Eel and Ich

[Mitch_Wilson]

Ok i recently upgraded to a 55 gallon tank from my previous 30 gallon. In my 55 Gallon i currently have a Senegal Polypterus, who was in my 30 gallon and is thriving quite well in the 55, a black african knife, 3 iridescent sharks and my G. Tile eel, also know as a freshwater moray.

Now firstly i know that when these fish are full grown, I will need a larger tank but they are all very small now, 3-4 inch polypterus 3-4 inch knife and about a 12" eel. The sharks are going to grow faster than the rest but theyre only staying in this tank until they are large enough to move to a friends tank. So for the time being the tank is not overstocked.

However i did make a mistake of not quarantining the sharks when i added them and now unfortunately have an ich outbreak. I know i should always do so before adding any fish to a tank but i didn't. I've now bought a 10 gallon for all future purchases

Now with the ich i've increased the temperature to 86 and added 2 Tbs of aquarium salt per gallon to the tank. This was in addition the the 1 Tbs per gallon of marine salt that was already in there for the eel (I realize that he is more accurately a brackish eel now, unfortunately he has no where else to go so i'm doing what i can for him)

I've had the eel for about a week and a half and have yet to see him eat or show any signs of interest in food, i've tried frozen raw shrimp, small live feeder fish, and live earthworms.

Any suggestion on the ich or getting the eel to eat? also what size tank would i need when all these fish start maturing? would a 120 be sufficient?

 

[Cynic]

Haha 120G? Sorry but I'd estimate 600G would be the minimum and that'll be pushing it.

 

[PockX]

Im not sure how senegals are with marine salt..I know they are pretty resistant to ich..but can get it and is very bad when they do. Not sure how a tire track eel will handle it either. I would try to just get some meds maybe..what are you feeding the eel? They can accept pellet food, but usually prefer live or frozen food..bloodworms are great and they love nightcrawlers. Also, they are nocturnal, so you might not be seeing it eat, and they slurp up their food so fast, so it might be hard to tell if he is. If he hasn't ate in that long, then he would already be gone..so he is most likely eating.

 

[Mitch_Wilson]

i should clarify that this is not a tire track eel. This is a G. Tile, brackish-water moray eel. I know i do not have the space for a tire-track eel, unfortunately.

as for what i'm feeding him, i've tried frozen shrimp and earthworms. Also i know its possible he's eating when i'm not watching however i'm wary of trusting this because the senegal eats whatever fits in his mouth, without exception.

also the level of salt in the aquarium is commonly considered a range that any fish can tolerate as there are few completely freshwater areas anywhere in nature. it is only there at all to assist the eel

 

[Cynic]

i should clarify that this is not a tire track eel. This is a G. Tile, brackish-water moray eel. I know i do not have the space for a tire-track eel, unfortunately.

as for what i'm feeding him, i've tried frozen shrimp and earthworms. Also i know its possible he's eating when i'm not watching however i'm wary of trusting this because the senegal eats whatever fits in his mouth, without exception.

also the level of salt in the aquarium is commonly considered a range that any fish can tolerate as there are few completely freshwater areas anywhere in nature. it is only there at all to assist the eel

If you know you don't have the space for a tire-track eel how come you've got 3 iridescent sharks?

 

[Mitch_Wilson]

When I originally bought the sharks my lfs told me that they would be fine in a 55 for life...shortly after looking online, i realized that that was far from true, however i couldnt return them to the lfs as my local ones don't take fish in under any circumstance, so i asked around with a few friends and one of them had a friend who said he could take them but only once they grow out a bit. So my tank is basically just that, a grow out tank for them.