fire eel in drainage pipes for sump !!!!!!!

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bigcol

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 14, 2008
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Newcastle Upon Tyne/ UK
I just bought a new fire eel yesterday about 13" long, hes quite fat too, well to cut a long story short he wasnt in the tank this morn so i thought what an expensive meal he was, my 1st impression was that 1 of my large cats had ate him but then i got thinking and looking at them none of them had a fat belly.

I then started thinking that he was in the drainage pipes for the sump, I shrugged this off untill i tried to turn the stop valve on the pipes, it seemed awfully tight i gave it a couple of turns but it wouldnt turn the whole way. I unscrewed the valve to move the pipe to see why and to my demise there was the tail of my newly bought fire eel. Quick thinking set in and i unscrewed the other side of the valve and out he popped into the sump,,,,,, Yeah he was still alive and still is, ive got him back in the tank now but a little worried that those couple of squezes on the valve might have hurt him in some way, he doesnt seem cut but he does look slightly stressed, well alot stressed, Do you guys think he will be ok after his night in the pipes or are his days numbered? I hope he pulls through ok and i feel guilty that i squeezed the valve so hard, I guess im lucky i never chopped him in half :eek:
 
keep an eye on him, and make sure the others arent bullying him. that will stress him out more.
make sure to screen off the intake pipe.
 
Mr. Grumpy Gills;3212531; said:
keep an eye on him, and make sure the others arent bullying him. that will stress him out more.
make sure to screen off the intake pipe.

Yeah that was the 1st thing i done 1nce he went back into the tank, screened the pipes off. He seems to be calming down a bit and there is plenty of caves for him to hide, the gravel in these parts is quite deep too so he can bury himself if need be :)
 
Loves severums;3213105; said:
yeah just keep an eye on him.

The thing is i was keeping an eye on him, I went in the house to have my food then back into fishroom to check him and he was gone :(

Mr RTC had an extremly huge belly too, thats 2 fish in a week he has ate and he is fed very well so im guessing not well enough :( I really need to get started on his pond so i can have peacefull fish in the tank
 
bigcol;3213112; said:
The thing is i was keeping an eye on him, I went in the house to have my food then back into fishroom to check him and he was gone :(

Mr RTC had an extremly huge belly too, thats 2 fish in a week he has ate and he is fed very well so im guessing not well enough :( I really need to get started on his pond so i can have peacefull fish in the tank
next time i would put him in a tank with some smaller fish. sorry about your loss.:(
 
Loves severums;3214632; said:
next time i would put him in a tank with some smaller fish. sorry about your loss.:(

I would have done that if i had 1 spare but i dont so i had no choice really and he was too big for the sump, no need to apologise for the loss as its like a lesson learned for me, its all about trial and error. I will get another when im ready for them and i still have 1 in the same tank but he is very clever and knows where to go and not to ;)
 
bigcol;3214648; said:
I would have done that if i had 1 spare but i dont so i had no choice really and he was too big for the sump, no need to apologise for the loss as its like a lesson learned for me, its all about trial and error. I will get another when im ready for them and i still have 1 in the same tank but he is very clever and knows where to go and not to ;)
That good to hear how big is it?
 
cool i have 3. 1 is 17" and the other ones r 4to5 inches.
 
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