# fire eel starving to death



## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

so i picked up a fire eel about 4-5wks ago, was just a baby only 5-6" long

i have tried Everything i can think of for food;

shrimp (live, frozen, market, pellets, freeze dried)
bloodworms (live/frozen/freeze dried)
earth worms
tubifex worms
flake
brine shrimp (live/frozen/freeze dried)
feeders (neons/guppys/tetras/roseys/cichlid fry)
NLS, various
various hikari products
beef heart
algae tabs
krill

Wont eat ANY of the above. (before people start saying oh shut the lights off and walk away etc etc, i know all about this and am Very familiar with their eating habits, this one just, Wont.)

should i just give up and let it die? am i missing something out their known captive diet?


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## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

ya man if he turning down earth worms,theres a problem have you tried small baby earth worms .


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Don't give up, what are your water parameters like?


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

tinnny ones where i live the ground is VERY hard so the worms around here are about as thick as a headphone wire


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

0,0,5

its in my 220 that has an eheim 2262 & fx5 on it... filtration/water quality isnt the issue
(i do 2-3 140g water changes a WEEK) ph is constant @ 7.6, about 7 GH , and temp is @ 80F


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

OK, that does not sound promising then. Could be an internal issue but that will be difficult to treat if he wont eat. Usually an earth worm does the trick for these guys but it sounds like you have tried every food available. As long as Eels have a place to hide they usually feed voraciously. I suspect there is internal organ issues here.


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

Have you tried live black worms? Very few fish can resist those and Pat(Canadian Aquatics) I believe said he was going to Nanaimo tomorrow so he might be able to bring you some. His user name is mykiss on here

Good luck


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

i would happen to agree with you on the internal organ thing, there was a small bump on its underbelly when i first got it, starting to think it must be some sort of internal blockage, the closest ive ever seen it to eating is it going up to an earth worm, smelling it for nearly 5min, almost tasting it.. then swimming away. the lady at the store was hesitant to sell it to me due to the fact she had never seen it eat. im not expecting a problem when going back to the store, just giving it my best dont like to see my pets die


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## poiuy704 (Nov 6, 2010)

I had the same problem with mine, didn't seem interested in any type of food and was basically lying amongst the plants looking dead or very close to it. I took him out of the tank he was in last night and put him in a twenty gallon full of guppy fry as a last resort. Within minutes he was activly chasing and eating as many baby guppies as he could catch. Looking alot happier today and swimming alot more than I've seen him in weeks. I think part of the problem may have been the aggression of his tank mates at feeding time and them eating everything before he had a chance to get excited about the food coming his way. Don't give up on yours and maybe try an isolation tank if you haven't already so it has a chance to eat at it's own pace.


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## pisces (Apr 22, 2010)

black worm is it same as earth worm ?


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## Grete_J (Oct 5, 2010)

I don't know anything about fire eels, but what if it's the type of earthworms your feeding? There's alot of aquatic species that are picky when it comes to red wriggler worms vs dew worms. Red wrigglers emit a stench when attacked that ALOT of animals don't like, whereas dew worms do not.


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## Phillyb (Jan 18, 2011)

hey man sounds like you tryd supper hard so dont feal bad if the worse comes around i dont own a fire eel but fed my fish these in the past.. mealworms, or crickets ?

good luck


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

sorry to say it died this morning


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear , I really like these guys and was thinking of getting one myself. 2 thumbs up for doing the best you could !


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

ah this hasn't deterred me from wanting one, im just going to look for one that's in the 14" area and already eating healthily


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I hear they grow fairly fast, I've read they can grow 24" or more in a year. They are capable of getting very big, So even if you get a smaller one, just make sure it's eating good already (not that I need to tell you that) Last time IPU had some at 6" , they were pretty healthy looking. You might keep an eye out there


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

im from vancouver island, that store doesnt really apply to me unless a special trip is made!


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## Lymric (Feb 27, 2011)

*not sure if you already saw it*



oakley1984 said:


> ah this hasn't deterred me from wanting one, im just going to look for one that's in the 14" area and already eating healthily


there is one for sale or trade in the classified area on here...

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/fres...$90-group-buy-special-until-april-13-a-13826/


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

hey thanks, now if i can find someone going from richmond to nanaimo i would be set!


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## Lymric (Feb 27, 2011)

tell me about it  I was looking at it myself, but theirs 2 ferries in my way LOL


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## BubbaGump_59 (Jul 23, 2010)

sorry to hear it died  hope you try your luck again there amazing fish


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