Electric Eel Sick/Dying HELP!!!

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Koko4Cichlids

Koko4Cichlids

Exodon
MFK Member
Feb 1, 2022
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Hey guys. So i got a 14inch Electric Eel 3 days ago. It’s started out somewhat ok active but wouldn’t eat. But by day 2 its active level dropped dramatically. Now on day 3 it’s barely moving, won’t eat, and won’t even deliver any shock when touched. Just lays on its side. I’ve done water changes, added aquarium salt and seachem stress guard. No signs of parasites, no injuries, no discoloration. At this point I’m at a loss. I paid $350 for it from predatory fins.com and would really be distraught if it dies on me. This is my dream fish that I’ve always wanted since I was a kid.
TANK INFO/PARAMETERS:
- 75gallon hospital tank with great filtration and air stones.
- Temp 79 degrees
- PH 7.8
- Ammonia 0
- Nitrite 0
- Nitrate .5
- KH 85
- GH 120
PLEASE HELP! I’m really desperate here.

IMG_2488.jpeg
 
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How do you know it won’t deliver a shock and how many times have you observed it doing so?
 
phreeflow said:
Sorry to hear. Don’t worry about feeding it this soon. Give it some cover, dim the lights, do water changes…
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thanks for the concern. Lights are off to not stress the E. eel. Turn them on just to take the picture. Just really nervous because this level of lethargy I’ve seen in fish has NEVER been good.
 
I haven’t had one in years but when I did, it didn’t move much at all either except feeding time. Your parameters looks good so it might just be stressed from the trip. Give it time…
 
phreeflow said:
I haven’t had one in years but when I did, it didn’t move much at all either except feeding time. Your parameters looks good so it might just be stressed from the trip. Give it time…
Click to expand...
There’s so little information about having one out there it’s hard to know what I’m doing. Thanks for the reassurance
 
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.
 
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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. :thumbsup:
 
See if darkening the substrate helps too. A stressed fish often doesn't handle glare well. That white sand is really bright.
 
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