Need help ASAP with FW Eel

Sonjamo

AC Members
Jun 11, 2007
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I got a FW eel from my dad. My dad says he is sick and looks like he may die soon. He has no appetite and isn't as active as he used to be. I don't know the name of this eel or what is needed to take care of him so i'm attaching some pictures of him so you guys can help me identify him and any info on how to take care of them, what they eat, what temp there water should be, etc. When i saw him at my dads house yesterday he was lying around belly up. I brought him over to my place in a bucket and hes been swimming circles in it the whole time which is the most movement i've seen him do in a long time. Does he need to be hospitalized or just put him in a tank?

Any info would be great! thanks alot!

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Snowflake eel. Start acclimating him to salt water or brackish water asap or he WILL eventually die.
 
I agree you need to get the salinity up, and keep in mind these fish generally show up to LFS in pretty bad shape. I'd keep it in the hospital tank. If you see diseases keep in mind they are extremely sensitive to copper.
 
also what temp do i keep it at and what do i feed him? keep the lights on? off?
 
Foods not sure. Try anything to get it to eat. Shrimp, krill, plankton, guppies, rosy reds, silver sides etc.

Temp try 82-85.

The lights should be at a normal cycle.

Dont just dump salt in the tank, slowly add it. To start off with try a tsp per every 5g of water. Over a slow period of time.
 
alright the temp is getting there and as for the salt, the water he was in previously was partial salt water so it should be ok either way i haven't dumped a crapload of salt in there, i'm doin it slowly.

I hope he'll be ok. I called around some pet stores and they claim there is no such thing as a FRESHWATER snowflake eel so i got no help there.

Thanks a lot everybody!
 
No problem. Just ask for more help when you need it.
 
Alright well i watched him for a while yesterday and hes swimming around and across the front glass like he used to. He seems more active then he did in my dads tank. How long should i keep him in the hospital tank?

Just thinking about where i can put him after he's done being hospitalized. Are these eel normally aggressive? He sure wasn't in my dads tank. Also how compatible are they with other peaceful fish?
 
The tank for the eel needs to be brackish though, just make sure of that. The eel will usually eat any fish or inverts that fit in its mouth.

I prefer quarantining fish at least a month before adding them to the main tank.
 
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