Captain Conkout Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Hi all, Any ideas about encouraging this shy eel to eat? I've put in granulated food which I assume is closed to the pet shops cichlid food but he doesn't seem interested. I've tried blood worm and little bits of frozen shrimp which my last eel desired very much but he isn't taking any. He isn't overly shy and hangs about when I come near to his nozzle with the worms but doesn't take any. He seems active and most nights we'll see him tear about but he doesn't appear to be foraging... I contacted Animates, Melling where I got it and was told he had been in for at least a month, was kept in the tank with various cichlids and hadn't been fed anything specific during his stay - he was basically fending for hisself... Apparently he had grown during his time there which was reassuring (otherwise I'd have every reason to think he hadn't eaten anything) but he doesn't have the nice cigar belly like my old eel or my foxes get when they are well fed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Can he easily reach the food? Are the other fish competitive and fast? I have a peacock eel who isn't that great at seeing food, but rather smelling it. Also try hand feeding it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Conkout Posted January 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Yeah just held worms, one and many, infront of his nozzle, above his nozzle and even let a few fall near him - for about 2 min, did last night too. He just doesn't get it. My old eel wouldn't ever stop eating them and gobbled shrimp far to large for his stomach. He has grabbed a bend piece of plumbers tube my old eel enjoyed and made it his lair and is behaving like an eel should but I'm seeing no eating... Will continue to wait and see. Re:aggressive fish. The green tiger is recovering from a nipped tail and in no condition to cause trouble, the golden barb has had a good wound on his side and is nearly recovered but isn't any trouble either. The only other fish in there are khulis and they are busy but haven't shown any aggression (can they?), they just swim around him, ignoring him completely. He could have been traumatised by being in the tank he was I suppose. I don't want a repeat of the first eel I had about 2 years ago where it never ate and just starved himself to death in very un-eel-like behaviour..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 That's strange, my eel eats like a pig, when I hand feed him he would sometimes bite my finger rather than the food, his jaw is pretty hard too lol. Does it look sick at all? Try isolating it in a seperate tank and see if it eats, also try different types of foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 How's the eel? Were you able to get him to eat? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 have you tried snails? my eel adores them. i didnt realise you could keep fish with an eel, i thought they would eat them. well mine would i think. good luck and keep trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc360 Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 they can go for days and days without eating eh. i think this time of year, because of the warmer air temp these guys don't need to eat as much, they are just lazy as, they make cats look like they are training for the Olympics. Check your ph, and Ammonia levels ensure that they are constant and not bad, i have found that this can cause a sulk. if two weeks go by with out a single meal, then i would get worried until then keep the water quality tops, give him a nice hiding place and he should sort himself out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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