Peacock Eel.

[erysette]

Okay...

I was given a peacock eel along with a ten gallon tank for an early Christmas present. I have never dealt with anything more than the occasional Beta fish, but I've always loved sealife... so the gift was pretty inventive and neat. The gift giver told me that he only needed (he being the eel) fish flakes (because that's what the pet store said) and sand... So. Last night we filled the tank with the sand and water, used that stuff to take out the chlorine and other harmful chemicals (forgive my ignorance, please), and acclimated the eel to the water before putting him in the tank.

Okay, so I woke up in the morning to find him poking his head out of the sand. I figure, hey, he's nocturnal... that's what he does. Well, I went to take my mid terms at school and came home. He hadn't moved. So, me... being the paranoid person I am, fed him some fish flakes and stared at him for five straight minutes, looking for signs of life. Then I decided to do some research on him.

Turns out... fish flakes? Yeah, they're a no. Eels apparently (or at least peacock eels) prefer worms. Then it turns out there's a specific temperature the water has to be... I have NO idea how to make sure the water gets there or what-have-you. Again, I'm a beginner. I'm reading up on this guy and he needs extra care, so I'm learning slowly what to do... but at the same time still at a complete loss. I rushed to the pet store and purchased two little aquarium pieces for shelter (apparently they prefer to be hidden), and some freeze-dried blood worm flakes.

What else do I need to do to ensure this guy stays happy and healthy? I really have become attached to the poor thing over the last day and I don't want to be a bad pet owner.

Also, I'm trying to figure out what kind of company I could buy him in the ways of other fish/creatures. He's a tropical freshwater guy, so...

Please. Please. Please. Any help would be SO greatly appreciated!

 

[severum boy]

Have a look for some frozen bloodworms and dig in your garden for some worms. The bloodworm flake may not be eaten. As for fish, id look for a bigger tank first, say 36"x15"x15" to house him when hes fully grown. With him you could have congo tetras, aurilis barbs or rosy barbs.

 

[Gankutsuou]

Peacock eels.... interesting fish.

this is common of them. They like to hunt this way you could say. Flake is a no, and some of them only eat live brine.

Almost all fish have a specific temperature range. you use an electric submergable heater that you can buy at any pet store.

To properly house him, you eventually will need a 3 foot long by 1 foot tank at least. he's gonna get a foot long. That's probably about almost as long as your tank. Imagine living in a room you could only lie down in, and had to move a special way to turn around. fun, no?

anyways, sand is a good start. sand is suggested because they wont scrape themselves while digging in it, but they would in gravel.

You will also need a filter probably.

Frozen brine, frozen blood worm, chopped up boiled earthworm, live brine. Those are good feeds.

 

[Canis-Equus]

Oh jeeeeeeeez...

I have six spiney eels, including a peacock (and the other kind often called Peacock eels but isnt, its a different spiney eel).

You need, heater, filter, secure hood, frozen or live bloodworm - flake of ANY kind or pellets, is NOT going to cut it with this guy, he wont eat it no matter how hungry.

If you dont have a filter, you will need to do some water changes every day or the unfiltered water is going to hurt him.

Can you see if you can get some old filter media from a fish store to put in a new filter (from a healthy tank), as this will sort out your problems pretty quick and avoid the possible death of your eel.

He needs a heater and needs to be around 25 degrees C (at least all mine are happy at that). Get a thermometer for your tank so you can check this.

The sand is great, but do remember, spiney eels hide when stressed and frightened, a happy spiney eel is not one who hides in the sand motionless - all mine are happy swimming about their tanks, occasionally resting under some bogwood or hiding in the plants pretending to be an innocent stick or stem.

Also to reduce his stress levels, id put a dark backing around the back and sides of the tank, black paper or black dustbin liners work well.

Can you describe him for me, he could be m. aral or m. siamensis, one has horizontal stripes, the other is a plainish golden brown to darker brown (dependant on mood, tank lighting, stress etc), BOTH have peacock type eye spots on the tail which result in them both being called Peacock Eels.

Fingers crossed for your guy, your main challenge at the moment though is to reduce his stress which is going to be from cold water, unfiltered water and too much light. Sort those first then worry about the food.

Em

 

[erysette]

Made it to Fintique (a supply store) today and got my eel a heater! I (by I, I actually mean this guy I kinda like) just installed it about ten minutes ago and I've got all the lights off and such. I'm waiting to see how that works out. I'm actually just camped outside on the couch by the tank right now hoping that he'll feel better and start to swim around. [Quick update: the heater's been in there for half an hour and I'm not noticing a change in temp., hoping I shouldn't be worried here]

I talked to a woman at Fintique and inquired as to what kind of food I should feed him and she recommended these algae based pellets, I guess is what she called them. I can't quite remember, but the label itself says that they're some kind of natural protein... thing. I really don't know, and once again I'm going to ask you all to forgive my ignorance. Anyway, so I've heard all kinds of things as far as what to feed this guy goes. The woman at Fintique said that though he'd eat the worms they weren't good for his digestive system or something.

So now I have three forms of fish food for this guy... I'm really hoping one of them will work. I also read somewhere else about earthworms and how this one fish owner said his eels liked them the best. All I'm worried about is mine not starving to death.

Thanks for all your help so far. Once this guy starts to grow I'll be looking into getting him a larger tank!

Can you describe him for me, he could be m. aral or m. siamensis, one has horizontal stripes, the other is a plainish golden brown to darker brown (dependant on mood, tank lighting, stress etc), BOTH have peacock type eye spots on the tail which result in them both being called Peacock Eels.

Quite honestly... I think my guy's got a horizontal stripe down him, but since he's buried himself under the sand for so long I'm kind of starting to question my memory. I'll let you know for sure once he gets comfortable. Which... will hopefully be soon.

 

[Canis-Equus]

Ok

You do need to get this guy a filter too, it wont cost much for the size of tank you have - until then, you need to take out and replace id say 10% of the water in the tank every two days, treat the water you put back in wtih the water conditioner.

If you dont do this, the water will become full of ammonia amongst other things and this will burn your eels gills - hes a soft bodied fish he doesnt have such good scales as a 'normal' fish and so if he gets sick hes going to be much harder to treat and much more likely to die.

K' next thing.

Unless he is NOT an eel, he is NEVER EVER EVER going to eat algae wafers, flake food, pellets etc. Never. No way, No how, not if hell freezes over and they hold a snowboarding championships there. No.

Ignore what the fish store lady said, shes wrong.

He will most probably eat bloodworms, he may eat all manner of live small foods, tubifex, daphnia, brine shrimp, live bloodworm..... Hopefully he will get to take frozen meaty foods, i feed mine frozen bloodworm, frozen brine shrimp and finally they WILL now take Tetra Fresh Delica which is a wet food in a sachet - but only the bloodworm one.

ONE of my eels is big enough to eat bigger foods, he can happily munch frozen chopped mussels, cockles (he doesnt like those so much but will eat them), and whole frozen prawns. He is over a foot long though, unless your guy is this size he wont take anything that big.

Yours MAY take tiny earthworms if you chop them up small. He may not, all my small guys refuse point blank to eat them and its pretty grim chopping them up, they wriggle all over the place, plus you do run the risk of them carrying disease.

Ill mention the filter once more, and the water changse. Your eel ONLY EVER EATS meat. He is probably not going to eat for a few days right now as hes stressed and in a new tank and its not warm enough yet so hes 'slow' (fish are cold blooded remember they dont control their own body temperature the water warms them up or cools them down).

If you have a tank full of meat that is not eaten, it will ROT and that will poison your eel. The poop he produces when he eats meat will fill your tank wtih ammonia and that will harm him.

You are doing well and this aint your fault someone bought you half the deal - go get yourself a filter soon, get him bloodworm soon and he should be ok.

Em

 

[Ranger]

I talked to a woman at Fintique and inquired as to what kind of food I should feed him and she recommended these algae based pellets, I guess is what she called them. I can't quite remember, but the label itself says that they're some kind of natural protein... thing. I really don't know, and once again I'm going to ask you all to forgive my ignorance. Anyway, so I've heard all kinds of things as far as what to feed this guy goes. The woman at Fintique said that though he'd eat the worms they weren't good for his digestive system or something.

Unfortunately, the majority of LFS employees don't know much about ALL of their fish. You should always double check any info you get, it will save you money and time.