You guys are making me want one!! He'd probably eat my Hector's Goby though...he's pretty tiny.

If it makes you feel any better, you can set up an empty aquarium with rock and some zoos and have the same experience I'm having right about now. :neutral:

I'm hoping in time he'll get more comfortable and allow himself to be seen. Man they are not kidding when they say this eel is reclusive. I have to look for a minimum of 30 minutes at a time before I find where he's hiding. Basically in 5 days so far I've been able to see him maybe about 10-15 minutes in total, and that includes trying to dangle food in front of his hidey holes (when I can at least see his head or face) in the hopes of witnessing him at least eat something, but no such luck. :(

Dunno maybe this is commonplace for eels, never had one before. Not sure what I'm thinking of this purchase though right about now.

A customer of mine has one in a nano and it is great. Eel comes out much more in a small tank with no other occupants. Once you see how cool it is to have one, most agree. I am thinking of adding one to my seahorse tank.

Not quite sure why, but the females seem to love these little guys....

The females love them is the reason there wasn't a "huge kaboom" when I came home with him.

Mine is in a 20g and he's by himself, so that unfortunately doesn't always hold true. I wonder if they don't like flow, this tank has a Seio 820, so we are talking, what, 40times volume turnover..... could that be it? He does NOT come out of the rock for ANYthing.

Honestly? I don't think my story has a happy ending unless something changes all of a sudden.

Tony did you take a trip to Superstore or anywhere that carries fresh clams & oysters ? I hope he/she comes around, love to come by and see 'em.

:cry:

your eel looks so cute Chaloupa.
I hope your eel starts eating soon Delphinus.

Thanks
SeaSerpant

Day 9 now - will he eat tonight?? Sigh, Tune in tomorrow to find out on "As the stomach turns", the Canreef soap opera.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Nope, another night of futile efforts to entice it.

Now I've tried krill, mysis, shrimp, prawn, clam (live from the supermarket), squid, octopus.

I'm desperate for suggestions here. What's left I can try? Live food? Should I try ghost shrimp? I've got 100's of baby Ameca spendens in my FW, they'd probably be about the right size, except that 1) ugh, I can't believe it would have to come to that, 2) they're endangered or extinct in the wild 3) they're hard to catch 4) no real guarantee the eel would eat it, so it will just die in the SW and add to the fouling of the water. :neutral:

I'm about ready to throw the towel in and put it up for sale in case anyone else thinks they'd have a better chance of getting it to come around.

I'm getting so close to done forever with this hobby everytime I make a purchase like this and I end up regretting it. Words can't express the sheer frustration of late... a small victory was all I wanted, apparently it's completely out of the question. My reef tank karma is all used up I guess. :(

Have you tried oyster yet? Has the foods you've offered been previously frozen before? I've heard people have a lot better luck with very fresh seafood over frozen. Have you tried reducing your flow to see if he would eat then?

I wish one day I can find one of these eel's locally...

Haven't tried oyster yet. Did buy some the other day so I can try some but did freeze them already. Maybe I'll pick up another one tomorrow and try that before the frozen one.

I've tried both pumps on and pumps off. A couple days ago I left the pumps off for a good hour. I've tried with lights on and lights off. I also have a mesh covering over the tank at the moment because I'm worried about him escaping and this is helping to subdue the lighting.

I've heard of morays going on "hunger strikes" lasting for weeks at a time but that's probably more in reference to the larger ones - I can't see one as little as this lasting quite as long.

I will adopt him if you'd like? :question:

sounds like a struggle Tony. I didn't notice but did you try silversieds? If they are too big just cut the head off and offer that. With a lion I had a couple years ago that's how finally got it to eat. Offer it eyes first as it then looks like live food. I got my golden moray about a week ago and thankfully eats very well. He is fairly reclusive but I can find him usually hanging out in one of three spots in the liverock. I will get some pics of him soon.

You are correct about the hunger strikes. The have been known now to visibly take for for almost 2 months. That being said, it does not mean they are not eating.

I have one living in the sump of my frag tank that will not take prepared foods and he has been there for almost 3 months. While skinny compared to the two in my display, I have no idea what he has eaten, but assumes he eats pods in there.

Once they start eating they will be fine, it just takes a little time.

Day 12. Tried tying a small piece of squid to some fishing line and let it dangle in front of the hole I most often see the eel peek out from. Nothing.

Also can add oyster to the list of tried foods so far (yesterday). That was a lovely experience slicing a piece small enough to dangle on the skewer stick. Yum, yum. Gave the rest to my CBB and the crew he shares the tank with - man they went berserk over that.

Eels suck! Geeez. <sigh>

Well, they don't suck, :lol: but they do require some target feeding and patience at first. What does he look like, emaciated???

Have you opened an oyster, and stuffed it under the rock the eel is usually at? Maybe he's pretty shy and won't eat when you are close.....but the smell of food usually gets them going, mine gets excited when I feed the other fish the frozen foods I use.....worth a try? If you haven't already?

Tried it already. :( I've tried what feels like nearly everything .. except wait the 3 months part I guess.

I can't tell if he's emaciated yet. He never comes out of the rock. Never. The only reason I know he's not dead is I occasionally see a face poke out for a second or so, then darts back in, not to be seen for half an hour to an hour.

There is not the slightest hint of interest in food. I mean it's one thing if the food is the wrong size, but you'd think the smell would at least entice some kind of response before bailing on the idea of eating. It's like there's no sense of smell or something.

One sort of funny thing, he's picked a hole right next to some sun polyps, he's the same colour. It looks like a new sun polyp but with blue eyes. I'd take a picture but .. yeah, I'd have to have the camera out and ready for the 3 or so seconds that the head pokes out in between the hour or two of waiting.

Oh man.......that's a tough one...maybe he will just start...I would just keep trying. It sucks when one will do so well, and another just doesn't want to get on board. Good luck!

Does it poke it's head out when you feed the tank?

Nope.

The behaviour just doesn't seem to fit with what you and Chaloupa describe of yours. I got the impression that even though they may not always eat, you at least see them swimming around from time to time? Or at least poking the head out when food is added?

Have to say that this is about the third livestock item in a row that I've purchased that 1) was way too much money to spend and 2) I totally regret having done it because it's not working out.

What's your opinion of maybe the issue is that this is the only fish in the tank? Would a (suitably large enough, of course) dither fish maybe be something to consider? ... Another eel? A mirror on one side maybe???

Tony, I think your eel is going insane itself in there, maybe add a companion. If it was me, I would try a couple small black mollies next. Perhaps give it sometime to do or hunt.

I would expect poking the head out when they smell food, at least in my experience. I have a friend with one, think he did not see his for a month, now it is fine, has had it over 2 years.

IMO, no correlation b/w being the only animal in the tank. A customer I sold one to has one in a nano (very cool) and his is just fine.

Maybe add another eel! I have 2 in my display, sometimes they are together in the tank which is very cool. Appparently the can pair up.

Buh, day 21 now. One development, the eel did poke his (her?) head out of the rock when I put some cyclops-eeze into the water.

The eel is rather twitchy. By that I mean he (she?) shakes her head an awful lot, sort of like how you might try to shake water out of your ear after swimming. It's not constant but it is every few minutes. Wish I had a basis of comparison with this thing to know what's a sort of normal behaviour and what isn't. This is something the eel did right from day 1, it's not a new thing.

I just wish it would eat something! Dang it! I know that people say wait a month, but geeeeeeez for something so pretty, it really is a disappointment to never see it, never mind never seeing it get comfortable enough to eat something. :(

Yeesh!! No luck at all! Have you tried soaking the food in garlic? I will even add it to the water column in some tanks as it says on the label 1 drop per 10g, but I hesitate to add it to reef tanks.

The twitchy thing? Makes me wonder if he has parasites on his gills...

Really? That's not good. Does one do FW dips for eels? :neutral: .. Sigh, I better start readin' up...

I'd look into PraziPro if anything. I'm not sure if eels have sensitivities that normal fish do not.

Hey,

New to Canreef but I've had my Golden for about 2 months and the first 9 days were hell when it didn't eat, so I can only imagine 21.... I feel for you.

I vote for Silversides as well. I struggled to get it to eat, then one day cut the head off a silverside stuck it on the feeding stick - BAM gone. That's my vote.

As for behavior, mines in a 29BC with a watchman goby and fire shrimp. Mine does the twitchy thing every now and again - it just make me laugh. I can see mine poking his head out of the rockwork 9 times out of 10 ant any given point during the day. He gets really active at night and does 'laps' of the tank. Only pulled him from the back once. If i throw in food for the shrimp or Goby the Eel goes nuts, he comes out and looks around frantically for the food.

Good luck.:neutral:

Any pictures or videos? Maybe I can get my "fix" by watching yours. :lol:

Welcome to Canreef BTW. :) And thanks for the comments. I haven't tried the head of a silverside yet, that's a good idea. Thanks. I think I'm going to go get me an acrylic feeding stick, I still wonder if the wooden one puts off a smell or something.

Hmmm...maybe it's normal for them then...??

:razz:Wooden....?? :lol: It's not sushi Tony...

Wow, that sucks. I can only imagine your stress level. Not being able to get a fish/eel to eat is the worst feeling! I would guess he is going after at least some pods or something in the tank. I would try some garlic if you haven't, soak the food in it or drop a few drops in the tank a minute or two before you feed.

Good luck!

mine does the head twitch thing as well. It is quite amusing to watch. I guess I have been lucky with mine as now I see him all the time. He is very cool to watch. He has decided that he doesn't like my royal gramma and I can't say I blame him what a d*&k he is!!

My guy will nip at the acrylic feeding stick if I put it in w/o any food attached. Same with my Goby, they know what's going on now. Did you get your Eel from J&L? When I got mine there they told me to try feeding it krill but he wouldn't take a bite, eventually one guy gave me a silverside to try and he took it immediately.

Sorry no pics right now.... I'm in the process of moving so maybe when my 65gal shows up I'll get a pic.

You could always chuck in a couple sexy shrimp - everything eats shrimp if they're hungry. I had 4 in w/ a frog fish and they all dissappeared before I realized it. :( (serves me right tho)

It's a satay skewer. Probably bamboo or something. Hey, it was the only thing I could find that was long and thin enough. I was at the LFS earlier today, darn it, I knew I was forgettin' something. :(

There's a lone emerald crab in the tank .. hasn't disappeared yet.

Day 35.. not that I'm counting anymore though (I had to look it up on a calendar). Still no eating. Buh. I wonder if I should move him into a tank with other fish (he's on his own). That way there's more activity and that might draw him out more (like a dither fish effect?). And that way there's always food being added to the tank every day, so there's a better chance of getting used to the idea of "humans bring you food."

Only thing is I'm a bit worried about the escape artist potential. There are 2 tanks I could move him into. The cube tank now has Michika's fish in there and two of those are small chromis (ie., probably a bite sized snack if he ever decides he's hungry), so that tank is out. That leaves a 75g, which is actually fairly well sealed up (strainer on the overflow, canopy with few holes). The main worry is that I have fans in the canopy for airflow with no guards. Maybe this is a silly question, but since eels are known for being escape artists, how far out of the water will they poke out? The fans are only a couple inches above the tank, if he was really motivated he could reach them. Is that a realistic worry?

Have you tried the Silversides yet??

I think mine ate my peppermint shrimp..... you could always try that. If you're concerned just have something in the tank for him to eat should he get that hungry, like a clown goby or shrimp that's roughly bite sized. My now deceased peppermint shrimp was easily 2-3 mouthfuls and it's completely gone.

When I had mine in my BC29 he got in the back even thru my über custom eel guard netcontraption. So he must have come an inch or so out of the water. Yesterday when I was transferring him from a temp tank to my 65gal he got out the container and it must have been a solid couple inches out to the floor. The last thing I would do is underestimate these guys.... damn cunning.

Yeah, I've tried silversides. I even chopped a few heads off, skewered them and had them "peek" into his cave like a puppet. :lol: Gruesome but oh well.

To be honest the peppermint shrimp idea did occur to me. I also might try ghost shrimp if I can find any... I hear if you acclimate them real slow they'll last a couple days in SW.