Hi, I'm relativley new to eels (but not fish in general), and I recently came into a problem. I got two little peacock eels about a month ago for my knifefish tank, as the substrate is sand and theres lots of wood, I figured they might do well in it. I never really saw them much (xcept for heads, etc) after i put them in when the lights were on. I figured this was OK as i had had great success with the cryptic digging khuli loaches, who in my generously fed snail-filled community tank, had never had a problem (I still have one that I've had for eleven years!).
So here's what I did-
I heard they did well with ghost shrimp, so I started putting twenty ghost shrimp in the tank every week. As my knifefish eats them too, i figured that would be a good number. (the eels are about 5 in. long and still babies).
I also put bloodworms and sometimes brine shrimp in (frozen, one cube defrosted in a cup of tank water), poured into the waterfall from the filter (so it falls to the bottom), just before lights out a couple times a week.
The tank is-
55 gallons with lots of rocks plants and driftwood, as well as a big cave in the middle made of pvc for the knifefish. All parameters are good, water was started with dechlorinated tap water and water changes are done with D/I water with Discus buffer and "Blackwater Expert" extract, So water is soft, with Ph of about 6.5.
Other fish are a Clown Knife Fish (about 5-6 in including tail, he's still a baby too) a Gibbiceps sailfin pleco (also about 5 in), two goldfish (feeders that were a lil too big), and four ~2in blue gouramis.
I also feed gouramis and goldfish brine shrimp, "emerald entree" (mixture with greens in it, bloodworms and flake. I give the pleco algae disks cucumber and zuchinni, though I'm sure he eats some of the worms and stuff too, and the knifefish gets a minagerie of little fish, mainly minnows and goldies, but also tetras, danios, convicts, little gouramis, and whatever else is available so I can keep his diet varied. There are also snails in the tank, which I figured they could eat with their long noses.
(before I get any comments about it, I know how big these fish can get, this won't be their tank for life)
So theres' the whole backstory. I thought through that, the cryptic eels would have enough to eat. But today, the smaller of the two eels came out in the daytime so I could see his whole body, and he looks emaciated! Like he hasn't eaten for a long time! I figured they were eating, but given that I had never seen them eat and that there's alot of crossed trophic level in this tank, It is possible that the CK eats all the ghost shrimp and the pleco eats the worms at night. I figured that would work, but am I wrong?
Its also possible that, because I haven't seen the other eel's side (which I believe is the larger of the two), that he is eating it all. Is it common for peacocks to be dominating over others? I was under the impression that they would get along.
SO theres my long question with lots of backstory, but you didn't have to read all that unless you were very interested, or had a question that I hope I answered with all that initial information.
But my main question is, how can I make sure that they're eating?
Are peacock eels very meek? Should I move them? or is it possible that they're looking for something else or that ones just dominating the other?
I can't see that they would have much competition during the day, except for the goldfish and gouramis, but they always swim away when I try to get food down there.
Do peacock eels have a favourite food?
But basically i'm just asking all the experienced eel keepers on this forum, what should I do? are there any tricks that I could try to make sure theyre getting their fare share?
Thanks
Daniel
So here's what I did-
I heard they did well with ghost shrimp, so I started putting twenty ghost shrimp in the tank every week. As my knifefish eats them too, i figured that would be a good number. (the eels are about 5 in. long and still babies).
I also put bloodworms and sometimes brine shrimp in (frozen, one cube defrosted in a cup of tank water), poured into the waterfall from the filter (so it falls to the bottom), just before lights out a couple times a week.
The tank is-
55 gallons with lots of rocks plants and driftwood, as well as a big cave in the middle made of pvc for the knifefish. All parameters are good, water was started with dechlorinated tap water and water changes are done with D/I water with Discus buffer and "Blackwater Expert" extract, So water is soft, with Ph of about 6.5.
Other fish are a Clown Knife Fish (about 5-6 in including tail, he's still a baby too) a Gibbiceps sailfin pleco (also about 5 in), two goldfish (feeders that were a lil too big), and four ~2in blue gouramis.
I also feed gouramis and goldfish brine shrimp, "emerald entree" (mixture with greens in it, bloodworms and flake. I give the pleco algae disks cucumber and zuchinni, though I'm sure he eats some of the worms and stuff too, and the knifefish gets a minagerie of little fish, mainly minnows and goldies, but also tetras, danios, convicts, little gouramis, and whatever else is available so I can keep his diet varied. There are also snails in the tank, which I figured they could eat with their long noses.
(before I get any comments about it, I know how big these fish can get, this won't be their tank for life)
So theres' the whole backstory. I thought through that, the cryptic eels would have enough to eat. But today, the smaller of the two eels came out in the daytime so I could see his whole body, and he looks emaciated! Like he hasn't eaten for a long time! I figured they were eating, but given that I had never seen them eat and that there's alot of crossed trophic level in this tank, It is possible that the CK eats all the ghost shrimp and the pleco eats the worms at night. I figured that would work, but am I wrong?
Its also possible that, because I haven't seen the other eel's side (which I believe is the larger of the two), that he is eating it all. Is it common for peacocks to be dominating over others? I was under the impression that they would get along.
SO theres my long question with lots of backstory, but you didn't have to read all that unless you were very interested, or had a question that I hope I answered with all that initial information.
But my main question is, how can I make sure that they're eating?
Are peacock eels very meek? Should I move them? or is it possible that they're looking for something else or that ones just dominating the other?
I can't see that they would have much competition during the day, except for the goldfish and gouramis, but they always swim away when I try to get food down there.
Do peacock eels have a favourite food?
But basically i'm just asking all the experienced eel keepers on this forum, what should I do? are there any tricks that I could try to make sure theyre getting their fare share?
Thanks
Daniel
