Golden Dwarf Not Eating...

DarthSimon · May 22, 2019

Hey Guys,
So I have an established Golden Dwarf Moray Eel.
Have had him for 2 years, Eating approx twice a week a frozen silverside. All of a sudden he is refusing food and won’t come out to eat. Usually when my feeding stick hit the water he would go nuts. Usually would grab food within 30 seconds if not sooner.... any thoughts on what to try??? I’ve tried big pieces of shrimp, squid to no avail...

ShawnSaucier · May 22, 2019

Sometimes they go on hunger strikes. And this is common for most eels. They may go for a bit without eating. You could try soaking the food in with regular fish food or add garlic.
Have you changed anything in your system lately? Re aquascaped? How are your water parameters? Big PH swings?
I’ll be honest though, in my experience my eels have never returned to eating once this happened. I’ve had two Golden’s and a Snowflake. Each passed at approximately 2 year mark. I fed a variety of foods. If they popped out during the tank feeding, they got fed. Things would be great until one day. I recently lost my snowflake to a hunger strike, or what ever caused the strike.

Jacky Siu · May 22, 2019

Owner of two dwarfs, Dont worry too much, they can go on without food for sometime, keep trying but dont worry. He will eat eventually

Webslinger · May 22, 2019

+1 Try prawns, and squid they should be feed a variety diet. They do go on hunger strikes for a month or two.

Webslinger · May 22, 2019

Meet LARRY!

DarthSimon · May 31, 2019

Thanks Guys!!! It's been a good 4-5 weeks now. I haven't changed anything. Tank parameters are stable and solid. My Dwarf has his own space in the rock work, and hasn't moved. What gets me is that he was a great eater. One silverside, twice a week on a feeding stick did the trick. He would come out and rip the food off the stick within 30 seconds aggressively. I will try some other foods this week.

Webslinger · May 31, 2019

When was your last water change?

DarthSimon · Jun 12, 2019

Some great news!!! It has to be 7 weeks now he hasn’t eaten. This morning I fed my fish and the GD started to go nuts. Came out of his hole and started shaking his head around. I quickly ran and got him a silverside and he took it!!!! Thank god... my boy is eating!!!

lion king · Jun 12, 2019

Good news, 7 weeks is a long time.

rlman41299 · Jun 12, 2019

When I had my dwarf he went on hunger strike for 8 weeks and wondered where he gets his food since he refuses to eat the ones I give him. one night I saw him scavenging food and is eating uneaten leftovers. After that I tried feeding fresh scallops and he started eating but eventually died after a few weeks. I miss that little bugger.