Snowflake Eel Being Picky

[WitheredMantis]

Hi all,

My snowflake eel has recently began refusing food and becoming less aggressive during feeding time. He is trained to eat off of a feeding stick and when i offered him some krill today he took it, and then let go of it. He is obviously showing interest in eating, but decided to spit it out. Is he just bored of krill or is there something else going on? I have had him since March 11, 2018, and he is only about 10”. He has not grown a lot in that time, which I find very strange. He was about 8” when i got him. All the other fish in the tank are eating, even my copperband butterfly recently started accepting mysis shrimp. The tank parameters are all normal. He has not ever shown any aggressive behavior towards other fish, although I do think he may have gobbled down a 1” dwarf lionfish a couple weeks back, but that is up to interpretation, as I did not see it happen.

other fish include:

2 banggai cardinals
Green filefish
Blue reef chromis
Copperband butterfly

thank you!

 

[Han]

What else do you feed him besides krill?

 

[AC1211]

I would try something else but maybe not silversides considering that he could easily eat the bangaiis and the chromis may I recommend squid.

 

[WitheredMantis]

He takes clams sometimes but isn’t really a fan. And yeah, i was trying to stay away from anything fish related so he wont bother my fish. But then again he doesnt even go after my peppermint shrimp who have been with him for over a year.

 

[Han]

My snowflake would often refuse krill, silversides would get him eating again. He never bothered my other fish but if you have squid or something available try that.

 

[WitheredMantis]

He also used to eat frozen “pink shrimp” which i would take out of the shell and cut into chunks. I could try that again for him. I might try silversides, but I really don’t want to chance him snacking on his tankmates. Would scallops work ?

 

[Han]

It’s worth a shot. And if you do have to feed silversides, chop them up so that he doesn’t associate whole fish with food.

 

[lion king]

If you have been feeding him mostly krill, I'm surprised he has lived this long. A dominant krill diet will bind vitamin B1 and cause a deficiency that proves deadly. A captive eel can not relate you feeding him chunks of fish on tongs to his tank mates swimming around, this is one of the silliest things i hear about when keeping eels. If I fed you human flesh at dinner and you didn't know it, you wouldn't all of sudden be attacking humans walking down the street.

You should try other things in his diet as mentioned above; silversides, squid, octopus. If he hasn't eaten the cardinals or chromis I doubt he ate a lionfish. I'm surprised he hasn't eaten the peppermint shrimp, a hungry healthy snowflake should take those down immediately. Since your copperband is eating I would think your water quality is fine, if something was off there he would be the 1st to stop eating.

 

[Salt & Peper]

Agree

My snowflake would often refuse krill, silversides would get him eating again. He never bothered my other fish but if you have squid or something available try that.

 

[robbyg]

--SNIP--
If I fed you human flesh at dinner and you didn't know it, you wouldn't all of sudden be attacking humans walking down the street.
---SNIP--

Your argument sounds very logical on the surface (pun intended )
I am not so sure that applies to every animal. Humans have a really poor sense of smell. I am pretty sure an eel can smell the same fish flesh smell from a dead fish coming much more faintly off a live fish. I am not sure of this but I would not rule it out. As for the Shrimp, I am also shocked that he never went after them.

 

[WitheredMantis]

I read that they will associate the smell of the silversides with the other fish and see them as food since they are scent-driven predators. And he originally had a staple diet of chopped shrimp, the krill have been a new thing for a month or two. I will get him off of krill, as I was unaware it was unhealthy for him. And, yeah, the shrimp have been with him for about half of his life. Never bothered them, same with me hermit crabs. He used to eat ghost shrimp when I first got him, but i had to shove them in his face on tongs for him to catch them.

 

[lion king]

Your argument sounds very logical on the surface (pun intended )
I am not so sure that applies to every animal. Humans have a really poor sense of smell. I am pretty sure an eel can smell the same fish flesh smell from a dead fish coming much more faintly off a live fish. I am not sure of this but I would not rule it out. As for the Shrimp, I am also shocked that he never went after them.

It's so funny, that people think it's like a pinapple under the sea, in the wild that is; what do you think all of our aquarium creatures eat in the wild. They don't eat prepared foods, they eat live food. We train them to live in captivity by the way we feed them, some predatory fish do fine after a while, especially if gotten young. It has to do with a few other factors if an eel takes down his tank mates or not, if trained on tongs he just will not relate eating to his swimming tank mates. I've seen many of eel including fang tooth eels fed chunks of fish flesh and live happily with their tank mates.

Even though snowflakes are pebble tooth eels and fish really is not a part of their natural diet, nutritionally speaking silversides is a good addition because of the bones and guts.

 

[WitheredMantis]

Okay ! I was just going off of what I read, but you sound like you know what you are talking about. I am just hesitant to feed the eel fish bc of the things I read, but I will give it a shot in the future. When I bought him, he was feeding on live minnows, but those were also tong fed to him, forgot to mention that. In the meantime, should I go with fresh shrimp, scallops, or squid? He is my favorite and most personable fish and I want what is nutritionally best for him.

 

[WitheredMantis]

I personally never fed him minnows, the store I bought him from did. I wasn’t very clear on what I said. Sorry.

 

[WitheredMantis]

Good news, the eel is now accepting all food that I give him. I guess he was just tired of krill. I even got a cleaner shrimp for the tank and they live peacefully in the same cave, he even lets the shrimp clean his mouth!

 

[lion king]

Shrimp, squid, and octopus are some foods I feed, I do think silversides are a good addition as well. There is no need to feed these guys live food, and minnows are very bad because they are high in thiaminese the same as krill. Thiaminese is what binds vit B1.

 

[WitheredMantis]

Yeah, i’ve read that freshwater feeder fish aren’t the best for saltwater predators. Thats why I immediately got him off live foods when i bought him. Thank you all !