Eels and lions have alot in common; I have seen many posts lately concerning eels, so I thought I would pass on some information that I have learned over the years. !st off, know your source, do not get an eel from a source that runs copper in their system. Eels have sensitivity to copper, antibiotics, tank cleaners and other tank additives; their liver sensitivity seem to rival lions. While eels many time will survive copper treatment, they will almost always die not much more than a year later. Eels rarely succumb to protazoan diseases and there is just no need to expose them to copper. They also seem not to transfer these diseases to other tanks, their super slime coating prevents ick and velvet from attaching, so a proper transfer method is all you need. Eels are very resilient and will usually recover from injuries on their own, so the need of antibiotics are usually also not called for. Sickly eels which will likely not survive survive treatment may be affected by protazoan diseases or bacterial infections due to injury. Pristine water conditions and a proper diet is usually all they need. They do come in with internal parasites so treatment with general cure, fritz paracleanse, or a combination or prazi pro and seachem metro is sometimes advised and has been know to be safe. While eels may not eat right away it is important to get them eating; as not eating is a sign of internal parasites.
Start your research in the wild. This is good advice for every fish you are interested in keeping. One of the most important factors you will learn, is their feeding habits. In the wild eels feed on a gorge/fast cycle, it is very important to emulate this in captivity. Their metabolism and digestive system require time between their feedings, eels can suffer fatty liver disease when fed too frequently. Overfeeding is the 2nd cause of death among eels in captivity, usually in the form of too frequent feeding. The 1st cause of death is carpet surfing, tanks must be covered and every crack and crevice sealed. Their nature is to be curious and cruise the tank poking their noses into wherever they can go; usually in the middle of the night while you are sleeping. Juvi eels may live in groups and be more social, but as adults will be more solitary and more aggressive. This is some of the info you will find when you start your research in the wild. Moray eels in the wild live from 20 to 30 years, but in captivity many sources are ok to say 2 to 4 years in captivity. That is a travesty, well cared for eels in captivity will live well over 10 to even 15 years, i currently know eels living more than 15 years in captivity. It all starts with a proper diet.
A diet low in thiaminese and including human grade seafood either fresh, frozen by you in small batches; or frozen from reputable sources, frozen and stored properly and used within the best by date. Frozen seafood does have an expiration date in which the nutrients are still viable. Unless otherwise stated, fish products used "not for human consumption", contains Ethoxyquin, which is a dangerous chemical preservative. This preservative is used at the dock when they separate the goods for human consumption, your food choices must specifically say, "does not contain ethoxyquin". The people I know keeping eels for more than a decade, exclusively feed human grade seafood. Some choices for feeding include; shrimp with shells(trim any sharp edges and ut up into bite size pieces), squid, octopus, mussels, clams, fatty fish(I prefer salmon). While I do not rely on supplementation I do stuff my chunks with a high quality pellet food. Remember pellets do expand in the gut so use sparingly. An algae pellet is a good addition, as predatory animals with get their green nutrients from the guts and tissue of their prey. Many have reported zebra eels eating nori. Liquid supplements usually rinse off so injecting a liquid supplement may help, be careful not to od supplements as there are fat soluble ingredients which will cause an issue. Pebbletooth eels can benefit from live feedings including ghost shrimp and fiddler crabs. Ribbon eels usually don't do well unless live feedings are included in their diet, appropriate sized mollies are a good addition. Unless you are keeping a fang tooth eel species tank, I don't suggest feeding fang tooth eels live food.
Juvi eels may benefit from more frequent feedings but as adults, no more than once a week will be best. Feed them their full then give them time between feedings for digestion. Give them time to become more active before feeding again. While eels can go hunger strikes; under most cases it is not normal, and there is always a root cause. It can be normal for new addition but after a sustained acclimation with an established feeding routine, it is not normal. Missing a feeding or two is no big deal, but when this turns into weeks, there is a problem. It could be water quality or a bully, or maybe you redecorated his tank. So 1st off, check your water quality. Feeding too frequently is many times a root cause, so examine your feeding schedule, as well the diet. Mg is known to be good for digestion, so at least maintain reef level mg; you can safely raise your mg to 1600ppm if you suspect a digestive issue. Maintaining reef level ca is also a good idea, as fish do assimilate nutrients from the water column.
I am not an expert, this hobby is not absolute, these are just some my observations, hopefully you'll find one or two points useful.
Start your research in the wild. This is good advice for every fish you are interested in keeping. One of the most important factors you will learn, is their feeding habits. In the wild eels feed on a gorge/fast cycle, it is very important to emulate this in captivity. Their metabolism and digestive system require time between their feedings, eels can suffer fatty liver disease when fed too frequently. Overfeeding is the 2nd cause of death among eels in captivity, usually in the form of too frequent feeding. The 1st cause of death is carpet surfing, tanks must be covered and every crack and crevice sealed. Their nature is to be curious and cruise the tank poking their noses into wherever they can go; usually in the middle of the night while you are sleeping. Juvi eels may live in groups and be more social, but as adults will be more solitary and more aggressive. This is some of the info you will find when you start your research in the wild. Moray eels in the wild live from 20 to 30 years, but in captivity many sources are ok to say 2 to 4 years in captivity. That is a travesty, well cared for eels in captivity will live well over 10 to even 15 years, i currently know eels living more than 15 years in captivity. It all starts with a proper diet.
A diet low in thiaminese and including human grade seafood either fresh, frozen by you in small batches; or frozen from reputable sources, frozen and stored properly and used within the best by date. Frozen seafood does have an expiration date in which the nutrients are still viable. Unless otherwise stated, fish products used "not for human consumption", contains Ethoxyquin, which is a dangerous chemical preservative. This preservative is used at the dock when they separate the goods for human consumption, your food choices must specifically say, "does not contain ethoxyquin". The people I know keeping eels for more than a decade, exclusively feed human grade seafood. Some choices for feeding include; shrimp with shells(trim any sharp edges and ut up into bite size pieces), squid, octopus, mussels, clams, fatty fish(I prefer salmon). While I do not rely on supplementation I do stuff my chunks with a high quality pellet food. Remember pellets do expand in the gut so use sparingly. An algae pellet is a good addition, as predatory animals with get their green nutrients from the guts and tissue of their prey. Many have reported zebra eels eating nori. Liquid supplements usually rinse off so injecting a liquid supplement may help, be careful not to od supplements as there are fat soluble ingredients which will cause an issue. Pebbletooth eels can benefit from live feedings including ghost shrimp and fiddler crabs. Ribbon eels usually don't do well unless live feedings are included in their diet, appropriate sized mollies are a good addition. Unless you are keeping a fang tooth eel species tank, I don't suggest feeding fang tooth eels live food.
Juvi eels may benefit from more frequent feedings but as adults, no more than once a week will be best. Feed them their full then give them time between feedings for digestion. Give them time to become more active before feeding again. While eels can go hunger strikes; under most cases it is not normal, and there is always a root cause. It can be normal for new addition but after a sustained acclimation with an established feeding routine, it is not normal. Missing a feeding or two is no big deal, but when this turns into weeks, there is a problem. It could be water quality or a bully, or maybe you redecorated his tank. So 1st off, check your water quality. Feeding too frequently is many times a root cause, so examine your feeding schedule, as well the diet. Mg is known to be good for digestion, so at least maintain reef level mg; you can safely raise your mg to 1600ppm if you suspect a digestive issue. Maintaining reef level ca is also a good idea, as fish do assimilate nutrients from the water column.
I am not an expert, this hobby is not absolute, these are just some my observations, hopefully you'll find one or two points useful.
