Eel thinks he is a fish

[scalesojustice]

so i got a peacock eel a couple weeks ago, and i figured that he would spend most of the time hiding in the PFS and only coming out to eat at night. in fact, i was excited to get him away from petsmart and into a tank with some comfy sand.

well... i have never once see him hiding. the guy swims laps like he owns the place. he also loves to take a ride on the bubbles from the air stone. in fact, one night i turned it off and he curled up around the air line tubing and pouted. so i turned it back on and he swam through the bubbles all night.

the other thing is, as soon as i turn the lights off, he retires to his favorite piece of drift wood and retires for the night.

what is up with this eel? didn't he read his species profile like i did before buying him? he's supposed to be nocturnal and afraid of everything.

my only concern is that i haven't seen him eat. i tried to actually hand feed him frozen blood worms the other night, but he was afraid of my hand. although, i think i have seen him nibble at shrimp pellets. i worry because the two blood parrot friends (yes, they swim together sometimes) are quick and get most of the food. there isn't anything left over.

any tips for feeding?

TIA

 

[jamesrm]

I had one of those before, just be careful to have a secure lid. I would love to have one again.

 

[Aquarium Freak]

I have a fire Eel and he is just like yours... He sleeps and night and partays by day lol. He is one of the coolest FW fish I have. I love the way he acts just his personality. As for the feeding I have had my Fire Eel for about 2 months now and it took about a week for him to start eating blood worms. He is in my 90g planted Discus and I throw in 5 cubes and the Discus get 4 and he takes one back to his cave. He acts just like a fish to he will sit in the cave with the GBR's and Keyholes and doesn't bug the Keyhole eggs! They are awesome fish!
Good Luck with getting him to eat I'm sure he will!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

FW eels are actually fish, lol. Not true eels. Also, it depends on the fish's personality. My fire eel has never been out during the day. He used to hide in an ornament before I took it out and put in the shipwreck. Now he's in my Emperor 400 during the day, and comes out at night. Pretty interesting fish. I really like the eels, and some, like fire eels, do get huge. Mine's stepping up to 14 inches now and still growing at a good pace. He eat 2 cubes of bloodworms in under a minute and a half. lol.

 

[scalesojustice]

oh, i know he is actually a fish and not a real eel, but he doesn't act like an eel should. in fact, when i see him not moving, i get deathly afraid that something is wrong with him. i turned on the light today and saw him just laying in his spot and for a minute i thought "is he alive." of course, the next time i looked he was swiming in the bubbles.

 

[andywg]

A real eel (Order Anguilliformes) is still a fish.

Using the taxonomic groupings after Nelson [1994] and Compagno [1991] they are in Subdivision Elopomorpha (with the tarpons, bonefish and gulpers) under Division Teleostei (bony fishes) which makes them a bony fish, closer related to most fish kept by aquarists than bichirs, gars or lungfish.

 

[fynnie]

This worked really well to allow my Ottos a chance to eat....Set up a container that only your eel can acess and feed him in there, it might take a few days to get "him" used to the idea, but I had really good success with this method.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I just use a long 1 3/4" tube to pour the bloodworms down so it goes straight to the bottom of the tank in one spot, rather than scattering. Works great. Also, my eel has gotten so used to swimming up the tube, eating his way up to the top, lol. So used to it that it doesn't freak him out anymore being in there. Then I just lift it off him when he's done, and he then gets what he missed that's on the aquarium bottom. And with the tube being clear, you can watch him the whole time, lol. He's so cool, nearly 15 inches now.

 

[fynnie]

Hehehe didnt I read a post where your rainbow shark got up the tube by mistake and slapped you LoneWolfBlue?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

yup, lol....

 

[hc8719]

He eat 2 cubes of bloodworms in under a minute and a half. lol.

uhh, and i thought going through a 4oz bloodworm pack a week was alot for my BGKs

still cant get the eels out of the filter?

 

[jamesrm]

Lonewolf,
You should video that for us