Taking a trip down memory lane lately? ?
Keep it up, I am enjoying it!
Keep it up, I am enjoying it!
Five spiny eels, 2 tiretrack and 3 black spot, 2'+ in 240 gal
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
We have adopted out one of the three black spot eels, the smallest one at about 22", supposedly a male, and left two 3-footers, supposedly females.
So all that's left are the two jumbo spotted. Gotta get more and start over again with the tire track and possibly fire. There is one more great one, I forget, Borneo? That grows large too, larger that the peacock, zigzag, and smaller Co.
Our last tire track eel has called it quits. IDK why. We have had an unknown pathogen taking out fish off and on for years in that 25K gal water system (14K sump, 2x 4500, and 1800), perhaps this is it, who knows... In retrospect we know the eel had been on a bad diet of cheap Ziegler aquaculture pellets for 4-5 years too, so that hasn't helped at all I am sure. Not pellets exclusive, I offered fish pieces too, but it ate anything and everything. Swollen up and perished.
28" at ~8 years old. Got it at 1 foot in 2015. They have deep set and surprisingly large, sharp, jagged teeth!
It has always been so dark, the striking tire track pattern almost invisible. IDK why either.
So all that's left are the two jumbo spotted. Gotta get more and start over again with the tire track and possibly fire. There is one more great one, I forget, Borneo? That grows large too, larger that the peacock, zigzag, and smaller Co.
Our last tire track eel has called it quits. IDK why. We have had an unknown pathogen taking out fish off and on for years in that 25K gal water system (14K sump, 2x 4500, and 1800), perhaps this is it, who knows... In retrospect we know the eel had been on a bad diet of cheap Ziegler aquaculture pellets for 4-5 years too, so that hasn't helped at all I am sure. Not pellets exclusive, I offered fish pieces too, but it ate anything and everything. Swollen up and perished.
28" at ~8 years old. Got it at 1 foot in 2015. They have deep set and surprisingly large, sharp, jagged teeth!
It has always been so dark, the striking tire track pattern almost invisible. IDK why either.
Our last two black spot eels are no more. We are eel-less now.
IDK why exactly. The manner and symptoms of their perishing were exactly the same as for all the other eels before them in the prior years - loss of appetite shortly before death, bad swelling over the whole body.
The three causes / factors I can think of are:
-- We have had an unknown pathogen taking out fish off and on since 2018 for 4 years in that 26K gal water system (15K sump, 2x 4500, and 1800).
-- In retrospect we know the eels had been on a bad diet of cheap Ziegler aquaculture pellets for their initial 4-5 years, so that hasn't helped at all I am sure. Not pellets exclusive, I offered fish pieces too, but they ate anything and everything greedily.
-- We waited too long to replace our RO membranes and hence in the last 2-3 years our water change was like 100% in 30 days, which has likely been not enough, given our fish densities and generous feeding.
30" and 29" at ~8 years old. Got them from PetZone San Diego, at 1 foot in the Summer-Fall of 2015.
One:
The other:
Back in 2015:
IDK why exactly. The manner and symptoms of their perishing were exactly the same as for all the other eels before them in the prior years - loss of appetite shortly before death, bad swelling over the whole body.
The three causes / factors I can think of are:
-- We have had an unknown pathogen taking out fish off and on since 2018 for 4 years in that 26K gal water system (15K sump, 2x 4500, and 1800).
-- In retrospect we know the eels had been on a bad diet of cheap Ziegler aquaculture pellets for their initial 4-5 years, so that hasn't helped at all I am sure. Not pellets exclusive, I offered fish pieces too, but they ate anything and everything greedily.
-- We waited too long to replace our RO membranes and hence in the last 2-3 years our water change was like 100% in 30 days, which has likely been not enough, given our fish densities and generous feeding.
30" and 29" at ~8 years old. Got them from PetZone San Diego, at 1 foot in the Summer-Fall of 2015.
One:
The other:
Back in 2015:
If I may interject.......
You need a fine sand substrate and lots more hidey holes. Eels are kind of secretive during the day, and will normally come out just for food, although my spotted eel does spend some time out exploring. They need these things to be comfortable in their environment, which will lead to better feeding response and lower stress levels. maybe if you catered to those needs some, you would be more successful.
You need a fine sand substrate and lots more hidey holes. Eels are kind of secretive during the day, and will normally come out just for food, although my spotted eel does spend some time out exploring. They need these things to be comfortable in their environment, which will lead to better feeding response and lower stress levels. maybe if you catered to those needs some, you would be more successful.
Yeah cos 8 years kept and 30” is not successful at all?!
Sorry to see your last eels finally go. It was a great thread. I hope you start up again. Maybe give fire eels another go?
I think I got this mixed up with another thread I was reading, Sorry dude, that is a success. Just me getting mixed up and running my mouth. It's happening more and more as I get older...........
Thank you Dave! But our esteemed peer didn't say at all. He used comparative terms - more successful. Surely we all can be more successful, right?
No problem. I really appreciated your experience based input. It is very valuable to me. Thank you for it. I love learning.
If God is willing, we will try spiny eels again, with whatever spinies, so don't bury this thread yet
I plan to come back but not everything is in my hands.
no worries, I can really relate as I find myself reacting !
I was interested in a note in an axolotl fb group (yes im getting some soon to see if they like my water and no heater is needed!!!!)
but back to the fish thing i learned that feeding axolotls freeze dried stuff was dangerous for them as air bubbles have hard time escaping their bodies or something once freeze dried is ingested there is air inside it trapped etc i was wondering if dried pellets have an factor if air pockets are in those pellets? Are fish the same way as an axolotl when it comes to trapped air? Just curious here if thats why our fish are dying off earlier vs others?
but back to the fish thing i learned that feeding axolotls freeze dried stuff was dangerous for them as air bubbles have hard time escaping their bodies or something once freeze dried is ingested there is air inside it trapped etc i was wondering if dried pellets have an factor if air pockets are in those pellets? Are fish the same way as an axolotl when it comes to trapped air? Just curious here if thats why our fish are dying off earlier vs others?
