Peecock Eel Not Eating

[Zagggon]

I have a small peecock eel in my 55g NW cichlid tank and he doesnt even swim after the bloodworms when they float right past him. The last eel I used to have would always swim after the bloodworms.

Im worried that he is going to starve. He wont eat cichlid pellets and doesnt seem to like bloodworms. I dunno what to do. He just hides in his rock all day and at night doesnt eat the blood worms just let the oscar get em all he doesnt even swim at them like he is suppose too +(!!!!

 

[ringham]

You were probably lucky with your previous eels that it was so active. Eels are nocturnal so try putting in food and avoid the oscar 100% and then turn out the lights. Make sure that the bloodworms go near here he is or where he likes to hide. I never witnessed one of my eels feeding for 2 months but then it became less shy and now it is always about.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I never see my eel eat, but he must do because he's still alive and not overly skinny...

 

[phlawed]

i feed my eel by holding food in some tweezers or something like that and just follow him till he finds it and he takes it and does his thing

 

[blcknwitecuban]

i read somewhere that if the eel is oviously emaciated then u might have 2 force feed with an eye droper or something. just dont feed it 2 much at once.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Try feeding live foods like brine shrimp, live bloodworm, and even some garden worms that suit his size. Feed your other fish up first on pellets, so they are full, and wont take fod from your eel. The try and get his attention with smething "moving"/ alive. Your eel will probably never eat any pellet food, unless your prety lucky.

Not eating uopn entering a new tank isnt un-common, you just have to tempt them with something they fancy, or something there eye will pick-up on.

Mine wouldnt eat frozen foods, then I tried some live garden worms, they went down a treat. Bloodworm was the next frozen food he consumed, as I think he saw a similarity in the two. Afer that, anything meaty was taken in!

 

[ringham]

IMO getting an eel from a LFS and then getting it to feed when it is in your tank, within 48 hours, is pretty much a miracle. You must be a fantasticly experiance fish keeper to get it to willingly eat in just a few days (tyre track eels are probably the easiest to start feeding).

Just keep trying and your efforts will pay off.

 

[Fella]

Earthworms are the secret to feeding peacock eels. Cut them up very small, and they're pretty much guaranteed to eat it.

 

[Fishonatic]

Feed him before you go to bed. They are nocturnal and are most active at night. Even though mine are somehow the oppisate at feeding time! Which has went from 10:00 to now 5:00 with the rest of the fish! My eel's wouldnt eat for the first week. Then they got hungray, and started eating everything! So hang in there!

FN

 

[blcknwitecuban]

mine goes crazy 4 rosy red minows. he inhales them so fast. its amazing. i feed him about 5 a day

 

[nmonks]

Rosy-reds and goldfish are not an acceptable staple diet. Putting aside the ethics issues, goldfish and rosy red minnows are fatty and contain a lot of thiaminase, that, over the long term causes vitamin B1 deficiency. As far as live feeder fish go, you want to stick with livebearers.

Spiny eels don't need fish in their diet anyway. Earthworms, as fella said, are the absolute favourite food of spiny eels. Bloodworms and river shrimps are popular, too. Once settled in, they'll eat all kinds of dead foods, too, such as frozen prawns, bloodworms, lancefish, etc.

Cheers,

Neale

mine goes crazy 4 rosy red minows. he inhales them so fast. its amazing. i feed him about 5 a day

 

[blcknwitecuban]

yea... i'd rather feed him ghost shrimp but the petsmart by me is always out of them. i feed him blood worms 2 but i dont think he could eat enough 2 keep him happy. as 4 the feeder guppies im moving 2 a new locating right by a LPS that has em so i'll get them instead of the rosies. thanks 4 letting me know. whats a lancefish? and will they eat beefheart or cow heart or w/e its called?

 

[nmonks]

Fish need a trivial amount of food to stay healthy. Far less than we give them. A 30 cm spiny eel probably only needs to eat a dozen bloodworms a night to be perfectly healthy. Cold blooded animals use up far less food than warm blooded ones (something like 10%), which is why a snake can get by on a few mice a month, where a cat will need to catch a couple of mice every single day. So, don't worry about your fish starving.

How big is your spiny eel? Assuming its a smallish specimen, one "block" of frozen bloodworms is probably ample. Also try small frozen prawns (of the kind sold in Asian supermarkets for adding to fried rice -- they're cheap and fish love them). Prawns have a bit of thiaminase in them, too, so they're not a great staple, but as a source of fat and protein they're useful once or twice a week.

But earthworms really are the thing. Spiny eels love them!

Cheers,

Neale

 

[ringham]

I have more than one spiney eel but they aren't really that bothered about earthworms. In fact i am pretty sure that all of my other fish ate them, because i put them in front of my eels as i do with bloodworms etc. and tey weren't bothered so they were just left.