alot of free swimming with my fire eel

[L.BelcherII]

I just got an 8" fire eel, and instead of hiding in the rocks or driftwood like I thought he would, he's been doing a ton of swimming around the tank. He even rushes to the surface when I enter the room begging for food like my Oscar used to. Is this normal?

I thought they hid most of the time unless they were feeding?

Also, he's been destroying earthworms but ignoring krill and market shrimp. Is a diet of purely earthworms acceptable? I was thinking of stuffing a few small pellets into a worm one of these nights.

 

[L.BelcherII]

water params are crystal, and he's in a tank full of eartheaters that completely ignore his existance.

 

[synodontisjack]

Its fine they like bloodworms as well, they do that normally it takes a while to settle in but its normal for it to come up for food.

 

[dragonfish]

I had one before that swam all over the tank. Would come to the surface and eat out of your hand. The current one does nothing but hide.

 

[Newt]

My fire eel always cruises around when I'm in the fish room. He's begging for food. Mine won't eat anything but live bait worms.

This may sound weird, but I bought a syringe at a farm supply store and inject liquid vitamins or cyclops mixed with water into the worms once a week before feeding the eel. Since he refuses to vary his diet I feel this is the best way to make sure he gets all that he needs.

 

[L.BelcherII]

My fire eel always cruises around when I'm in the fish room. He's begging for food. Mine won't eat anything but live bait worms.

This may sound weird, but I bought a syringe at a farm supply store and inject liquid vitamins or cyclops mixed with water into the worms once a week before feeding the eel. Since he refuses to vary his diet I feel this is the best way to make sure he gets all that he needs.

Wow that's a great idea. Thanks

 

[Wet Whiskers]

And on the injection topic, if your eel ever gets sick, you can inject gel-tek meds into the worms. My fire eel, Norbert, got a little infection, and healed up beautifully that way.