Well I got a 18" fire eel about a week ago. He came fat and healthy looking. I have yet to see him eat but the ghost shrimp are all gone. Today he is laying upsidedown in his PVC shelter. I wanted to know if this is normal? Water params are perfect and constant. Any ideas, he's been pretty active earlier today. Thanks in advance.
Fire eel upsidedown in PVC?
- Thread starter bond007
- Start date
Can't say that I've ever seen this.. but I have seen mine lay sideways almost like they're dead.. then I tap light and they startle so he was deffinately sleeping. I'm use to it now. If he looks alert and otherwise healthy i wouldn't have much concern over it.
If at 18" you got him from your LFS either as a trade in or wild caught? If wild caught watch out for internal parasites. which can also cause boyancy issues, thus might be a sign of this. Doubtful thats the case. But it is possible. These guys seem to have alot of internal parasites when that size wild caught. all 3 of mine where WC at 12" and needed de-worming.
=D Enjoy him/her They get very inquisitive and friendly if encouraged.
If at 18" you got him from your LFS either as a trade in or wild caught? If wild caught watch out for internal parasites. which can also cause boyancy issues, thus might be a sign of this. Doubtful thats the case. But it is possible. These guys seem to have alot of internal parasites when that size wild caught. all 3 of mine where WC at 12" and needed de-worming.
=D Enjoy him/her They get very inquisitive and friendly if encouraged.
He's WC , I thought he was dying so I pulled the PVC out and he's still swimming around looking fine. It did scare me, but I thought he might be sleeping because I touched his tail twice and he reacted fast and stuck his head out to see what touched him. I guess I'll put the PVC back in.
Also how do you de-worm, I talked with the dealer and he said to just watch him in a QT tank for a week because he had already treated him and had him for 2 weeks and then add him with my other monsters.
Also how do you de-worm, I talked with the dealer and he said to just watch him in a QT tank for a week because he had already treated him and had him for 2 weeks and then add him with my other monsters.
white stringy poop will be your biggest tip off.. also a ravenous appetite but ime these guys will eat until they regurge. My biggest clue was poop, listlessness in general, and bloat. they seemed to have bulges in their stomachs. feeding ghost shrimp may be hard to ID from poop. or possible bloat. I personally Used Prazi-pro and treated the tank 3 days.. then 1 month later treated it again as a precaution. a "thick" fish that lookes emmaciated around the face, and rest of body is also a tell-tale sign. I'm usually not big on preventative measures as far as medications go. But these guys can go really quick from internal parasites, and once they get to bad I'de wager 99% don't pull out simply due stress and the body trying to flush so much toxins.
when lights go off he should be relatively alert and active. maybe not comeing out and cruising around.. but head poked out watching. and reactive to movemnt around and in the tank. These fish are very nocturnal. That was one of my biggest tip-offs my guys wheren't feeling so hot.. 2 where flitting around and the 3rd was doing nothing but laying in the pvc and would.. "wriggle" like a worm every now and then.
when lights go off he should be relatively alert and active. maybe not comeing out and cruising around.. but head poked out watching. and reactive to movemnt around and in the tank. These fish are very nocturnal. That was one of my biggest tip-offs my guys wheren't feeling so hot.. 2 where flitting around and the 3rd was doing nothing but laying in the pvc and would.. "wriggle" like a worm every now and then.
He still has me worried, I have yet to see him eat or poo. He just lays upside down in the PVC. He sticks his head out and looks around sometimes but 95% of the time he's in the tube upsidedown. He also has a really slow breathing rate. Water temp 82
nitrite 0
nitrite 0
bond007;3597050; said:
I keep my temp at 79 degrees and my fire eel is pretty active. Not sure if a 3 degree swing would make a big difference, but worth a shot.
my guys are kept in the 76-80 range. the slow breath rate is a good thing, as long as he's not gasping. Since fire eels are not true eels the normal "gasping" you see in true eels isn't a normal sign and case w/ these fish. I have noticed they will gasp more then other fish, imo it's because they are use to oxygen rich waters.
live ghost shrimp as you've offered, earthworms, frozen krill and silversides. are all good foods to try. Earthworms are pretty much irresistable to these guys. the Bichirs or RCK may also be bullying it. Turn the lights off for abit. then drop a few worms outside where the eels camped out. once he "sniffs it" if he doesn't take it. Then I would indeed be worried, and worm him. If he takes it 'n spits it.. try smaller peices. took 1 of my fires about 1 week to settle in.. and the other 2 almost a month. Some peopel get them settled and eating right away.
live ghost shrimp as you've offered, earthworms, frozen krill and silversides. are all good foods to try. Earthworms are pretty much irresistable to these guys. the Bichirs or RCK may also be bullying it. Turn the lights off for abit. then drop a few worms outside where the eels camped out. once he "sniffs it" if he doesn't take it. Then I would indeed be worried, and worm him. If he takes it 'n spits it.. try smaller peices. took 1 of my fires about 1 week to settle in.. and the other 2 almost a month. Some peopel get them settled and eating right away.
I agree with the previous posts, they take a bit to settle in. Mine would hide out curled in the "roots" of a fake tree I got and wouldn't ever come out. Now he just sticks his head out unless I feed him, and even then he just looks at me until I bring his food too him...Lazy eel.