i`m sitll having trouble feeding

bobo

my freshwater moray eel. it still wont feed even after i tried every type of food available. today i tried salmon chunks thawed in water and scented with garlic but still nothing. it was quite exciting howeever since the second i dropped the salmon into the water my fire eel got very excited and began to rip at it continuously, i`m hoping the moray eel will catch on from the fire eel feeding. is this even possible?

Lupin

What is the specific gravity of your tank water? You'll need to place your moray eel in a brackish water environment as juveniles and eventually marine when adult as it will not tolerate freshwater long-term. SG should be increased by 0.001-0.002 per week.

Any pictures of your eel? Is this a snowflake eel? We'll need to identify him so you can housed him in a better environment which will eventually prevent starvation. This must be done as quickly as possible.

Lupin

More information for you when I talked to Bettababy.:)

Depending on what exact species it turns out to be, an eel that will grow to be at least 24 inches could eat the other eel once it's bigger. How big of a tank is it in and what kind of substrate are you using? Without sand to bury itself in, and lots of "holes" and caves for hiding, any moray will stress to death quick. A moray eel, (or any eel) in gravel can sustain a lot of physical injury... scratches and such, which leads to secondary infections quickly, and eels you can't use just any type of med to treat... they're scaleless, so sensitive to everything.

And with the morays, the water temp has to be about 80. If the temp is not warm enough, they won't eat. If nitrate levels go above 40, they won't eat. It is not the easiest fish to keep. If the fire eel is bigger than the moray, it will pick on the moray, too.

bobo

it is a freshwater moray eel and is very distinct with the facial features, of this i am sure. Pictures are impossible since the eel is inside its cave almost constantly, and it is about the same size as the fire eel. water temperature is at 82 degrees farenheit and the only thing i feel you are right about is the brackish water. nitrates are under 40 or atleast were the last time i checked (last week) and i currently need a new kit which i`m getting on monday. the tank is 55 us gallons but i`m getting a new tank very soon since i found a great offer on. (64 dollars for a 55 gallon) and i use airpumps and filters in all my tanks. I know that he has eaten a Siamese Algae Eater before should i just feed him some more till i get the new tank.

He`s about 30 cm now, how long do you think till i have to move him to brackish water. I would take him back to the LFS i bought him from but i`m sure that there water isnt brackish and he wouldn last there either. Actually not one LFS i have seen so far has brackish water tanks or fish. So its generally up to me to get this done. Tank should be coming this week or next, you think he can last in the fresh water? or can i add salt into my tank, his tankmates are two baby oscars ( which will be moved again when they grow to my friends 125 gallon) 2 small parrot fish, fire eel, 1 RTS and a large leopard plecostomatus thingy :p

the tank is relatively well planted with fake plants and lots of scenery pieces in which the fish avoid each other and there is generally no beef between any fish. My main question is can i add salt to this tank till i get the new one?

Lupin

Try feeding him various foods that you can provide. Sticking to one will not give him sufficient vitamins.
That's quite a dilemma. The moment you increase the salinity, the other fish will not really tolerate it at all. If you don't put him in brackish water conditions, he'll easily starve himself to death. If you have another spare tank, you can house him there temporarily until you get his own tank sorted out.
No, you can't. It will simply stress and kill the other fish.

bobo

i have a small ten gallon tank, you think that may be used temporarily?

Lupin

This is better than being starved to death by wrong water conditions. Test the water parameters daily though.:)

Gump

There is no such thing as a freshwater moray eel. It isn't eating because you have it in freshwater.

bobo

moving it to brackish water tomorrow, need to move out the current residents of the tank to the big tank before i can add the salt.

derbyno1

i think the best thing for you to do is bring it back to the shop untill u learn how to look after this eel. also i had one a couple of years ago when i had a brackish tank he gt to 2 feet in length , in the end i had to move him to my dads marine tank, because of the size of him and how agressive it was, it has the power to bite right though a fish. (trust me he ate half of my dads lunar wrasse)