Feeding my Peackock Eel

[MrRngr94]

I got my eel about three weeks ago, but I haven't really seen him eat. I throw both frozen and freeze-dried bloodworms in his tank, along with other stuff, but I've never physically seen him eat any of it.

I decided to start a small red wiggler farm so that I can have another food for him. He'll eat these with no problem, but now I'm wondering how often I should feed him. He's about 7" and the worms are usually between 3" - 5". Is one a day too much? He doesn't look too skinny to me, so he must have been eating something. And I don't want him to become picky and only eat the worms. So what do you think? one worm every other day? Maybe one a week???

 

[dacox]

I have a fire eel and had a problem getting him to eat in the beginning. He is about 10" long, so a little bigger than yours, and would originally only take the occasionally bloodworm. I let him get used to his tank for a little while, and wouldn't really offer him much food (he is in a tank with other fish of about the same size - 10" pbass, 8" tsn, 7" c. venezuela). I gave his other tankmates food, but let him starve for a bit.

Finally, I noticed him coming out from below the sand/his hiding place more often. I took this as a sign of hunger and began offering him some earthworms. Like I said, he is about 10" long and the earth worms I was feeding were about 4-6" long (so quite substantial relative to his size). After that starvation perion though, he is now taking whatevere food I place in the tank. His favorite are those earthworms, but he is also interested in squid, shrimp, and silversides.

This is the method that worked for me to get him to eat. He was very picky (or maybe just stressed) in the beginning and wouldn't eat. I think that starvation period really helped him adjust and beginning accepting my prepared foods. If your eel isn't too thin it might be something that you may consider trying out. I have also heard that many eels in general do not eat for a while after being relocated, so extending the non-eating period for a few days may not hurt much and may benefit more in the long run.

Best of luck