FW Fire Eel, Death

asilefx · 03-23-2006, 11:16 PM

My friend has (had) a FW fire Eel.

He said it was acting fine all day, I arrived at his house to find it thrashing around, spinning, and just going nuts. After about 2 minutes of this it died.

Could this have been caused by a problem in his water?

We are trying to figure out if drastic measures need to be made to the tank.

His tanks mates are:
1 Orange Spotted Sting Ray
1 SnowFlake Eel
2 Catfish (not sure which Kind)
A few gold fish and ghost shrimp
and 2 crabs added today, 4 or 5 hours before the death.

He tested his NO2 and NO3, NO2 was very minimal, NO3 was 0.

The colour on the eel also changed a few hours before the death. It just happened out of no where.

It was a full grown Eel, could it have been his time? Could the Sting Ray have got him? He appeared to have no wounds.

He added a few fake rocks today as well, for the eels. He said he might have touched it, which I'm told is not good for it. But would that have killed him in a matter of hours.

He does have a very new tank, only about 2 weeks old. He added many things prematurely.
He added two sting rays after having the tank setup for only 5 hours. The LFS gave him some bacteria from their filters to get him started. Really I don't think they should have encouraged him into getting the rays so quickly. Both rays died. One after 10 minutes and the other after about 1 week, from what appeared to be ich.

I don't want him to kill anything else. Does anyone know what could have gone wrong. It was a very quick act, there was no time to treat. Plus he has no QT.

gmccntryboy · 03-24-2006, 06:30 PM

IMO thats way to much added WAY to soon. I waited about 2 1/2 months before I added anything , and when I did it was some chromis (4) there inexpensive. He is going to have alot invested in fish at that rate and not to mention the poor fish. I would not add anything more until it matures and also see if he can take some of the fish out until then.

asilefx · 03-24-2006, 06:42 PM

I'll see if I can convince him.

Thanks for the help.

Bruce · 03-24-2006, 09:06 PM

Wait, is this a fresh water tank or salt water?

SAW39 · 03-24-2006, 09:41 PM

Yeah. My thought, too. Also, some eels live in brackish water.
The only reference I can find for a Fire Eel is a freshwater fish that grows to over 9" in length.

asilefx · 03-24-2006, 09:52 PM

Fresh Water

SAW39 · 03-24-2006, 09:59 PM

Well, then. Different rules entirely for getting the tank started. I agree with you, Asilefx, that he should have waited. But ...
Check the temperature, chlorine, ammonia. All can kill a fish in hours, if not minutes.
Crabs and stingrays in a freshwater tank? Goldfish in a tropical tank? Is he just mixing all kinds of creatures together? He needs to do a little more (a lot more) research before he buys anything else.

asilefx · 03-24-2006, 10:06 PM

He's using the gold fish to feed the eels. Only one is in the tank at a time.

The temp was around 78.

He said there was no ammonia. He didn't check for chlorine, but there shouldn't be any considering I gave him RO/DI water.

All the fish are Fresh Water. I did some research before he got everything, all was ok.

The eel was in the tank for a little over a week, he said it would twitch every once in a while. Even a little in the bag.

SAW39 · 03-24-2006, 10:48 PM

When I was a kid in New England, I caught some small eels in a stream and brought them home to put in my freshwater tropical fish tank. But, they all went crazy and overnight they all jumped out of the tank. A tropical fish tank is a LOT warmer than a New Hampshire stream! Mom was not happy with over a dozen dead baby eels in her living room!
The story probably has nothing to do with your friend's problem. I just wanted to tell it.

Bruce · 03-25-2006, 08:39 AM

ya i wasnt sure, i saw snowflake eel and the orange spotted sting ray O.o i guess there r fresh water ones with the same name