I'm not having much luck feeding my peacock eels, I've fed them frozen brine shrimp but it doesn't seem like they actually eat it. I've noticed when I put fry in the aquarium the numbers begin to dwindle over night, but so far only three have vanished over the course of 2 weeks (seems a little low to me). If anyone has any experiance with eel feeding please share, I've grown rather attatcheded to them!
You can put an eel in water, but can't force it to eat. . .
- Thread starter cushi272
- Start date
I once was worried about my pair of peacock eels and their eating habits as well. I've had them now for about 6 months and have never once seen them eat anything. They are still alive, so they are obviously eating something 
. The only thing I feed that tank is TetraMarine Granules (yes, all my freshwater fish love them). So, they obviously eat those....
. The only thing I feed that tank is TetraMarine Granules (yes, all my freshwater fish love them). So, they obviously eat those....Try frozen bloodworms. I had a tire track eel once that loved them but died from an unknown cause.
You know I have/had the same problem with my Peacock as well. I dont know anymore if it's still alive or dead however. Ever since I upgraded tanks he has disappeared. But I tried, shrimp pellets, blood worms, freeze dried blood worms, tubifex, ghost shrimp, flakes 3 different kinds, and feeders. Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. I didn't see it take any of them. I even tried to target feed them with a turkey baster. No luck there either. It wasn't a small one either, it was about 5 inches when I got him, so who knows. I ran out of ideas. Before I changed tanks though, I had him for probably about 2 months.
How many eels do you have? In what size tank? They can be territorial, and that may cause them to refuse food as they defend their turf.
Mine eats frozen foods happily--Emerald Entree is a favorite of his, but he'll take most meaty foods. If you chop up earthworms to chunks small enough, they should go crazy for them. Make sure they are small pieces though--I had one choke on a large worm he stole from a bigger fish. I had to pull it out of his mouth--not fun for either of us.
Mine eats frozen foods happily--Emerald Entree is a favorite of his, but he'll take most meaty foods. If you chop up earthworms to chunks small enough, they should go crazy for them. Make sure they are small pieces though--I had one choke on a large worm he stole from a bigger fish. I had to pull it out of his mouth--not fun for either of us.
I found frozen are great for them just like Orion. My tire track eel was shy and I used to just shower a small amount of blood worms or mysis shrimp near its brick reef and it would cautiously eat them from safety. After he settled in and began to grow (he's about 13 " now) he is eating beef heart, clam, shrimp, fish, and earthworms (a treat now and again) straight from my hand with half or more of his body exposed pigging out. I recommend feeding them only frozen due to parasite loads and bacteria associated with feeders. However, starting an eel to feed may require feeders until it settles in. They're ravenous and once mine settled it used to rival my cichlids in food consumption per meal. I had to be careful that it wasn't out competing my other fish.
To lazersniper, cushi might be right. You need a very very tight fitting canopy to keep these night time explorers from finding a way out. They're hard enough just to net and transfer from tank to tank being a squirmy and slick as they are. As I battled, much to my chagrin, 3 days ago after changing apartments and tank locations.
To lazersniper, cushi might be right. You need a very very tight fitting canopy to keep these night time explorers from finding a way out. They're hard enough just to net and transfer from tank to tank being a squirmy and slick as they are. As I battled, much to my chagrin, 3 days ago after changing apartments and tank locations.
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I don't think mine jumped out. When I had him in the smaller tank it was poorly covered and he didn't do anything. Now I have him in a larger tank and it has a decent hood. The only opening is by the filter. Just enough space is left open for the filters, so unless he decided to squeeze through that space, make it past the filters and fall on the ground far enough away from the tank for me not to notice, or confined enough not to smell, he should still be in the tank. Most likely in the gravel somewhere. I have yet to locate him. My little brothers tell me they sometimes see the gravel 'shift' but they're not sure if it's their eyes playing tricks on them, if it is what they see. I'll be upgrading yet again to a larger tank soon so I'll try to find it then, but at the moment I"m not too worried. I've not seen him in so long that I think I'm over it by now. Crappie thing is, while he was in the smaller tank he swam around a lot under dim light, now in the big tank I don't see him at all. 