Peacock Eel behavior

[moe1up]

Okay this has been a concern of mine for awhile. I have a peacock eel, that I have had for about a year and a half. Since I got him, he has significantly lost weight. He seems comfortable in the tank with the other mates, but to be honest, I have only witnessed him eat once or twice. I'm sure he eats He has stayed hidden for months at a time (unless he came out while I was sleep) I am thinking I have to many bottom feeders and because he doesn't attack the food, like the others, he is missing out on meals. Just concerned!

Other fish include
3 - tiger barbs
5 - buenos aires tetras
1 - albino rainbow shark
1 - other peacock eel
2 - large spotted catfish
2 - other catfish (forgot the name, but they areblue and very active)
1 - pleco
1 - otto

55-gallon tank

[Hurley]

What are you feeding him. I have kept eels for a couple years now I feed them nothing but live food, like blackworms, and occasionally I can get them to eat frozen food such as blood worms. They really don't eat flake food. Also, they tend to be nocturnal so you might want to try feeding some black worms once the lights are out. They don't have great eye sight so they use their nose to find their food. The darkness might give the eel an advantage over the other fish.

[luckydud13]

Yah blood worms work good.

[moe1up]

been doing bloodworms, maybe i'll look in black worms tonight. i generally feed at night, but with the light on. maybe i'll switch it up a bit. thanks for your help guys. i'll keep y'all (i'm from the south) posted.

[Hurley]

I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of frozen blood worms for the eels but only because I could never get my eels to eat them like they eat the live stuff. They much preferred live worm but in a pinch (sometimes the lfs doesn't get their shipment of black worms in) I will feed frozen. But, if you can get yours to eat frozen food, awesome! Since your peacock eel may be hungry, it is possible will take the frozen food much easier. Frozen food would be easier in the long run to feed but its also not a fun as watching the eel actively hunt.