Tire track eel only eats jumbo shrimp cut into pieces

[smellslikefish1]

I'm just curious if anyone has had any issues with an eel that only eats shrimp. Well I know he eats live guppies out of the tank but about every other day or so he will eat 2 large or jumbo shrimp I cut up into pieces and tong feed him. Will I run into issues if he keeps up this diet?

 

[Chub_by]

Spiny eels are notorious for being picky eaters. Shrimp are okay as a staple, but you should try and get it on other foods. You could probably get away with sticking with shrimp if you add vitamins and minerals (e.g by soaking the shrimp in a vitamin supplement)

 

[DrownedFishonFire]

One of the fire eels i have is sooo annoying this way ONLY EATS EARTHWORMS- i rather have him eat shrimp! Thats so much easier for me to get and store /cheaper i can always sneak pellets inside the shrimp and dip it in vitachem- i feel your pain ?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

One of the problems with feeding cut shrimp is that this diet is unbalanced and too rich in thiaminase. Since the spiny eels specialize in crustaceans in the wild, perhaps they have a built-in mechanism to cope with the thiaminase, which otherwise would soon cause a deficiency of vitamin B1.

Crustaceans are also rich in cholesterol but IDK if this is a problem for the eels or fish in general.

Another thing to be aware of is that shrimp for human consumption is treated with a formalin / formaldehyde preservative to preserve the vibrant colors of shrimp, which otherwise darken over time. So these shrimp should be washed and soaked I guess to remove the preservative, otherwise I'd think it can sicken your eel... and I also think this could be one reason why some peers say shrimp and other crustaceans can be lethal to tigrinus catfish, for instance. Formaldehyde is acutely toxic to fish in general.

Fire eels IME are the pickiest by far and large. Tire tracks and black spotted eels have been easy for us, learning to take anything, including pellets and bait fish presoaked in VitaChem by themselves, no coercion was needed. We buy them, place them in our tanks with tank mates and the tanks get fed pellets and fish and we never had a tire track or a black spot to not learn. But it does depend on fish history and what it was fed before. Maybe we just got lucky.

 

[Fishman Dave]

My tyre track will only eat musselmeat. When I find someone who has fed musselmeat only for 15 years I will be able to tell whether all the rumour's are true or not but until then we can only guess I’m afraid. Although my guess is that fish in the wild do this too and they don’t know what’s best for them!

 

[Simonas]

Another one for mussel meat here too. I buy the big bags of frozen from the supermarket and he goes crazy for them, had him 18 months and despite initially refusing food for a couple of months once he took earthworms he went crazy then for the mussels , silverides and frozen prawns that I feed

 

[kzimmerman]

My black spotted only likes nightcrawlers. I've let her go hungry before, and cut some strips of tilapia and soaked them in red food coloring to match the worms. She will not eat the fish unless it looks like a worm. Even then, she does so with some reservation. I would try letting her go hungry for a few day's and then trying a different prey item and see what happens. I target feed Missy Eeliot, so she is accustomed to taking food from my fingers, so that helps. You can try soaking the shrimp in food coloring to match a worm for instance, and get her used to feeding on them. Then pull a switcheroo and see if it'll take it.

 

[Norsynth]

One of the fire eels i have is sooo annoying this way ONLY EATS EARTHWORMS- i rather have him eat shrimp! Thats so much easier for me to get and store /cheaper i can always sneak pellets inside the shrimp and dip it in vitachem- i feel your pain ?

I imagine you could grab a bunch when it rains? Or perhaps it's not the best idea depending on what the worms eat in your area.