Hi there,
I have a fire eel who has recently begun biting at his own tail. His day-to-day behavior of the eel has not changed overall, still gobbling up food, burrowing in the sand bed, and coming out to greet any passers by (in hopes of being fed).
There have been little changes to the tank, however I had recently added some feeder minnows which were left over from a successful attempt at getting my lionfish to eat frozen foods. Indeed it would be possible for the minnows to carry parasites, but would that provoke the eel to attack his own tail? Is there a specific or common cause to this sort of behavior?
His color does not appear to be fading, aside from the assaulted area which has turned white with ripped fins. His current diet consists of bloodworms and mysis shrimp. In an attempt at getting more 'green' into his diet, I'll offer up some earthworms in the coming days.
Would adding some metranidazole and salt be enough to help this little guy out?
Tank Parameters:
Nitrates: 20-40ppm
Temp: 76-78F
PH: 6-6.5
Thanks
I have a fire eel who has recently begun biting at his own tail. His day-to-day behavior of the eel has not changed overall, still gobbling up food, burrowing in the sand bed, and coming out to greet any passers by (in hopes of being fed).
There have been little changes to the tank, however I had recently added some feeder minnows which were left over from a successful attempt at getting my lionfish to eat frozen foods. Indeed it would be possible for the minnows to carry parasites, but would that provoke the eel to attack his own tail? Is there a specific or common cause to this sort of behavior?
His color does not appear to be fading, aside from the assaulted area which has turned white with ripped fins. His current diet consists of bloodworms and mysis shrimp. In an attempt at getting more 'green' into his diet, I'll offer up some earthworms in the coming days.
Would adding some metranidazole and salt be enough to help this little guy out?
Tank Parameters:
Nitrates: 20-40ppm
Temp: 76-78F
PH: 6-6.5
Thanks
