My Jerks

[RobinThe5th]

During my marriage my wife got into saltwater tanks pretty hardcore and I facilitated this hobby for her which ended up with a 200gal tank built specifically for eels. I ended up being the one doing food prep, feedings, water changes etc after she lost interest and after the divorce I kept the house and the tanks.
I love these guys, they're fun have good personalities and make for a great conversation piece. That said, I want to make sure they're getting the best life they can.

I lost my White mouth (Palpatine) a few months ago when he stopped eating and now my snowflake has stopped eating, leaving me worried and without a solution. I have tried multiple food types, garlic guard and live options like shrimp and crabs with no apparent luck. His behavior is normal, he still moves around his various spots and I've seen no aggression from his tank mates. I can't catch him for QT as the tank is essentially one large rock with a large network of caves and he will easily retreat away from any net.

Is there a possible diagnosis or solution to help? I want to make sure I'm giving my jerks the best life. Thanks in advance!

 

[lion king]

How long have you had the eels, what specifically is their diet, and how often do you feed them. Has there been any new additions to the tank.

 

[RobinThe5th]

The tesselata and zebra I've had for 8 years and the snowflake 6. The zebra will only eat shrimp so he gets shrimp from my local fish market, I would usually get the snowflake to eat shrimp as well. The tesselata is picky but he gets salmon, silversides and squid.

I feed once a week, they don't seem to care for food more than that. No new additions to the tank beyond some cleaners.

I do notice (you can see in the pics) that all of the empty turbo snail shells tend to end up right where the snowflake usually hangs out. My tank maintenance guy thinks the snowflake might be eating them but I've never caught him doing so.

 

[lion king]

After that many years with what you are feeding them and no new additions, it's really hard to tell, goid job. Has the tessa or another gotten aggressive. I'm sure other routine tank conditions check out. Tank dynamics do change over time and if some are being bullied, it could put them off their feeding.

 

[RobinThe5th]

After that many years with what you are feeding them and no new additions, it's really hard to tell, goid job. Has the tessa or another gotten aggressive. I'm sure other routine tank conditions check out. Tank dynamics do change over time and if some are being bullied, it could put them off their feeding.

Not that I have noticed, Nikolai (the tesselata) is his usual self. They all have their spots that they hang out in and even when they're close to one another there's no aggression.

 

[Aspect]

How often have you changed electrical equipment since you've had the tank up? Do you have a grounding probe?

 

[RobinThe5th]

How often have you changed electrical equipment since you've had the tank up? Do you have a grounding probe?

I had to replace the light bar about 2 years ago, nothing other than that lately.

I do not have a grounding probe.

 

[Aspect]

I had to replace the light bar about 2 years ago, nothing other than that lately.

I do not have a grounding probe.

I see a powerhead in your tank and I assume you run a heater, protein skimmer, return pump, etc. It's very possible you have stray voltage I'd grab a grounding probe and see if you trip your power strip/GFCI.

 

[RobinThe5th]

I see a powerhead in your tank and I assume you run a heater, protein skimmer, return pump, etc. It's very possible you have stray voltage I'd grab a grounding probe and see if you trip your power strip/GFCI.

Thanks, I'll pick one up and give it a try!

You think an electrical issue would affect only one of the eels and not the others?

 

[Aspect]

Thanks, I'll pick one up and give it a try!

You think an electrical issue would affect only one of the eels and not the others?

We're not really sure exactly how it affects marine fish, but I'd say it's definitely possible but it could affect fish differently.

 

[lion king]

Some more thoughts, the most common cause of an eel to stop eating after years is a nutritional deficiency. Has the snowflake only been eating shrimp, eels do need an inclusion of a fatty fish, the salmon you said your tessa eats. You did mention fresh, but shrimp also does have a good amount of thiaminese, with does bind vit B1, this starts with just that, going off feeding. Fresh mitigates the thiaminese by having a greater amount of B1, but over time will still take its toll, be aware of that with the zebra.

Do you maintain reef level ca and mg, if not feeding whole shrimp with shells, ca is important, and they do absorb elements from the water column. Mg is good for digestion, and maybe a very important part of the longevity is predatory fish. The fast/gorge feeding cycle may benefit from at least reef level mg, I maintain around 1400ppm.

Imsee you did offer live, maybe try again because sometimes a jumpstart may get them back to feeding normally, by offering some live ghost shrimp or an appropriate sized fiddler crab. These are sometimes good foods to occasionally offer your pebble tooth eels anyways.

You've done very well but people do underestimate the importance of a complete diet, pebbletooth eels have those teeth to crunch shells. The most common deficiencies would come from the lack of whole foods. Going forward I would try and incorporate whole shrimp and maybe an occasional fiddler crab.

The live food you offered wasn't from a saltwater source that also had fish in the same system was it?