FIRE-EEL not eating! Help!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
personal experience fire eels can sometimes stop feeding on dead foods once over 12" i have know of 3 fire eels to do this in my time... all would only feed on live feeder shrimp from the point the stopped taking dead food!
 
hey guys... an update.... this is week 2... got him 2 sundays ago... no food yet atall and he seems a bit weak.... i have noticed that when i feed the fish, the oscarsw make a lot of mess and I have seen the fireeel push his nose into the sand and suck it up through his gills.. (obviously feeding on the small particles...)

This is probably sustaining him, but I dont know for how long... I dont want to start just feeding him live foods and im sure that he will take something sometime... i really hope im right... but I think I may just lose this one :(
 
IMO You need to separate him somehow from the others to feed him, at least for awhile. The fire eels I have had usually ate blood worms, tubifex worms (live), red wigglers, & guppies. Seems like he's too shy of a feeder right now to compete with the Oscars. Have you tried hand feeding worms yet?

I usually feed eels at night with the lights off to hopefully have the other fish asleep, but they wake up quick with worms in the water.
Right now I have a baby fire eel and I have trained him to allow me to feed him in an old uplift tube. It keeps the other fish from getting it all, but I will be needing a larger diameter tube soon.
I'd worry about getting him eatting, then switch over to non live foods if that's the way you want it.
 
Mate honestly its a fire eel! sorry but feed him live shrimp!!!! do it or u risk losing your fish! If not at least separate him! but even then if he's that stressed live shrimp is possibly your ONLY option!!!!
 
Hi :)
great news... he just ate 8 earthworms!!!!
dont know what changed... i did my usual tank change today... and afterwards always put in some food for the oscars...
I got some earthworms out the garden, held one infront of his nose and he nearly took my finger off he struck so hard!!!

really happy... i fed him 8 in total!!! so i think he's gonna be ok :D
was getting really worried, his colours were so faded an he diddnt move atall for the last couple of weeks
 
congrats!

now that he's comfortable and eating hopefully you won't have any more problems. if he hadn't started eating by the time i got to the bottom of this thread ;) i would have suggested soaking the food in a bit of garlic juice or powder (not garlic salt) or using a long thin pvc pipe as a 'tunnel' to drop food right down to the bottom without it having to go past the oscars.
 
that happens alot with fire eels. THey usually go some time with out eating. But worms are by far there fav. My 18"er loves worms and will eat some mussels and frozen shrimp. GOod luck they are a lot of fun!
 
dragonfish said:
Have you tried hand feeding him with a pair of tongs. Mine used to slurp down ghost shrimp, so maybe that might get him started or even some small feeders. Just feed the oscars first and then try getting the food to him.
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Mine will not eat either i have him in with 10 or so other fish and the dinosaur eel and reed fish seem to have the same diet as him but i put frozen blood worms in there and the dino and reed fish both go for it and pieces will be left floating around and my fire eel will swim up on it and then swim away. Like i said there are a lot of fish in the tank but most dont eat the same as him so idk
 
Thats awesome. Thats going to be one cool fish in a few years.
 
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