Peacock Eel Feeding

[KRoth]

I recently purchased a plump peacock eel about 5" long. I am going out of town for two weeks. Salesman at the pet store who has never steered me wrong said I would be okay putting 1/2 oz of live bloodworms in the tank and leaving her (peacock) for two weeks. Her diet in the store was bloodworms. Her tankmates are a 2" pleco and nothing else. Has anyone out there had a similar experience leaving eel unattended? I am worried she will not survive if I do. Thanks for your comments!!!

KR

[andyroo]

A nice overfeed/stuffing of bloodworm, (live) earthworm and some other tid-bits is a start, and probably fine. If worried, put in a couple of dozen little guppies and/or glass-shrimp. They'll last nice and live and fresh until they... well... aren't.
A

[KRoth]

Thanks for the advice....I started the two week experiment today

[andyroo]

What'r you doing in the experiment?
Regarding the little fish/shrimp thing, if you can avoid it that'd probably be best. Best not to teach your eel to eat potential future tank-mates :)
A

[Rubix]

I used to have an 8 inch Eel of what I assume is the same species. I used to fill him up with bloodworms then populate the tank with ghost shrimp before leaving town for a week or two. Good luck and let's see some pics of this specimen

[starsplitter7]

Please post a picture of your eel. I bet it is beautiful. I have gammarus shrimp, I know all my fish eat. I would be inclined to use the shrimp and not the guppies. I have very small fish with my eels, and the eels don't touch them. Wouldn't want it to learn to eat potential tankmates. Not to mention feeders often introduce disease to the tank.

I have five eels and adore them.

[KRoth]

Honestly I did not want her to learn that either. I was very worried leaving her for two weeks with just blood worms and thought hunger might peak her curiosity and then she would take a bite out of a tankmate. She is currently on a diet of bloodworms once a week and plenty of ghost shrimp walking around to fill in periods of hunger. She has a two new tankmates....A albino bichir and a juvenile discus cichlid. 3 extremely timid fish to say the least who enjoy the run of the tank at different times without predatation from each other. Let me see if I can get a picture posted

[soul-hugger]

[url=http://www.mycollects.com/products/Grey ... -1834.html]Greys anatomy seasons 1-6 dvd box set

What the heck???

Sorry, KRoth, I have one of these on my thread too...

I don't know much about Eels, but most fish can go quite a while without eating. There are also feeding blocks you can get for your fish. Tetra makes one that works really well... it's a gel block and you can actually see the food inside. Avoid the ones that look like plaster. I know it might not be your eel's normal diet, but in a pinch he might eat it. These ones don't foul up the water quality either... I've also heard of certain types of breeding traps that will let livebearer fry through while keeping the adult fish in. If you put a couple pregnant livebearer females in there, one would be sure to have fry while you're away.

If you get a friend to feed your Eel be sure to provide very detailed instructions for them; even set the food aside in pre-measured quantities to avoid overfeeding.

soul-hugger

[starsplitter7]

I agree. I worry more about the filter turning off or the heater going nuts than food when I travel. But when I have fish sitters, I leave premeasured amounts of food. At very least I would have a web camera to watch the fish. But I would have someone going over at least once every 4 days or so.

[KRoth]

I am quite amazed at how hardy she is. I will try the food block suggestion but 8 - 10 ghost shrimp and a sprinkle of blood worms and she is good for two weeks probably even more. Since the first posting I expanded the collection of oddballs with a albino bichir and it too is incredibly hardy. I honestly don't worry too much about the eel anymore. Thanks for the advice