Spiny eel......eating

[Nikkijas]

Hello Everyone,
So I have a spiny eel that’s about 7”-8” he is amazing My question is, I feed him one earthworm a day and mysis shrimp once in a while. He begs for more food like he is starving and he will not eat anything other than worms or shrimp, is one worm enough a day? He will swim about 3/4 of the way up the tank if he thinks we have food. He lives in my 210 gallon with 2 Severums, 2 Green Terrors, 3 Blood Parrot cichlids, 4 Hoplos and two Raphael catfish.

Any thoughts would be great Thank you!

 

[tlindsey]

View attachment 1318177 Hello Everyone,
So I have a spiny eel that’s about 7”-8” he is amazing My question is, I feed him one earthworm a day and mysis shrimp once in a while. He begs for more food like he is starving and he will not eat anything other than worms or shrimp, is one worm enough a day? He will swim about 3/4 of the way up the tank if he thinks we have food. He lives in my 210 gallon with 2 Severums, 2 Green Terrors, 3 Blood Parrot cichlids, 4 Hoplos and two Raphael catfish.

Any thoughts would be great Thank you!

I personally think 1 worm is ok the Eel looks great in the pic. I would increase the amount according to growth.

 

[kno4te]

Nice looking Borneo eel. Would agree with tlindsey .

 

[Nikkijas]

Is that what he is? Oh that is so great! I tried to find out what kind of spiny eel he was but I couldn’t figure it out. I will have to research about him I bought two at the same time and one stayed about 5” and is really shy and this one that is in the picture picked on him so I took the chance of putting him in my larger tank with the big kids lol He loves it! I just wasn’t sure if one worm was enough, I kept reading stuff that said they won’t eat for days but this guy knows when it’s 6pm and certainly lets you know he wants his worm Thank you for your help and thank you for letting me know he looks good

 

[Galantspeedz]

I don't see any harm in feeding more though

As long as you do not overfeed

 

[Nikkijas]

I don't see any harm in feeding more though

As long as you do not overfeed

I am going to be completely honest I have no idea how much is overfeeding with eels, should I bump it up to 2 worms? I mean can I compare this eels appetite like a Flowerhorn and always want to eat no matter what or how much I feed him? I know it sounds stupid but I have a Flowerhorn ( in his own tank) and if I dropped 20 worms in there he would try to eat them all! Lol

 

[Galantspeedz]

for me, i roughly know when they feel full cause they are usually less enthusiastic when you feed once they are full....

that's what i gather when observing my fishes....

 

[Nikkijas]

Ok, Thank you very much I think I will give him one worm in the morning and one at night and see how he does I really appreciate all the help

 

[Ogertron3000]

Nice looking eel, I had one years ago and fed him one earthworm a day with the occasional missed day and he lived for years.
Make sure there's no gaps in the lid as they like to jump, that's how mine ended up dried out on the carpet one morning.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Your eel looks very healthy. Once you get spiny eels eating, they can be quite glutinous. I have overfed my fire eels before and they will literally eat until they have food sticking out of their mouth because they cannot swallow anymore. Lol

I think one work in the morning and one at night is a good idea. If the eel starts to lose interest in any of the feedings, then I suggest backing it back down to once a day.

Earthworms are great, but it’s a good idea to try to get these guys on other foods as well. I have my fire eels eating pretty much all frozen foods and night crawlers. They absolutely refuse all pellets though.