Peacock Eel Care

[cardiocentric]

So today I got a new job, and as a reward I went to my LFS and got myself something I've wanted for a couple of months now, a peacock eel. I was so excited, and it already has a name! "Nori" because he/she looks like seaweed. I have read extensively on these creatures and I was shocked to see Petsmart housing them in such rough gravel... a couple of them had scrapes on their faces and looked rough, I got one that was virtually "perfect", well as good as you can get from Petsmart anyways. I was wondering... once the eel is broken in and comfortable in this tank, what should I feed him? I've read that earthworms are a food of choice but since it's small I don't know if that's going to be something it gets excited about. I haven't seen live bloodworms for sale at my LFS though. Do I need to go to a bait and tackle to get some?

[FinalJenemba]

So today I got a new job, and as a reward I went to my LFS and got myself something I've wanted for a couple of months now, a peacock eel. I was so excited, and it already has a name! "Nori" because he/she looks like seaweed. I have read extensively on these creatures and I was shocked to see Petsmart housing them in such rough gravel... a couple of them had scrapes on their faces and looked rough, I got one that was virtually "perfect", well as good as you can get from Petsmart anyways. I was wondering... once the eel is broken in and comfortable in this tank, what should I feed him? I've read that earthworms are a food of choice but since it's small I don't know if that's going to be something it gets excited about. I haven't seen live bloodworms for sale at my LFS though. Do I need to go to a bait and tackle to get some?

Blood worms are really tiny, I don't think a bait shop would have them, I always got them at my lfs. I hate to say it but mine would literally only eat live blood worms, he wouldn't even eat frozen blood worms, wouldn't touch em. When they're small they wont eat ghost shrimp they are to shy. You can try live brine shrimp but if they aren't the only one in the tank they get out competed real easy, like I said they are so shy.

Don't want to discourage you because they are awesome but they are so hard to feed. I ended up loosing mine and I know it was because I couldn't keep him nourished enough, I tired but its hard. What else is he being housed with?

[cardiocentric]

I think if I can feed these retarded [only sometimes] african dwarf frogs, i might be able to keep him happy. My albino ADF is totally blind [almost 100 percent sure], and i literally have to dangle it in front of his mouth before he snaps at it. I think I'm going to try to distract the other fish with blood worms on the left side of the tank/right depending on where the eel is. I feed my bumblebee cats blood worms every other day, and I use that as an opportunity for a meat supplement for the rest of the tank. I think with the distraction, I might get a response from the eel.

[FinalJenemba]

If you can get live blood worms reliably, it wont be a problem. Mine had no problems with live. But the food had to be live. I think it was the smell, he would touch and "sniff" the thawed ones and chose not to eat them and swim away. Never saw anything like it. My problem was my LFS didn't always have the live ones in stock.

[cardiocentric]

i am looking at a website right now with live black worms and considering getting them shipped here. i've been browsing forums tonight and it seems the general consensus is live black worms. i don't quite know what to think, but i'm determined to keep this little baby happy. one of the reasons even though it sounds silly that i'm fascinated with eels is that EEL is my name spelled backwards. he's becoming more active tonight while i turn off the lights.. he seems to be moving more with the one light off than he was before i started the nightly shut down process. i'm wondering if maybe he's like my bumblebees and likes being fed like this. i haven't fed today, i'm going to give him a break-in period first. i think every single LFS should be REQUIRED to carry the food for what they're selling at all times... isn't that what they're there for!? how silly is that... they can sell something that requires special attention and care and then not carry the right things to make sure it's properly cared for once it gets home...