***HELP*** Zebra Eel in Distress

[tankanator]

Quote:
I have a the overflow filter box with a pe filter pad which i clean every water change and bio balls below that which I have never cleaned. Should I?

Sorry to here about your eel, but as for the bio balls there are a lot opinions on this and we could start a another thread but will stick to your eel. I use bio bale and I do not clean it and I don't have any problems. If you do decide to clean you bio balls only take out about 1/3 rd or less and clean it.

 

[witmerboarder]

i did a 30 gal w/c last night and moved around my rock to vacume out as much debris as possible. I also cleaned a few, less than 1/3 of my bio balls. Tomorrow night I plan on adding some nitroban I purchased at LFS. It is for saltwater. Other wise All other parameters are good. Nitrates were 180ppm last night before W/C. LFS told me that with eel and fish this was normal and nothing to worry about. I really wish there was a better LFS but my only other options are Petco and Pet wharehouse. People i have talked to there have even less answrs and imediatly go to the chemical selections.

 

[mandy21]

Personally, I don't rely on people that work in pet stores. No matter how you look at it, their job is still to make sales. Some will have different ethics/morals than others, but they are salespeople. If you know what you're doing and what to look out for, there is nothing wrong with shopping at PetCo or other large chains in terms of just selecting fish. Do your own research and don't count on anyone else to be your source of knowledge. If you read the books we've suggested all over the forum, then you're good to shop around wherever you want and you'll have your own knowledge as to what to look for

 

[OldManOfTheSea]

Books in certain matter/topics, only go so far, or rather it not gives all the answers. But even with nitrates that high, your fish will still seem to be looking quite normal, but eels im afraid will pay the price due to the lack of knowledge that is around. Also, he already had gained certain knowledge, due too his hands on as the saying goes. Back in my young days as a hobbyist, that was the only means to learning.

Buddy

 

[AquariumFish]

hate to hear your Zebra eel died ...

ALMOST think I should sell you mine ... then I take another swallow off my coffee ...

hope you find a good replacement ...

what did you do when he stopped eating before?

I just got a 2 and a half footer 2 days ago ... and also habe about a 2 foot Snowflake eel

 

[witmerboarder]

He would only stop eating after a big meal. If I feed time until he stopped coming for more he might not eat at all the next night or only eat one shrimp, or go a couple days and not eat. But then he would eat like normal. I read that overfeeding them "powerfeeding" was a way that LFS would fatten them up but that it was unhealthy so I switched to one -two shrimp a night depending on the size. even then there would be days where he would not eat but the next night he would. Also read that they could go a long time without eating and would eat less as they got older so it did not worry me much when he did not come out for two days on the third day is when i noticed he was breathing a little hard and I checked water parms and everything " looked " to be normal. Next day is when he came out and was laying on his side breathing really hard. I did my normal weekly water change but he did not recover.

 

[OldManOfTheSea]

He would only stop eating after a big meal

All the eels I ever owned fed well every other day, not every day or two. You need to think of it, eels in the wild not feed on the daily bases or so, and often not feed for weeks at a time. Eels, in a home aquarium I have to say isn't all that healthy for the hobbyist will feed all too often and this im afraid will gain much body fat and cause liver malfunctions or better to say, a liver disease.

You should had been feeding that eel every 3rd day at most, and fed the eel until it refuses further offerings. One of the problems in this is when keeping eels with other fish, you as the hobbyist must learn on just how much your eel can feed on and make its diet as nutritional and as variety as you possibly can.

Also read that they could go a long time without eating and would eat less as they got older

That idea is kind of a hit and miss way of thinking. The truth to it it that when your eel such as a dragon moray when fed well, can go the week without feeding. The thing there is, in the body size of an adult moray can hold much more food then when it was a young juvenile. I had a large number of eels that not fed for 5 or 6 months and it never giving me any concerns.

One of the tricks of that when any eel gone on a long hunger strike, I began to offer smaller strips of fish or so. Like the male dragon that I sold, he was feeding on 9-10 inches long of fresh fish wight was less then 2". And when I make the strips smaller due to their long hunger strikes, the width was a inch or slightly less.

I offered you all my experiences with the eel, you can take it for what it be worth. But in all, the few things in which I mentioned at the start, all work hand in hand to maintain and keep your eel healthy for many years. The pair of dragon eels that I sold more then 18 moths ago, I had the female the longest, for more then 14 years.

Buddy