Hi

[JimLin]

Hi,

I am an owner of a 5-6 year old fire eel which is approximately 21 inches long, so is probably pretty much fully grown. She does have a scary habit of lying on her side, or even upside down when she is sleeping, which even after all these years scares the bejesus out of me as it looks like she is dead . She is very shy, nervous and easily scared, but to the best of my knowledge has never eaten any of the small fish (platys etc) that I have previously had in the tank with her.

Unfortunately, she got a bit banged up on her nose when I moved her from her too small tank, to her much, much larger 540 litre tank that I have just set up and the damage on her nose isn't healing. She also isn't really eating. I will ask for some expert advice in the Fish Emergency section.

Here's the new tank and a photo of her in the new tank, but unfortunately I don't have a full length picture of her.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Hi,

I am an owner of a 5-6 year old fire eel which is approximately 21 inches long, so is probably pretty much fully grown. She does have a scary habit of lying on her side, or even upside down when she is sleeping, which even after all these years scares the bejesus out of me as it looks like she is dead . She is very shy, nervous and easily scared, but to the best of my knowledge has never eaten any of the small fish (platys etc) that I have previously had in the tank with her.

Unfortunately, she got a bit banged up on her nose when I moved her from her too small tank, to her much, much larger 540 litre tank that I have just set up and the damage on her nose isn't healing. She also isn't really eating. I will ask for some expert advice in the Fish Emergency section.

Here's the new tank and a photo of her in the new tank, but unfortunately I don't have a full length picture of her.
View attachment 141596
View attachment 141597

Your new tank looks very, very, VERY clean...was it cycled?
It also looks very, very, VERY bright and exposed. Fire eels need dim lighting to thrive and yours might enjoy a bigger pipe to hide in.
In appropriate conditions, fire eels get to over 30", (they've been found as large as over 40" in the wild), so yours isn't "probably pretty much fully grown".

Your fish has expressed a lot of stress recently and should be treated as such...dim lighting during the day, peace and quiet and be left to explore its new surroundings, reorientating itself slowly. Don't expect her to eat for a few days and keep a close eye on any food you give getting left to rot. Fasting her for a couple of days should be helpful.
I'm curious as to what your water parameters are and would suggest that the addition of salt in the water might help her recuperate.

 

[JimLin]

@Bruce Leyland-Jones
Thanks for the reply. Yep, the tank is definitely cycled and the parameters are spot on.

The lighting is less bright now, but the photo was taken just to show off the tank a while ago for something else.

Rather than continuing this conversation here, I will create a post in the fish emergency section where it should be. I'll also take a picture of the tank at its current brightness.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Welcome to TFF! That eel is epic!