better now and just dont think it is really viable right now since I would hate to scare one or both eels into digging profusely and getting injured.

With fish, overfeeding is more of an issue with underfeeding. Because they aren't warm blooded, they don't need regular food as we do. So even if you don't feed them for a day or three while you re-arrange their quarters, that's fine. Once they're settled in, they'll take a variety of foods.

That said, if you put some frozen (or better, live) bloodworms and earthworms in the tank at night, the fish will eat them. They don't dig into the sand while feeding. If you look at their heads, you will see they have a little snout-like thing. This is (apparently) a taste organ, and they use it to hunt for food. They will forage at night, poking that thing into anywhere a tasty worm might be.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Ok. Great Info. I have already done a ton of research on how to get started on my new tank ideas. I have decided to revamp my origonal tank that currently holds the two eels, bala sharks, rainbow sharks, clown loaches, and tinfoil barbs. The "theme" of this tank is a ship wreck and so I think it will be much more realistic if there was a sand substrate instead of the black and blue gravel that is currently in there.

I really am interested in some of the plants you mentioned, especially the type that will cover rocks as you explained. I am wondering though if this type of plant may over run my tank though and possibly cover the ship wreck decoration that I have (I paid a ton of money for it and dont really want to just put it in a closet).

This also brings me back to the problem of making sure the eels are fed. I have thought about possibly purchasing a turkey baster type device to deliver worms and/or shrimp closer to the eels. Does this seem like an ok idea?

Lastly, I have to admit that I am completely in love with my sailfin pleco that I have in this tank, but as we all know, he is a messy son of a gun and really going to out grow my tank pretty quickly. Do I really need a pleco in this tank with the other fish that I have? I suppose that my clown loaches and eels with take care of extra food that hits the bottom. I am just thinking that the large amount of waste that my pleco creates would really detract from a nice sandy bottom.

 

[nmonks]

I am wondering though if this type of plant may over run my tank though and possibly cover the ship wreck decoration that I have (I paid a ton of money for it and dont really want to just put it in a closet).

Java fern and Java moss will cover pretty much anything. Anubias might as well, but this is a bit of an awkward plant to attach to things (very slow growing) so you're better buying it already attached to a bit of bogwood.

This also brings me back to the problem of making sure the eels are fed. I have thought about possibly purchasing a turkey baster type device to deliver worms and/or shrimp closer to the eels. Does this seem like an ok idea?

Well, it's an idea, but I think overkill. Your problem will be bottom feeders (catfish/loaches) taking the food before the eels. In the ideal (and probably the most reliable) set-up, the spiny eels will be the _only_ bottom feeders, and everything else will be a midwater or upper level fish. Barbs, rasboras, and danios would be ideal. If you left the loaches in, you'd have to put _a lot_ of food in the tank to ensure everyone got their share. I'd tend to take the loaches out for a few weeks, until you get the eels hand tame. Then, once you can make sure the eels are getting their dinner, you could return the loaches, in the knowledge that the eels won't starve to death.

Do I really need a pleco in this tank with the other fish that I have?

No tank "needs" a plec. That's marketing. An algae scraper or sponge will do a better job of removing algae than a plec, and a big plec will merely fertilise the water with its waste, making the algae even happier. So, keep the plec if you want, but ideally, move it (and perhaps the loaches) to another tank.

Spiny eels are worth the effort, by the way. They are among the more intelligent fish, and do become very tame (eventually).

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Fella]

My last spiny eel (I've kept 2, both times unsuccessfully) refused to eat no matter what I did. I even went as far as to sinking the bloodworm into the sand by his hiding places so that nothing else would touch it, and he wasn't interested.

Earthworms he took readily but sadly I couldn't get enough.

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Ok, thanks for the tip on earthworms and I actually have planned to move my loaches to another tank that has basically been over run by snails. Anyone know if super small snails could be a problem for loaches? I am concerned that they would just ingest the snail, shell and all, but I cannot get rid of them no matter how hard I try. It seems like even the smallest baby snails are having more and more babies since I havent had a larger snail in this tank for over a month. (They are apple snails that I bought under direction from a fish store clerk since they provided free 'treats' for my loaches. I realize now how 'free' can be a bit overwhelming sometimes!)

Thanks again for all the help. I have probrably learned more today through your help and my research on your ideas. I really appreciate everything and I think all my best fish friends will be much happier very soon.

 

[nmonks]

Would do no harm at all. Their stomach acids will dissolve the shell, and their pharynx is designed to grind this sort of food, so they won't choke, either.

Cheers,

Neale

Anyone know if super small snails could be a problem for loaches? I am concerned that they would just ingest the snail, shell and all