Dragon Eel

Earl Karl · Feb 2, 2019

I have kept many eels, including my 11 year old Tessalata. I am full aware of hunger strikes, just not ones that last a month.

He came from a friend of mine who kept him for 2 months in qt. He was eating everything after a 2 week hunger strike. I decided to pick him up after his qt was done. So far I have a Moorish Idol, CBB, Cleaner wrasse, Kuiteri Leopard, Bicolor goatfish, Golden dwarf angelfish, and a blood shrimp. Nothing in there that would intimidate him and they are in a 240 with bunch of sps.

My friend already treated the eel for me with CP and stuff. I wouldn't say it's parasites.

I'll try live goldfish, big mollies if they them, and others if they are big enough. He did reject live prawn though.

lion king · Feb 2, 2019

Earl Karl said:
I have kept many eels, including my 11 year old Tessalata. I am full aware of hunger strikes, just not ones that last a month.

He came from a friend of mine who kept him for 2 months in qt. He was eating everything after a 2 week hunger strike. I decided to pick him up after his qt was done. So far I have a Moorish Idol, CBB, Cleaner wrasse, Kuiteri Leopard, Bicolor goatfish, Golden dwarf angelfish, and a blood shrimp. Nothing in there that would intimidate him and they are in a 240 with bunch of sps.

My friend already treated the eel for me with CP and stuff. I wouldn't say it's parasites.

I'll try live goldfish, big mollies if they them, and others if they are big enough. He did reject live prawn though.

They can go longer on a hunger strike when introduced to a new tank but CP doesn't treat parasites. What happens is they come in and are eating and seem very healthy in every regard. Then they just stop eating and that's it. I have eels, but can't say eels are my specialty, but predatory fish are, and I've seen it many times. I've seen more eels die from parasites than eels that have survived after a long extended hunger strike.

Marie7 · Feb 2, 2019

Hummmmmm I got expensive fishes... Blue Emperor, yellow Tang, engineer goby, coral beauty, 2 marrons clowns, bi color blenny, another Tang, a blue and yellow fish, a foxface and about 4 damsels diff colors and the snowflake eel plus corals, it's loaded

Earl Karl · Feb 2, 2019

I said CP "and stuff", my friend has use other meds. CP does treat parasites, just not internal.

He used CP, pharma grade praziquantel (not prazipro, which clouds the water for me), metroplex, and some antibiotics like kanaplex. I know this because I'm the one who taught him how to qt and he qts the same as I do.

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have parasites lol, but who knows. I wasn't the one qting it, but I have confidence that he did a good job. Otherwise I want a refund lol.

On a serious note, I think I'm gonna be patient for now. If they can tolerate longer, then I got nothing to worry about so far. He's doing great as an eel, sometimes he swims around in the open, but doesn't eat. He was super stressed when we tried to catch him as he swam out the tank and went carpet surfing. But even then, a month is a bit of a stretch.

I like to keep difficult/expert only fish, but this guy is surprisingly the most frustrating by far.

lion king · Feb 2, 2019

Earl Karl said:
I said CP "and stuff", my friend has use other meds. CP does treat parasites, just not internal.

He used CP, pharma grade praziquantel (not prazipro, which clouds the water for me), metroplex, and some antibiotics like kanaplex. I know this because I'm the one who taught him how to qt and he qts the same as I do.

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have parasites lol, but who knows. I wasn't the one qting it, but I have confidence that he did a good job. Otherwise I want a refund lol.

On a serious note, I think I'm gonna be patient for now. If they can tolerate longer, then I got nothing to worry about so far. He's doing great as an eel, sometimes he swims around in the open, but doesn't eat. He was super stressed when we tried to catch him as he swam out the tank and went carpet surfing. But even then, a month is a bit of a stretch.

I like to keep difficult/expert only fish, but this guy is surprisingly the most frustrating by far.

It does sound like he covered his bases, your understanding in this exceeds mine. I have seen healthy eels stressed and transported into a new tank go a couple of months. I wouldn';t be surprised you don't find a missing shrimp or a fish with bite marks one morning, then you'll know he;s back to himself, lol

Earl Karl · Feb 2, 2019

Ah I see. Yeah, I still have live feeder fish to try so hopefully that works. Otherwise, I have to be patient.

Hopefully he doesn't chomp at my fish, all of them were a pain in the a** to qt and get them to feed lol.

Zan101 · Feb 14, 2019

lion king said:
Pics would be nice, the bright orange head does sound like a male. The females coloring is much more muted. While I have seen females with some orange, I really wouldn't call it bright. The orange or red marking of the male is obvious and striking. I'm not sure if you can really tell if it is Hawaiian vs Japanese, some may say you can, while others will argue it's the same species. It's like the harlequin tusk argument, some will say the Hawaiian has brighter coloring. Keep him in a healthy tank and feed him well and you can call him which ever you want. At 2' he still has some growing to do, and his coloring will become even brighter. Happy for you, I looked for a year several years ago and gave up, theres' a store here now with a male and a female, overpriced and I have no where to put them now. $4oo is a good score.

Nice, I've been looking for one