Eel not eating

kkgaskin90 · Jan 9, 2014

I know it's a pretty common occurrence for an eel to not eating during copper treatment, but at what point does it become a concern? I'm raising copper levels slowly over the course of 8 days (as the manufacturer suggests). It has some PVC to hide in...it's as comfortable as I can make it for a copper treatment. Just don't wanna lose this guy

caldone · Jan 10, 2014

Im pretty sure copper will harm your eel
You dont want to ever use copper in a tank with an eel
I have read that Sea Chem's Cupramine is ok but I wouldnt use it

Im not expert but I would remove him asap

caldone · Jan 10, 2014

Id go hypo salinity 1.012 but definitely not copper

ohio reefer · Jan 10, 2014

I wouldn't use copper. I'd possibly relocate the eel until your copper is gone. On as side note I've had a snowflake go over 2 months not eating. This was one that was about 30 inches and the thickness of an empty toilet paper roll. Bought him that size. Wouldn't eat anything. Donated him to a different store who had to work with him for a month before he ate, so he went 3 months and didn't look any different. My smaller snowflake is fed about once or twice a week. If he doesn't eat even live ghost shrimp then you know the copper is effecting them. Ghost shrimp is the one food that I've had every predator fish eat as a last resort. I've never had anything refuse it. However it gets expensive to feed these after a while. About 4$ per feeding.

kkgaskin90 · Jan 11, 2014

I did some research before starting and according to Seachem as long as I hold the level at 0.3 it is ok. I just reached 0.3 last night and the eel at least poked at food today. He was eating great off tongs before, so I'm sure it's stress/effects of the copper. Should I really pull him from the hospital tank and hypo at this point?

mike007 · Jan 11, 2014

Why are you treating him?

tyler1503 · Jan 11, 2014

Eels are pretty resilient. I wouldn't worry too much about him. Snowflakes and zebras are 2 of the hardiest fish I've ever owned. I had a zebra survive 2 tank moves, a tank crash, 2 outbreaks of white spot, a carpet surfing episode and being bullied (to the point he wouldn't leave his den, even for food) by a very nasty damsel. Plus he was a hitch hiker in a mates rock (he was only about 3"), so he went from the LFS to his house in a foam box with only wet newspaper for moisture, he wasn't actually submerged in water at that point. Sorry, I got a bit off topic there, but my point is how tough they can be.
If he starts losing weight id be concerned, but most morays can go a lot longer than you and me without eating.
Why are you treating him?

kkgaskin90 · Jan 11, 2014

My entire tank got a nasty Ich outbreak, so I decided to treat the entire tank (obviously in a separate hospital tank). I asked a bunch of questions prior to treating and did a lot of research...I was not going to leave him in my display since the point is to be fallow and get rid of the Ich. I was also VERY nervous about my abilities to properly hypo while keeping a steady pH.

Tyler-that's a tough little Zebra! Only hitch hikers I got were Aptasia!

tyler1503 · Jan 11, 2014

I've read eels are not susceptible to ich. I may be wrong though.
I had 2 outbreaks and my zebra never got it. I left my eel in there, and 2 months later added more fish and they didn't get it either. That supports my eels can't get it theory, but perhaps I was just lucky?
Anyone else experience something like that?

kkgaskin90 · Jan 11, 2014

Yeah I know they usually don't get it, but they can (according to all my research) host it and allow the cycle to continue, which defeats the purpose of leaving him in or not treating him. I'd rather play it safe than sorry since I'm going through all the trouble of tearing my rock scape apart to catch all the fish and treat :)