New zig-zag eel - thought it was dying last night after being brought home?

[Newaquarist]

Hi all,

New aquarist here. I have a tank that I just added a zig zag eel baby to last night. All seemed well until I turned out the lights a few hours after coming home. The eel freaked out and turned limp halfway up the water column. He seemed unresponsive and allowed me to cradle him with my finger. This went on for a few minutes before he slowly regained his composure yet was still struggling to swim upright.

As time went on, a few hours after this 'episode', he seemed back to normal and found a nice cozy shelter to hide in and hasn't come out since. He's still alive and seems normal as far as movements. Hasn't eaten yet, although he did try to eat a blood worm before spitting it out last night before the episode occurred.

Any ideas what happened? So glad I didn't pull him from the tank when he was in that state. Looks fully recovered today.

Incredibly odd. Looking for some insight here. Water parameters are normal. Had no salt added to the aquarium, but I dosed it today with aquarium salt just to be safe. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Newaquarist]

He died.

Thanks for nothing anyways.

[BigRedsReefs10]

For future reference it’s almost impossible to help someone with out tank parameters, size, etc. in general for most fw eels they have a very hard time adapting to new tanks, so if it was recently shipped to the fish store then transferred to your tank it was probably to much stress for the eel. How did you acclimate the eel to your system? It’s best to add new fish to your aquarium with lights out (especially something like an eel) to minimize stress and aggression from the other tank mates.

[bribo12]

Originally Posted by Newaquarist

He died.



Thanks for nothing anyways.

Don’t get the attitude… helpful members aren’t on 24/7 and this forum is not nearly as active as it was years ago.

Sorry about your eel but sometimes fish just die and there is no easily discernible reason. Otherwise without further info it could have been how it was acclimated, a spike in ammonia or nitrite, the fish was already sick, etc. one thing I’ve learned in this hobby is people can help but sometimes there is no reasonable reason for deaths in our tanks.

[tsdobbi]

Originally Posted by Newaquarist

He died.

Thanks for nothing anyways.

People on this forum don't owe you anything nor do they have all the answers to every possible scenario. Especially when you said and I quote "he looks fully recovered". Then your next update just hours later is "its dead, thanks for nothing".

[tsdobbi]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Don’t get the attitude… helpful members aren’t on 24/7 and this forum is not nearly as active as it was years ago.

I belong to a number of facebook groups and forums for aquariums/reptiles (I have a turtle not fish). This sort of behavior is unfortunately extremely common. People get downright hostile to the community if they don't get a magic bullet answer that will solve their problem instantaneously.