My Striped Peacock Eel Wont Eat

[1411939]

i have him in a established 55 gallon tank, the water is ver ygood(nitrate below 10, nitrite: 0) he sometimes hides under the gravel, even if the temp is at 79F., but he doesnt eat i have never seen him eat the bloodworms!, i have used a turkey baster and put the bloodworms in his face at night but he won't, he just stares at them until they land in the gravel!, he has been in the tank for 2 weeks and 2 days now without eating( i believe), he is 8" long, and i bought him from petsmart, he is very healthy but shows no interest in the worms, prettu much anything. there are big plants as well for hiding. i never turn on the lights, ever since he came.

 

[dave_oddballs]

i have had my peacock eel in my 55 g since about last october, when he first went into the tank he was always swimming about, now i never see him, actually i only ever see him when i do gravel clean and thats probably only because i prod him! once they get settled in and establish themselves in your tank they normally find a place under the sand to sit occasionally coming out to forage at night. if you have gravel it could be the fact he would be a bit pee'd off, not being able to bury himself and seeking cover elswere. to be honest i have never ever seen mine eat, not once. i would sugest he sneaks out when no one is looking, or i do sometimes see him with just his nose poking out, possible waiting for food to float past therefore never really needing to leave the substrate.
so if you have sand or another fine substrate i'd say its normal not to see him, and not to see him eat, if you have gravel and/or no cover it is likely he will just be annoyed and unable to settle. you should not have your lights off continuously otherwise nocturnal fish, as this is, will not recognise night as bein night and would confuse the fish, you should always simulate what happens naturally, i have my light on 10 hours and off 14 hours, some others may vary but this works for me.
also just make sure you don't have too much competition for the food on the bottom level of your tank! in my tank i have loads but the bottom is in sections, with bogwood, rocks, plants etc.
hope this helps
David

 

[nmonks]

Spiny eels are not easy to keep. I'd underline Dave's point above that there shouldn't be competition for food, and they should ideally be the only bottom feeders in the tank.

Sand helps them settle in both psychologically and physically; they are burrowers, and expect to hunt for food by rooting about with their sensitive noses. Gravel damages their skin, leading to bacterial infections. The bigger species may have tough enough skin that this isn't an issue, but it is a depressingly common problem among the smaller Macrognathus such as yours.

Their favourite food is earthworms. If your eel is going to eat, these are the foods that will tempt it do so! Once settled in they are generally adaptable though of course they (usually) have zero interest in dried foods or pellets.

Macrognathus are gregarious, and singletons may never settle in, particularly in tanks with boisterous fish. Adding two or three more specimens might help.

Cheers, Neale

 

[1411939]

Spiny eels are not easy to keep. I'd underline Dave's point above that there shouldn't be competition for food, and they should ideally be the only bottom feeders in the tank.

Sand helps them settle in both psychologically and physically; they are burrowers, and expect to hunt for food by rooting about with their sensitive noses. Gravel damages their skin, leading to bacterial infections. The bigger species may have tough enough skin that this isn't an issue, but it is a depressingly common problem among the smaller Macrognathus such as yours.

Their favourite food is earthworms. If your eel is going to eat, these are the foods that will tempt it do so! Once settled in they are generally adaptable though of course they (usually) have zero interest in dried foods or pellets.

Macrognathus are gregarious, and singletons may never settle in, particularly in tanks with boisterous fish. Adding two or three more specimens might help.

Cheers, Neale

but where am i suppose to find earthworms?? they doint sell them in petsmart, nor petco, and this peacock eel has been in petsmart for a very long time because it was 8" when i bought him, his petsmart tank was just another peacock eel, and id sharks that was it, im gonna ask them what they feed their peacock eel

 

[nmonks]

Earthworms can be found in your back garden easy enough, and assuming it's an "organic" garden (no bug/weed sprays!) should be perfectly safe to use. Otherwise, I'm reliably informed that shops catering to anglers sell them.

Earthworms really are the thing for spiny eels, and unless you have access to suitably live foods of other types, such as bloodworms and tubifex worms (clean ones!) they're a great food for settling these fish into the home aquarium.

I cannot stress enough how important live "wormy" foods are for spiny eels, at least initially. Again, this is why you don't want other bottom feeders in the tank: no point buying a bunch of live bloodworms only to have your Corydoras or zebra loaches gobble them all up!

Cheers, Neale

but where am i suppose to find earthworms?? they doint sell them in petsmart, nor petco, and this peacock eel has been in petsmart for a very long time because it was 8" when i bought him, his petsmart tank was just another peacock eel, and id sharks that was it, im gonna ask them what they feed their peacock eel

 

[DSMchild]

Most Walmart stores sell night crawlers and such in the sporting goods/Hunting/Fishing section.

 

[truckented]

i have him in a established 55 gallon tank, the water is ver ygood(nitrate below 10, nitrite: 0) he sometimes hides under the gravel, even if the temp is at 79F., but he doesnt eat i have never seen him eat the bloodworms!, i have used a turkey baster and put the bloodworms in his face at night but he won't, he just stares at them until they land in the gravel!, he has been in the tank for 2 weeks and 2 days now without eating( i believe), he is 8" long, and i bought him from petsmart, he is very healthy but shows no interest in the worms, prettu much anything. there are big plants as well for hiding. i never turn on the lights, ever since he came.

try feeding your eel regular worms mine didnt like the blood worms or frozen food so i tried a outside worm next thing i know he is wanting more, i noticed when it is feeding time he comes out swims around looking at me i grab a worm it eats then goes back into its tube i placed in their for him

 

[Ficious]

i have two spiny eels in my 55 gallon and one has accepted shrimp pellets as a staple and the peacock eel im guessing is eating the left over bloodworms that fall into the gravel. those "eels" have an amazing sense of smell so as long as theres something he can have that hasnt been eaten, hell be alright. but really these arent a fish you buy to show...they always hiding!