Electric Eel Sick/Dying HELP!!!

[jjohnwm]

Another point worth considering is that "got a fish 3 days ago" and "feeding tongs" don't really belong in the same discussion. Personally, I doubt that I would have even offered food until at least the third day or later...and I certainly wouldn't be poking the offered food in the fish's face with tongs. A fish already stressed after being netted, bagged, mailed and acclimated (to a painfully bright tank with no visible cover of any sort) does not need additional stress from being poked and prodded. That fish ain't skinny; a few days without food is the least of your concerns. If he is going to eat...he will sense the presence of food and find it very handily without your help. And if he isn't going to eat...bothering him won't change that for the better.

Incidentally, starting two threads with exactly the same title in two different forum sections is going to cause nothing but confusion.

 

[scalareson]

I haven't kept an electric eel, but I wanted to ask if you could possibly move it back to the 200g? your 14" eel might be acting weird because it feels extremely vulnerable in a small 75g tank, with white sand, and no hides. I'm under the impression e.eels are hiders and move very little outside of hunting. I'm hoping the 200g home tank has a more appropriate environment.
I would let it have a couple weeks to acclimate in the home tank and see if it's behavior improves, 3 days isn't enough time to judge imo

 

[Koko4Cichlids]

Actually looks to be in pretty decent health- as you mentioned, there's no signs of excessive scarring, bacterial infections, or fungus, all common ailments on larger gymnotiformes. May just be the angle, but from the image, the fish doesn't look very close to starvation, and could probably go some time without food. There seems to be a decent amount of fecal matter on the substrate; is that from the eel? Inactivity from gymnotiformes during acclimation is fairly normal, especially as time goes by. IME it seems as though most knifefish spend the first couple of days getting a feel for their environment before settling down and going through their standard routines. Though I cannot say for certain, never having kept electricus, it is my understanding that they need to 'gulp' air periodically, much like Protopterus; have you noticed your fish doing that? What foods, aside from earthworms, have you tried offering?
pH is pretty high, but it shouldn't be a life-threatening issue, and can easily be lowered w/tannin extract from boiled botanicals, acid, etc. Would recommend to go easy on the meds, at least until the fish has settled in more; scaleless electroreceptive fish never seem to react well to meds when stressed.
Electric eels from one of Predatory Fins's very recent videos (likely after you purchased your fish, however) seem to be in good health; I wouldn't expect yours to be in terrible condition based off of that. Might just be that your fish is still settling down a bit after the stressful transit experience.

The fecal matter is from a pleco I was keeping in the tank to keep it cycled. My hospital tank kept crashing when nothing was in it. It goes up for air. day 1 it went up around once every 5-10 mins, now on day 4 it goes up once every 20ish mins. Ive tried live earthworms, and cut shrimp, but only very small amounts and on 2 occassions. Didnt want to bother it too much. Theres driftwood in the tank to help with the Ph. I havent used any meds other than the initial salt and stress guard on day 1. Thanks a ton for all the insight. God bless your heart.

 

[Koko4Cichlids]

I agree with most of the above; the fish certainly isn't emaciated, and shows no blatant outward signs of trauma or disease. My experience with a single fish long ago was that they are fairly inactive, although not to the extent of moving only at feeding time. Mine would regularly go on sinuous patrols around the tank; very interesting and impressive fish even without considering the electrical aspect. I'd never want another one because they just get too big and are too difficult to handle when large.

IMHO, the biggest concern I would have if this fish were mine is the laying on its side behaviour. I never saw that with mine. Maybe just individual variations in behaviour? I dunno.

It's very trendy nowadays to have aquariums with water movement similar to a washing machine set on the "heavy" cycle. Do you have a considerable current in your tank? My fish absolutely did not like water movement; the quieter, the better. They are not strong swimmers, and it wouldn't take much continuous fighting of the current to wear one out, causing stress.

And is that fecal matter on the bottom? IIRC, mine produce turds similar to a large lungfish, i.e. nobody would ever question what they were. They were obviously big turds! Didn't look anything like that debris on your substrate.

Not much help, I know; just tossing out some possibilities to consider. Good luck, keep us posted.

Only surface agitation comes from an airstone on a whisper 60 air pump and a Fluval 110 HOB filter. Will def keep posted.

 

[Koko4Cichlids]

See if darkening the substrate helps too. A stressed fish often doesn't handle glare well. That white sand is really bright.

Never thought of darkening the substrate. I went with the lighter substrate for my hospital tank because the light is usually stays off to help treat sick fish and a lighter sand helps me see to check on the fish without turning of the lights and startling an already stressed fish. Will consider changing to a brown sand after this ordeal is over. lol

 

[Koko4Cichlids]

Another point worth considering is that "got a fish 3 days ago" and "feeding tongs" don't really belong in the same discussion. Personally, I doubt that I would have even offered food until at least the third day or later...and I certainly wouldn't be poking the offered food in the fish's face with tongs. A fish already stressed after being netted, bagged, mailed and acclimated (to a painfully bright tank with no visible cover of any sort) does not need additional stress from being poked and prodded. That fish ain't skinny; a few days without food is the least of your concerns. If he is going to eat...he will sense the presence of food and find it very handily without your help. And if he isn't going to eat...bothering him won't change that for the better.

Incidentally, starting two threads with exactly the same title in two different forum sections is going to cause nothing but confusion.

You're absolutely right. Guess I got carried away and too excited after finally getting my dream fish.

Desperation makes you do foolish things like starting two threads with exactly the same title in two different forum sections lol. Not used to being on forums yet. Still learning the rules.

 

[Koko4Cichlids]

I haven't kept an electric eel, but I wanted to ask if you could possibly move it back to the 200g? your 14" eel might be acting weird because it feels extremely vulnerable in a small 75g tank, with white sand, and no hides. I'm under the impression e.eels are hiders and move very little outside of hunting. I'm hoping the 200g home tank has a more appropriate environment.
I would let it have a couple weeks to acclimate in the home tank and see if it's behavior improves, 3 days isn't enough time to judge imo

Ok that makes sense. Wanted to quarantine it in the hospital tank before putting it in its tank. Should I have just risked it? And even now, should I even move it being that moving it again will stress it out more?

 

[Koko4Cichlids]

UPDATE: added more driftwood to darken the substrate and give somewhat places to hide. Also built a makeshift shelf last night to give it a perch closer to the surface and this morning it found its way there. It’s still barely moving but lifts its head up around every 10-15 mins to get air.

 

[FINWIN]

Never thought of darkening the substrate. I went with the lighter substrate for my hospital tank because the light is usually stays off to help treat sick fish and a lighter sand helps me see to check on the fish without turning of the lights and startling an already stressed fish. Will consider changing to a brown sand after this ordeal is over. lol

You can try the floating fake lily pads to shade off the surface. Most of my smaller tanks I do this because led lights tend to overwhelm smaller tanks. On my 125 I have a piece of smoked plexiglass on each side of the top to create a spotlight effect with shaded off sides.

 

[Koko4Cichlids]

You can try the floating fake lily pads to shade off the surface. Most of my smaller tanks I do this because led lights tend to overwhelm smaller tanks. On my 125 I have a piece of smoked plexiglass on each side of the top to create a spotlight effect with shaded off sides.

View attachment 1522387View attachment 1522388

Im absolutely stealing your smoked Plexiglas spotlight idea. lol