Spiny Eel Very Sick!

[NateMeg]

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Tank size:29 Gal
pH:7
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:100-200ppm
gH:200-400ppm
tank temp:78

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): our spiny eel hasn't been eating for a few days and is now he is spinning in a corkscrew around the tank uncontrollably. It looks like he can't see where he is going, and sometimes he will just stop and lay upside down on the bottom of the tank.

Volume and Frequency of water changes:50% a week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:none

Tank inhabitantslatys, butterfly fish, killies, corys, dawrf gouramis, another eel (tire track), pleco

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):a new carpet plant, not sure of the name right now

Exposure to chemicals:none

 

[nmonks]

This doesn't sound good.

Do you have a gravel or sand substrate? Keeping a spiny eel in a tank with gravel is (in my opinion) a death sentence. These eels need to dig, and when they try to dig in gravel they scratch their very delicate skins. This gives rise to bacterial infections, and eventually these will kill the fish. Spiny eels must be kept in tanks with a silver sand substrate deep enough for them to burrow into.

If there aren't any obvious symptoms, like cloudiness on the skin, or red blisters, you may be lucky, and a skin infection isn't the problem.

Spiny eels do need a specific sort of tank. They expect lots of plants, and especially floating plants. They do not like bright light, and they must have caves, bogwood, and other hiding places.

They are also territorial, and bigger specimens will harrass smaller ones, particularly if they need to compete for a cave or hiding place. Are both these spiny eels tyre-track eels? You realise that these grow to around 70 cm long? A 29 US gallon tank is far too small for two of them. They are also predators. I have seen tyre-track eels eat platies, let alone killifish.

While some spiny eels are found in brackish water, not all of them are, so while you may read comments on the web about adding salt, do not do so until you have established which species you have. Even then, it isn't really necessary.

Cheers,

Neale

Our spiny eel hasn't been eating for a few days and is now he is spinning in a corkscrew around the tank uncontrollably. It looks like he can't see where he is going, and sometimes he will just stop and lay upside down on the bottom of the tank.