Getting Fire eels to eat other food
- Thread starter andy1985
- Start date
Try soaking food sticks in minced bloodworms or earthworms. The flavor and shape may fool your fire eel and eventually accept non-marinated food sticks.
I have not had the pleasure of keeping Fire Eels and what I shared about soaking food sticks is the method that worked for me with several fish that initially refused dry food. If I were to try feeding prawns, I would watch to see if they can shred the prawns and swallow them. From looking at their pointed mouth, it seems to me this species will dig through the substrate to find worms and other critters that it can fit through its small mouth. You may need to shred the prawns if the Fire Eel cannot do it on its own, at least for the first feeding.
If I keep Fire Eels, I would try feeding them the pesky snails in my planted tanks. My Clown Loaches have pointed mouths that suits the purpose of sucking snails from their shells. They were used to flake food so I had to train them to eat their natural food. I put some snails in a cup of water and heated it to kill them but not to the point of hardening their texture. After the first feed of dead snails, the Clown Loaches learned to eat live snails. It is training fish from dry food back to their natural food. Soaking food sticks with minced blood worms and earthworms is a method to convert fish from eating their natural food to eating dry food, which is usually harder to achieve.
If I keep Fire Eels, I would try feeding them the pesky snails in my planted tanks. My Clown Loaches have pointed mouths that suits the purpose of sucking snails from their shells. They were used to flake food so I had to train them to eat their natural food. I put some snails in a cup of water and heated it to kill them but not to the point of hardening their texture. After the first feed of dead snails, the Clown Loaches learned to eat live snails. It is training fish from dry food back to their natural food. Soaking food sticks with minced blood worms and earthworms is a method to convert fish from eating their natural food to eating dry food, which is usually harder to achieve.
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Training stubborn fire eels to eat other foods
This write up is my experience in getting a stubborn fire eel onto different types of food. I purchased a fire eel which, like many, went on a hunger strike for a while once I brought it home. About a week. This eel started in a 10 gallon tank with a tiny flagtail, a bristlenose pleco, and a...
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