Having Trouble Getting my Eel to Eat...

[little_fish]

ouch! yes, i would think so. Let it work its self out and i think you will find him quite hungry!

 

[Sir Alex]

Do they grow their teeth back?

 

[little_fish]

im going to guess that they do, not 100% sure, but it would make sense.

 

[Sir Alex]

Just looked it up, they do re-grow their teeth. :D Maybe that's why he's getting worse and worse. Because the tooth is getting looser and looser. I hope the answer to this problem is this simple...

 

[Sir Alex]

I got him to eat a shrimp today. :D I practically had to force it down his throat, but he ate it. BTW, it looks like he lost his tooth.

 

[sen5241b]

Several weeks ago my tank had completely awful nitrates. I was having some trouble getting him to eat. He was getting better and he was almost back to normal. About 4 weeks ago I did a 95% water change and got the nitrates down to a good level. Ever since then he has been eating but not nearly as much as he used to. :( What do you guys think about this, his appetite seems to be getting a little better but not much...

Not eating? Stick your hand in tank and wiggle it. Seriously, use LIVE FOODS! You might try feeding him a cheap little fish like a Molly. Mollies are fresh water fish that can be acclimated to salt tanks. You would have to acclimate over the course of 12 hours though.

Also, you can drop a small gold fish in a salt water tank and he will swim around for several hours before the salt kills him. Hopefully your eel will eat it before then.

 

[little_fish]

I would not temp him live food if you are planning on adding some fish in the near future. Just give him time and he will start eating again.

 

[sen5241b]

I would not temp him live food if you are planning on adding some fish in the near future. Just give him time and he will start eating again.

Traiing an eel to eat only frozen may be unrealistic. Its a wild creature and no one can ever garantee the creature won't eat a live fish. Personally, I think morays belong in dedicated tanks.

 

[little_fish]

As do i, and i have told him he is going to have trouble putting another fish in there that wont get eaten, but he would like to try and offering the eel live food is going to make it much much harder to keep the eel from eating any other fish he adds.

 

[Sir Alex]

Traiing an eel to eat only frozen may be unrealistic. Its a wild creature and no one can ever garantee the creature won't eat a live fish. Personally, I think morays belong in dedicated tanks.

He's been eating frozen food for several years now, I've never had any trouble.

Look at this: Drs. Foster and Smith Diver's Den - Muraena pavonina

It says reef compatible with caution. I won't be keeping him with any small reef fish.

 

[little_fish]

Thats what is says about the snowflake eels as well, and they are considered the most docile of the eels, but it didnt stop Erin's from eating several fish she added after he was established.

 

[ErinCahir]

No. No it did not. :(

 

[Sir Alex]

What kind of fish did he eat?

 

[ErinCahir]

A flame angel, a coral beauty and a pair of leopard wrasses.
The eel was about 20 or so.... the angels were both about three inches, the female wrase was about four and the male was close to 5 1/2". I didn't think he'd be able to fit any of them in his mouth. And he did.

 

[Sharkie]

Eels can go for months without eating... HOWEVER I think that with the 95% water change and a loose tooth (eels regrow teeth pretty often just like sharks, we just don't usually notice) would be cause enough to not eat. How much are you feeding him and how big around and long is the eel?

Stay away from live food-unless you want to teach him eating other fish is okay... they won't be able to tell the difference between a live fish you put in there to eat and a live fish you put in there to look at.

Has he ever been in the tank with other fish at all in the past year or so? If not i'd suggest staying away from adding any new fish at all... Eels can get very set in their ways and if he's been in the tank for that long by himself there's no telling how agressive he'd be towards a different fish. My eel Kona learned from a very very young age (I've had him since he was about the size (legenth and width) of a #2 pencil) that eating tank mates is a HUGE NONO. He currently thrives off of squid and silversides.... With an eel as large as yours (he looks really big to me in the photos) I would be offering him pieces of table shrimp whole and possibly getting some real (NOT imatation) crab and some Tuna/Mahi Mahi fillets and giving him pieces of that as well...

eels will also stop eating if they begin to grow... it doesn't make 100% sense to me but when kona stops eating, he grows... right now he's about 20 inches and resides in a reef tank... with reef fish. Only thing he's gone after lately has been my arrow crab....

if you have any more questions feel free to PM me :) I love my eels and sharks! :D haha

 

[Sir Alex]

the male was close to 5 1/2".

:shock:

This sucks big time...

I guess I need to start saving up money for the 40 gallon reef tank I'm going to set up...

Does this mean that I don't need a $300 protein skimmer?

 

[Sir Alex]

How much are you feeding him and how big around and long is the eel?

He's 2'6" long, about 3" tall, and about 2" wide. I was feeding about 7 shrimp a weak.

Has he ever been in the tank with other fish at all in the past year or so? If not i'd suggest staying away from adding any new fish at all...

The last time a fish was put in the tank was several years ago when he was about 1' to 18" long. My father put a small, probably 3 or 4" puffer in the tank without doing any research. The eel hardly bothered him but he died from stress anyway... The water quality wasn't very good either.

eels will also stop eating if they begin to grow... it doesn't make 100% sense to me but when kona stops eating, he grows... right now he's about 20 inches and resides in a reef tank... with reef fish. Only thing he's gone after lately has been my arrow crab....

I hope he doesn't grow. My father fought he was a mexican dragon that gets a max 2'. I found that he is fact a brazilian dragon which can get up to 3'4" and needs a minimum tank size of 180 gallons.:shock:

Once my father got a sally light foot crab. It died, but the eel wasn't responsible.

 

[Sharkie]

If your eel is that big I would forget a 40 and go with at LEAST a 75 gallon or larger if possible. Eels need LOTS of rock to hide away but when they come out at night to "hunt" they need to be able to turn around and swim comfortably.... 40 is too cramped for him and any other fish you want to add... you also have to think of the whole 10 gallon per inch rule. I'm not saying that only an eel that size could be in a 75 but you'd really need to watch your water quailty (contrarly to belief eels arne't huge waste producers but water still needs to be watched)

Also, 7 shrimp is NOT enough for an eel of that size... thats like giving you a few M&Ms and expecting you to be okay with it for the next week.... eels will eat until they are full... if you do that with him I can almost 100% guarantee he won't ever eat any tank make you put in. Also, try to change up his diet some.... in the wild eels eat a mixture of crab, shirmp, squid (calamari), and fish... this needs to be supplimented in his home food too... not to mention your eel will be more excited about eating. Sometimes they just get tired of the same old thing ;) trust me... been there done that! lol

 

[little_fish]

He is actually in a 110, which i think he will be ok in.

But i do agree with Sharkie about the food thing

 

[Sir Alex]

Also, try to change up his diet some.... in the wild eels eat a mixture of crab, shirmp, squid (calamari), and fish... this needs to be supplimented in his home food too... not to mention your eel will be more excited about eating. Sometimes they just get tired of the same old thing ;) trust me... been there done that! lol

I've been trying to feed him some other stuff lately. I tried calamari (he ate a little), I tried tuna (he ate a little), and I tried salmon (he didn't eat any).

Also, 7 shrimp is NOT enough for an eel of that size... thats like giving you a few M&Ms and expecting you to be okay with it for the next week.... eels will eat until they are full... if you do that with him I can almost 100% guarantee he won't ever eat any tank make you put in.

I can see how he might eat a maroon clown, but to eat a large yellow tang? And if I don't get anymore fish do I still need to get a powerful protein skimmer?