I bought a 3-4" fire eel a month ago. I have a 30 Gal tank with 2 black molly, 2 dwarf gourami, 1 pleco, 1 african dwarf frog, 1 cory catfish, 1 male betta, and my fire eel (All fish are small right now). I don't have any sand on the bottom but I do have small gravel (I was gonna get sand soon). The last two days the eel hasn't been eating its bloodworks like it has been for the last month. It has been floating vertically in the top corners of the tank for these two days as well. This morning I woke up and the eel is upside down at the bottom of the tank squirming/coiling around. It seems to be breathing heavier then it ever has been. Its gills and lower head area look redder then I have see it so far. And it also seems like there might be white marks on its side, can't tell if it might be Ich or burn marks or something. It has stopped moving for a few seconds upside down at the bottom of the tank, and the cory catfish started nibbling at his tail for a second. Last night I looked at the betta and there is a big white spot on his head as well. I doubt it is a burn mark thought cause even though I don't have a heater cage, it never seems to get that hot when I touch it with my hand. So maybe Ich but I dont know. I fear heavily for the eels life. I really want it too pull through. What should I do, put It in a hospital tank or? I have a lava rock in the tank which is pretty sharp and I was going to remove soon, in fear of the eel scratching himself. Water temp is 76F, Ph is about 7.3, General Hardness was about 150, Nitrate and nitrite were very close to zero (To be honest the color testers are hard for me to see). Replaced the water about three days ago, cause my roommate dumped the PetSmart water into the tank after getting the molly. I will post picture when I get home from school. Please Help Me Help The Eel.
Fire Eel SOS HELP!!!
- Thread starter Travis Gubbins
- Start date
Ok, so when I got home the eel was hidden. He either buried in the gravel (doubtful) or is hiding inside my deer skull. I was observing the other fish and spotted ick on my molly. I changed half the water and gonna post a pic of the test results, can't get a liquid test cause I don't have the scratch right now but I will when I can. I'm gonna start treating for ick and slowly raise the temp to the water. I'm gonna give him till tomorrow before I go look for him in the skull, hopefully doesn't die in it. Any other suggestions would be very very helpful.
How long have you had the tank set up? Did you do much research before putting your tank together? Only you may want to revisit that, you don't have the biggest tank and it's not the best fish/frog combo.
It's not advisable to put betta with many other fish and definitely not other gourami. Your betta has had some sort of damage there, difficult to tell if it's fluffy or clean? You'll need to keep the water pristine, you should usually have some sort of nitrate reading but no nitrite or ammonia - what is your ammonia reading?
Plecos can be waste factories, how big is it? What type?
Cory are social and need numbers, they also ideally need sand for natural behaviour.
Your fire eel sounds like it has eaten something and/or may be blocked. During this time they will breathe heavy and writhe. Hopefully it'll work it out but I know from reading lots of other stories that many don't survive. One of mine went through this when young and I thank all the gods it did survive. They will often get white on them sometimes from damaged slime coat.
Post more photos of your set-up and fish would you so we can offer more advice? If you decide to dose any medications, remember you will need to half dose as you have labyrinth fish and the eel.
It's not advisable to put betta with many other fish and definitely not other gourami. Your betta has had some sort of damage there, difficult to tell if it's fluffy or clean? You'll need to keep the water pristine, you should usually have some sort of nitrate reading but no nitrite or ammonia - what is your ammonia reading?
Plecos can be waste factories, how big is it? What type?
Cory are social and need numbers, they also ideally need sand for natural behaviour.
Your fire eel sounds like it has eaten something and/or may be blocked. During this time they will breathe heavy and writhe. Hopefully it'll work it out but I know from reading lots of other stories that many don't survive. One of mine went through this when young and I thank all the gods it did survive. They will often get white on them sometimes from damaged slime coat.
Post more photos of your set-up and fish would you so we can offer more advice? If you decide to dose any medications, remember you will need to half dose as you have labyrinth fish and the eel.
I wouldn't start treating for a problem unless you know what it is. Salt shouldn't be added as a just in case. Melafix is next to useless for anything serious and you have to half dose for labyrinth fish anyway. Depending on where you're located you may need something like Esha or Waterlife Myxazin, but can't advise with any accuracy unless more info/photos given.
