Hi. I'm a newbie here. I've had fish of various sorts and set-ups, all freshwater, for the past 10 years but have never advanced from the "beginner" level. I'm fairly content with what I've got at the moment. 
In my 55 gallon tank, I have 4 SA parrot cichlids, a couple cories and a syno cat, and 2 "FW" snowflake eels. I bought them about a year ago or so. They are about 17.5" and 14" in length with the longer also being a tiny bit thicker, but not by much. I noticed yesterday that the smaller one (I'm thinking male, based on other websites and eel descriptions) has what can best be described as a "bald" spot around it's, um, butt (?). The eel in general has a pretty metallic silver color, like liquid mercury with miniscule gold flecks, but there's a ring of pinkish-peach flesh around the hole. It is not swollen or protrusive, it is not excreting or festering. It does not resemble any type of infection that I know of. He's eating and otherwise behaving as he normally does, perhaps a little more active than usual. I've ran water tests for nitrates, ammonia, pH & GH and all were spot-on. So now I'm trying to find anyone else who has adults of this species that may be able to tell me if this is something they've noticed with theirs.
I've been on the internet searching for info or photos to identify the condition to no avail...
I asked at the LFS that I bought them from, but they came up empty. They did tease me for noticing such a thing, so in my defense, I shall explain. When the two get to swimming laps through the tank, they tend to swim with their belly against or facing the glass. This gives me an unimpeded view of their undersides.
Any thoughts, ideas, or stories you can share on these neat critters would be appreciated. ALSO, I'd LOVE to know what you all feed YOUR FW eels.
Many thanks in advance,
T
In my 55 gallon tank, I have 4 SA parrot cichlids, a couple cories and a syno cat, and 2 "FW" snowflake eels. I bought them about a year ago or so. They are about 17.5" and 14" in length with the longer also being a tiny bit thicker, but not by much. I noticed yesterday that the smaller one (I'm thinking male, based on other websites and eel descriptions) has what can best be described as a "bald" spot around it's, um, butt (?). The eel in general has a pretty metallic silver color, like liquid mercury with miniscule gold flecks, but there's a ring of pinkish-peach flesh around the hole. It is not swollen or protrusive, it is not excreting or festering. It does not resemble any type of infection that I know of. He's eating and otherwise behaving as he normally does, perhaps a little more active than usual. I've ran water tests for nitrates, ammonia, pH & GH and all were spot-on. So now I'm trying to find anyone else who has adults of this species that may be able to tell me if this is something they've noticed with theirs.
I've been on the internet searching for info or photos to identify the condition to no avail...
I asked at the LFS that I bought them from, but they came up empty. They did tease me for noticing such a thing, so in my defense, I shall explain. When the two get to swimming laps through the tank, they tend to swim with their belly against or facing the glass. This gives me an unimpeded view of their undersides.
Any thoughts, ideas, or stories you can share on these neat critters would be appreciated. ALSO, I'd LOVE to know what you all feed YOUR FW eels.
Many thanks in advance,
T
