EEL problem.....and ammonia spike question

Discussion in 'New To The Hobby' started by rounder24h7d, May 7, 2009.

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  1. rounder24h7d

    rounder24h7d Plankton

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    I set up my 75gal at start of Feb., and added my first fish 3.5 wks ago-- a beautiful snake-banded eel. I got him from my LFS. Problem is, is that he hasn't eaten yet. Now, I've read that they sometime go up to 8wks w/o eating, but he looks like he's dying. water parameters were fine after adding him. Well, nitrates at 20...i've never had them below 20(or above 40). I've tried krill, freeze dried, and live brine shrimp; and guppies(they have no silversides) ...nothing.... when i check in on him, I often find him lying upside down where he will sit unless give him a poke. when I got him, he was very active(at night). Now, he hard moves or digs....just seems lethargic...doesnt appear sick, though........any suggestions on what will entice him to eat....should i try dipping whatever it is in garlic..... how about ghost shrimp...and if i do get ghost shrimp, can i just release them all in my tank, and let him self feed?.....i hear clams will work well....i cant find any though.. raw, anyways--is it ok to give the fish cooked meat(clam,shrimp,squid)?..... any/all suggestion will help.......
    As far as my ammonia, well, I added a striped dogfaced puffer 2 days ago...he's doing great...just a bit shy.... anyways, i just checked my parameters....and the ammonia is up to .25.... i did a water change(10 gal) on monday--before adding him, and i changed my carbon, and cleaned my pads last night........could it be that i cleaned my pads/filter, or simply b/c i added a new fish, or the fact that he's a sloppy eater, and alot of his food(krill) gets spewed everwhere, that has caused my small spike? should i wait it out another day or 2, or should i do another water change..... favor de ayudarme(please help me)
    thanx
     
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  3. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    Try tying some fishing line around the tail of a piece of thawed krill. Tie the other end of the line to a stick. Try and get somewhere where the eel can't see you. Bob the krill back and forth past where he's laying. Sometimes this will trigger a hunting response.

    White shrimp Penaeus vannamei can be added to a reef tank to let them feed as they please. If you were to throw a bunch of ghost shrimp Paleomonetes sp. in there, you'll definitely get a big Ammonia spike. They cannot live long in saltwater.
     
  4. IHAVEMTS

    IHAVEMTS Fire Shrimp

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    Do you have any places for him to hide? Can you get some small goldfish(live)? When i had my eel he went without eating for awhile but eventually gained his appetite back. If you just put a drop of garlic in the tank does he start swimming around looking for food? Note that eels dont have the best vision but they have good sense of smell!!
     
  5. sostoudt

    sostoudt Giant Squid

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    i would not feed goldies, as they are basically scale and bone as feeders, they will cause blockage in the digestive track in a bunch of different fish. goldies revenge!

    you can try ghost shrimp, i would only add one or two since i think they probably wont live the day. they end up being ok with eating fish as long as they dont hide in the rock, because most healthy predators will snatch them up rather quickly, but yes they dont live in saltwater .
     
  6. IHAVEMTS

    IHAVEMTS Fire Shrimp

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    I only fed my eel goldies when there were no silversides available never had a problem. I must have got lucky. I usually only fed him frozen because i didnt want him to get to used to eating live fish and end up with a clown in his mouth.
     
  7. IHAVEMTS

    IHAVEMTS Fire Shrimp

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    I was basically trying to get him to try a variety of things to see reactions of his eel.
     
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  9. rounder24h7d

    rounder24h7d Plankton

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    I just tried the krill on a line...soaked in garlic... stood outta site, dropped it in w/ a sinker. it floated in front of him for half hour b4 i pulled it. he didnt do anything.... when i got home, however, he was skimming across the sand bed(nose down).... i mean, i dont know if there is anything to eat there..... i'm just waiting to find him dead from starvation... he's real stubborn........... I've tried the live guppies and live brine shrimp at the same time.......I dissassembled my siphon, and trapped him in there along w/ 2 guppies and a number of brine shrimp....laid it down horizontal, and left him in there for an hour(he had plenty of room to manuever)....didnt eat anything..... most of the shrimp escaped through the other end of my siphon, into the tank, and down the filter(what a waste).........So, i'm lost here............what else? silversides? can i get them delivered to me...frozen? where can i find fresh raw clam and/or squid....is it okay to feed cooked clam and squid.........how about scallops? i found those uncooked and frozen???
    ....about my ammonia problem . . . . any ideas on the cause? ia it the addition of the puffer...or the cleaning of my filter pads...or the excess food waste that the puffer causes...or possible even all the bring shrimp that probably died in my filter, or sump???
     
  10. sostoudt

    sostoudt Giant Squid

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    i would try your grocery store, you can feed them cooked stuff but i dont they they like it as much.

    the new fish addition probably caused you ammonia spike, puffers dont so much eat food as play with it. it will probably be hard to feed the eel now that the puffer is there.

    are your other fish acting funny too?
    do you have enough hiding places for the eel(im kinda under them impression most dont lay out in the sand)?
     
  11. rounder24h7d

    rounder24h7d Plankton

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    yea. i have plenty of places for him to hide.... when i first put him in, he immediatly burrowed into the sand, wrapped in and out of some rock, and popped his head out in front of a rock...there, he laid until night...then he was extremely active...swimming all over....when i got him, i bought the puffer(there had been in the same tank for a few weeks at the LFS). I quarantined the puffer up til 2 nights ago....I guess it's possible that he's not comfy w/ the puffer....again, though they were in the tank together at the store...along /w a grouper, and a triggerfish....he was very active at that time...and they have zero hiding places in that tank.........will my ammonia go back down then like a small cycle, or will i need to do another water change....just did one monday
     
  12. sostoudt

    sostoudt Giant Squid

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    i would do another water change if you still have ammonia as any level is toxic to fish, and is undoubtable making the eel worse off.
    but it will go back down as it is a mini-cycle.

    what type of skimmer do you have on the tank, as its gonna be very important with the type of fish you got(high bioload and messy).