Poorly Eel

[nanoMama86]

Done some reading and of course, too late. I know now why my eel is so skinny and listless. He is starving bc I have in a tank with clowns. When will I learn not to trust my lfs ? The question now is, will he be ok in a 55 gallon tank by himself? I have never seen him eat ever, even when I offer food right to him! He is only about 4 and half inches long.

 

[pkppv]

Done some reading and of course, too late. I know now why my eel is so skinny and listless. He is starving bc I have in a tank with clowns. When will I learn not to trust my lfs ? The question now is, will he be ok in a 55 gallon tank by himself? I have never seen him eat ever, even when I offer food right to him! He is only about 4 and half inches long.

Sounds like a good idea to me! And dont worry, lots of eager aquarists under-research *cough* me *cough*

 

[Dieses Madchen]

If I had a dollar for everything statement I listened to from the LFS I could replace all the fish I killed and then some....

 

[creeker]

What kind of eel and what have you tried to feed it?

 

[mrp3]

One time I saw a beautiful platy at petco so I took a gamble and when the guy was putting it in a bag he poured maybe 1/2 gallon of tap water in the bag. The sign behind the tap said in large letters and I quote. " not treated tap water. Do not put in with the fish." this was not at my local petco at least though.

 

[nanoMama86]

I have tried freeze dried blood worms,frozen brine shrimp, frozen silversides shredded into small pieces, pieces of earthworms and he would eat any of it. I now can't seem to find him anywhere. Last night, I put in a Ton of live rinsed brine shrimp, and saw him weakly attempting to catch and eat one, so I hope he is hiding somewhere with a full belly. If this continues, I will remove him from the show tank and put him in a ten gallon by himself until I can wean him off live foods. If he did not eat last night either, same deal, but I will be attempting to feed several times a day with many 50% water changes with no lights on, just to try to save him.

 

[creeker]

I'm still wondering what species of eel this is. If it is a member of the spiny family, they almost always will accept live Black Tubifex Worms.

 

[nanoMama86]

Im pretty sure he is a peacock. At least thats what my lfs had him labeled as. I can never find live tubifex worms of any kind.

 

[creeker]

Im pretty sure he is a peacock. At least thats what my lfs had him labeled as. I can never find live tubifex worms of any kind.

I suspected that was the species you have. Peacock Eels are one of the ones that can be picky eaters. Probably going to have to give him something live to get him started. Since he is so small, you are limited in your options. Since you can't get tubifex, maybe live bloodworms?

 

[nanoMama86]

I have searched everywhere for live. I can not find them anywher, of any kind. I am starting to feel kinda hopeless about it, because he STILL is not eating that I can tell. My lfs that I got him from, said, if he is still alive after this long, he has ate something" I have had him a little over a week. I am going to do a huge 50% water change on my tank because my nitrates are a little high at 30ppm, hopefully that will perk him up. Him and Turbo, my new oscar have had me crying already today! I love my fish they are my babies!

 

[creeker]

Did you move him into the smaller tank? Might be easier to feed him frozen worms in there, since that's all you can get. Fish can survive way longer than a week without food.

 

[nanoMama86]

He has perished. After several expensive trips to try and find live food, he gave up. I now know that the peacock is not for me nor is any eel. Where I bought him from probably had a lot to do with his not eating, as the oscar i got from the same place did not eat either and had to be returned.

 

[creeker]

Yeah, the other species of spiny eels are better eaters, but they all get enormous.

 

[RachelMallory]

I'm sorry for your loss!! Was he a peacock eel or a striped peacock eel? Because they are both very different.
I have been keeping striped peacock eels for about five months now. The first one I got was frustrating, same thing, kind of. I never saw him eat and he never really got a chance because of my fat a$$ puffers rushed to it before he could. I don't know what happened, either he just got really hungry or he realized that he was being cheated for food but every time I would put a cube of brine shrimp in the tank he came out from his hiding spot and ate almost the whole thing to himself :[ unfortunately I lost him to ich.
I just got two, I've had them ALONE in my 55 for about a week now and I haven't seen either eat. But I"m going to stay patient. I think it helps to have them alone for a while so you can see if they are actually eating or not .