Dwarf Golden Moray Eel ~ Jin? Patrick?

[linda lee]

Was going to send this as a PM to both Jin and Patrick as you both have experience with these little guys, but since this is a learning board and others could benefit (I know someone was considering buying one of these) and maybe there's more dwarf moray eel experience here than I know about, I thought this could go public.

The eel we have simply will not eat. Since it's almost 2 weeks now, should I be concerned?

He's still in the 10g Q/T tank and <u>does</u> venture out of his PVC from time to time. I offer him food every evening and have tried:

squid
octopus
shrimp
silversides
krill

Patrick, what exactly was he eating at MF and how were you giving it to him? I put the piece of food on a wooden skewer. He sort of shakes his head at it. l leave it on the stick at the PVC pipe opening for a couple hours and then remove it. I thought about PE mysis, but how to feed it to an eel? Isn't it pretty small?

Jin, what is your little guy eating?

Ours seems healthy and happy enough, no sign of stress and good color, so maybe I'm worried over nothing.

Loren thinks I should go ahead and put him in the display, but #1 I want to make sure I've found something that he likes to eat first and #2 my livestock is still in the 55g w/only eggcrate to cover. 90g with the tight cover isn't up yet. Could he be refusing to eat because of his tight quarters? Maybe I should fill the Q/T with LR?

Any advice you two (or anyone else) can give would be helpful. I sure don't want to lose this guy. He's absolutely adorable.

 

[george]

Have you tried real small pieces of food? Some predators are remarkably ornery about taking larger chunks even though it appears they're more than capable of eating it.

You could also stop at Petco/Petsmart and grab a nice fat looking female molly and drop her in. The live fry might initiate feeding from the eel and then he'll take more marine-friendly food.

 

[FutureInterest]

If its been 2 weeks and it hasn't eaten for you... I'd be a lil concerned. Not crazy worried with pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth... but concerned. Mine will eat every 2 days and sometimes everyday.

If they got it to eat at MF, then I would feed it whatever they had it chomping on. George is right about the size of the piece of food. My GDM will not bother with krill that is too small. It has to be the right size for it to trigger a feeding response. Also freshness of the food is a big area. My GDM will not eat squid or krill that is not absolutely fresh. I haven't had luck with Harry's squid for some reason. No idea why, but I tried it once and the GDM didn't like it... so I ate it and it seemed fine but my palate isn't as sensitive.

Mine right now seems to be eating primarily krill, just the one from petsmart I think the brandname is Sally's.

If yours won't eat by this weekend, I'd like to drop by and bring some food that has worked for me. Please keep me updated and best of luck!

 

[fishfiend]

My white cheek dwarf doesn't touch anything but krill that has been soaked in garlic. Even the same brand of krill, if there is no garlic he doesn't recognize the smell and rejects it. Smell is huge with these little guys so don't be afraid to try different brands of the same type. If the krill is pink it means it's been cooked so you can also try uncooked krill from a company like H2O.

I've had to force feed a dragon moray a few years back to trigger a feeding response to dead food. He caught on in a few weeks and became an eating machine.

 

[raisingtwo2006]

Linda Lee, is this that really pretty dude that was at Marine Fish early last week?? The one that said HOLD- LINDA LEE on the glass??

 

[pnguye3]

In the store, we were primarily feeding mysis and squid to that guy. I would thaw some out, soak in garlic and zoe and drop a few in. He would just start searching for it in his little bal and dig in. PE mysis is primarily what I feed my guy as well. Being an eel, like Jin said, I wouldn't worry too much about him not eating yet. Have you tried feeding at night? I beIieve this species is nocturnal, but you can train them to come out to eat during the day. I remember when I got mine, he was pretty shy during the day. He didn't eat for a good week or so. Also, I turn off all of my pumps when I feed..

Hope some of this helps.

Patrick

 

[james s_]

Mine didn't eat for nearly 3 months in my 46 bowfront. Then all of a sudden started eating just about anything. Mine ate Raw Shrimp pieces,silversides,Krill,etc...... Mine never touched anything small like mysis.


FWIW, I think that him being in the Display with live rock would help alot. These eels are VERY shy by nature and prefer plenty of hiding places. I would go sometimes two weeks without seeing mine during the day.

 

[seedless reefer]

remembering the panic I felt with the one Jin got for me I know that sooner or later this guy will eat.

It was over a week before he started eating then ate like a little piggy.

Give him some time he'll eat. long hunger strikes are not uncommon with eels.

Sometimes at night while you arent looking they get into the oreos!

 

[linda lee]

thanks to everyone for the great advice. I'll try your suggestions. And yes, Kim, this is one from Marine Fish. They had two and I got the smaller one.

Will keep you posted on the progress and try to get some pictures. My pictures suck though. Wish the Club could hold a photography workshop for aquarium closeups.

(and, Loren... nice try on the Oreo alibi. Gotta be one amazing eel if he can eat those things, PLUS leave the crumbs in <u>your</u> bed to throw me off the trail. Clever.)