to catch an eel?

[Camaronator]

So I just got in a fire eel that I ordered and he looks absolutely terrible. Until now, I've never received a fish out of the bag that had ich and just looked generally ragged. I upped my temperature and have been consistently dosing melafix and salt and he already looks a lot better, hes still missing a lot of scales though, if that's what you'd call it

How are spiny eels caught in the wild? I figure if you want to catch a tetra, you throw a net into a river. I feel like catching a spiny would take some kind of trap.

I'm just curious more than anything, mine looks like someone took a shovelfull of sand and threw it on the road, then picked out the poor eel.

Feel free to share any info on commercial fish keeping, this might not be an appropriate place for this thread

 

[MonsterMinis]

Thats pretty typical.. idk much about how they are caught but its likely the 12"+ ones are caught on hooks.. smaller likely nets and some are likely aquacultured. ( ie useing chemical stimulants to induce breeding, very few spineys have been documented spawning in captivity. and only a handful have resulted in fry.)

I found clean water, and unlimited access to live foods the best way to raise/keep spineys the first few weeks. their mortality rate is staggering.

 

[Camaronator]

He's probably about 6 inches and very skinny. I had some live worms and he came over and sniffed them and went away. I've still got two spots on him that are fuzzy, I might try some Pimafix instead of mela. I dose my salt very gently, maybe a tablespoon daily but in two doses 12 hours apart (trying to not kill all the plants)
Any other suggestions? I've noticed him curling his body up a lot. Seems strange

 

[MonsterMinis]

I would try prazi-pro or another stingray safe dewormer. undulating of the body usually indicates internal parasites/constipation. imo its much safer then other meds out there. once thats addressed, you can go back to treating with mela/pima.. I actually often use those meds combined but both at 1/2 doses and found it to work very well. do not increase the teank temp and monitor the water quality closely... 0-0-20ppm or less is your priority over meds all day anyday. remove any and all carbon from the tank leaving the rest the media alone ect..

most times they will not eat infront of you at first so live blackworms are exscellent as they have constant access and will usually at night feel comfrotable enough to eat.