RONALD P RAGLE - 2021-08-30 RONALD P RAGLE says: August 27, 2021 at 4:27 pm I have what I believe to be a black spotted spiny eel. I’ve had him for 5 years. He’s about 2 feet long. He lives in a 120 gallon tank. I have a Fluval FX-6 canister filter. I use 6 bags of carbon and the rest is mechanical filtration and a 100 gallon Aqueon filter that sits on top of the tank with 2 carbon inserts. The tank also has 2 power heads hooked up to a under gravel system and a large air stone and a wave maker that shoots water right down where he hangs out so I believe the water has more then enough oxygen for him. His tank mates are 2 full grown tin foil barbs, one green terror and 4 plecostomus. He’s eaten 2 tiny red worms in the last 6 weeks. He refuses to eat and has heavy breathing all the time (panting). I’ve tried cooler water, warmer water, aquarium salt and API general cure with no good results. I don’t know what else to try. Now that I think about it in the years past he has had times of heavy breathing but not continuously. I never figured it to be a bad thing because he was always eating. But now he doesn’t eat and the breathing is very heavy. On the outside he has no scratches or scrapes or puncture wounds and there’s no signs of ick or any type of white fungus anywhere. His outer body looks normal. I checked the water with a test kit and everything seemed to be fine. I also took a sample to my local pet store and had the water checked and that test also came back normal. No problem with the water. If there’s anything you can suggest it would be greatly appreciated. He’s a beautiful eel and I don’t want to lose him. I sent some pictures and a small video with this email.
pH – 7.6 Nitrite – 0 Nitrate – 80 – To me it looked close between 40 and 80 but the girl at the pet store said 80 so that’s what I’m going with. Ammonia – 0
The tank has been set up for 5 years. Size 120 gallons. Last water change 1 week ago. Water source tap water. I do use water conditioner when doing water changes. Regular water changes every 4 weeks. Water and filter change every 6 weeks. Water parameters were checked today August 24th. I used a liquid test kit. Temperature 82. Tank mates 2 adult tin foil barbs, 4 adult plecostomus and 1 adult green terror female small. Like I said in my original email the eel has always had periods of heavy breathing but not continuously like this and has never refused food. That’s all I got for you. Please help.
RONALD P RAGLE - 2021-08-27 I have what I believe to be a black spotted spiny eel. I've had him for 5 years. He's about 2 feet long. He lives in a 120 gallon tank. I have a Fluval FX-6 canister filter. I use 6 bags of carbon and the rest is mechanical filtration and a 100 gallon Aqueon filter that sits on top of the tank with 2 carbon inserts. The tank also has 2 power heads hooked up to a under gravel system and a large air stone and a wave maker that shoots water right down where he hangs out so I believe the water has more then enough oxygen for him. His tank mates are 2 full grown tin foil barbs, one green terror and 4 plecostomus. He's eaten 2 tiny red worms in the last 6 weeks. He refuses to eat and has heavy breathing all the time (panting). I've tried cooler water, warmer water, aquarium salt and API general cure with no good results. I don't know what else to try. Now that I think about it in the years past he has had times of heavy breathing but not continuously. I never figured it to be a bad thing because he was always eating. But now he doesn't eat and the breathing is very heavy. On the outside he has no scratches or scrapes or puncture wounds and there's no signs of ick or any type of white fungus anywhere. His outer body looks normal. I checked the water with a test kit and everything seemed to be fine. I also took a sample to my local pet store and had the water checked and that test also came back normal. No problem with the water. If there's anything you can suggest it would be greatly appreciated. He's a beautiful eel and I don't want to lose him. I sent some pictures and a small video with this email. pH - 7.6 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 80 - To me it looked close between 40 and 80 but the girl at the pet store said 80 so that's what I'm going with. Ammonia - 0 The tank has been set up for 5 years. Size 120 gallons. Last water change 1 week ago. Water source tap water. I do use water conditioner when doing water changes. Regular water changes every 4 weeks. Water and filter change every 6 weeks. Water parameters were checked today August 24th. I used a liquid test kit. Temperature 82. Tank mates 2 adult tin foil barbs, 4 adult plecostomus and 1 adult green terror female small. Like I said in my original email the eel has always had periods of heavy breathing but not continuously like this and has never refused food. That's all I got for you. Please help.
carol - 2008-08-26 Hi I have what i believe is a spotted eel, and i love it. I ne ver knew such thing exists until a friend told me. However, i want to know how to stock live shrimps and to breed them ... any advise on what is required to breed river/ghost shrimps?
Click For Replies (1)
Jasper - 2016-01-28 Your best bet would be cherry shrimp. Set up a 20 gallon tank with plants and moss then stick about 30 shrimps in and they'll breed like snails. Ghost shrimp babies need brackish. Cherry shrimp just need fresh. Hope this helps
sana - 2010-11-04 Hi! Guys, Recently I purchased blick spt eel, but it's not eating anything, plzzz tell me, what I can do? I feed him some pallets, and blood worms but no response.
Click For Replies (6)
Frank - 2011-08-01 Try frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp. If he wont accept it you might have to try live ones. Good Luck.
jamie - 2011-08-24 Hi there, I've had my black spotted eel for about a year now & he is doing well eating mostly live tubifex worms. You might want to give that a try.
kristina - 2012-09-22 Find out what pet store was feeding. I have two small blk spt eels bought at the same time and one is flourishing (now after contacting the store) on the same freeze dried tubifex worms the pet store was feeding. saddly not the other but we are still trying to figure out why he seems to be failing
tc - 2012-10-11 I used to have a dinosaur bichir, and I had the same problem, and I saw that it had really expressed nostrils so when was feeding it live food I would just injure it before i put it in there, sure enough about 15 seconds later he came out his cave and started looking for it with an eagerness in his movements. so i assume that a bichir is similar enough an to eel, maybe you could try that.
Lolene - 2014-11-24 All eels love earth worm/night crawlers.I have two ells. It's been 8 years now and they don't get aggressive as they do with bloodworm.
mitchell - 2014-12-10 From what I have read these eels may only need to eat once to twice a week, the eel may just be eating at night as they are also nocturnal in most cases. Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get to skinny, and also make sure there is enough food for him to scavenge through the night and that may help! Best of luck!
kristina - 2012-09-22 I recently bought two very small black spotted eels for my 20 gal tank (sales person didnt say anything about them being intollerant of one another or that they would be needing a larger tank fairly quickly but then they were suppose to have been tire track eels). One (about 3 and a half inches) is flourishing, eating freeze dried tubifex worms and ocasionally sniffing out whatever flake the lace cat misses, active and even swims up to my hand whenever I'm near the tank. The smaller of the two ( about an inch smaller) however seeems to be failing, interested in the same foods but does not eat the way the larger eel does, seems listless and has darkened considerabley even though we have moved him temporarily into the 10 gal with the guppies and added a second side filter to keep amonia levels down. There are no obviouse signs of ich or bacterial infection, could the darkening be stress related?
Click For Replies (1)
Clarice Brough - 2012-09-23 I hope that littler guy starts doing better. Darkening in color can be stress related... tank parameters or tankmate intimidation. Sound like you've removed the intimidation factor. So the only thing you didn't mention was if he has plenty of hiding places and if there are floating plants or anything to dim the tank. They are nocturnal and eels can be shy in general. Hopefully the guppy tank will be more to his liking. (the guppies could become food?)
Victoria - 2012-09-14 Our new black spotted eel is breathing very quickly. It looks like s/he is panting. Is that a sign of too little oxygen, too much food, anxiety, or something else?
Click For Replies (1)
Jeremy Roche - 2012-09-15 Check your water levels. Increased amonia can cause that.
zack - 2011-02-10 Would a black spotted eel get along with south american cichlids? Would he eat feeder guppys?
Click For Replies (2)
Charlie Roche - 2011-06-04 Animal World wrote in the article on the black spotted eel "The Black Spotted Eels are carnivores. Feeding is not a problem because they will eat most fresh or frozen foods including small fish, worms, and shrimp. They may be trained to eat freeze dried brine shrimp or bloodworms but this is not something that can be counted on. They will also eat small fishes so make sure their tank mates are too large to be able to fit into their mouths".
The eel will grow to be about 20 inches and cichlids start out fairly small and grow to 4 - 5 inches or so. Eels also can crush their prey - my concern is the size of the cichlids and the size of the eel as the eel is not good with small fish. I would think that means guppies or neons but the crushing part bothers me a little. I think why take the chance?
Spellbound - 2012-01-31 How do I know mine is eating. I had it for over 3 weeks and it seems happy and active he loves to spim all over. And I put blood worms in about ever 3 days and they dissappear. But I never actually see him eat?
Rob - 2011-09-20 I've had my black spotted eel for nearly a year now and he has developed a small amount of bacteria on his tail. I clean the tank every other week to ensure a clean environment for him and he eats regularly. Any ideas on how to cure this? Thanks in advance.
Click For Replies (2)
Charlie Roche - 2011-09-21 Animal World article Fish Disease and Treatment lists various symptoms and the corresponding recommended treatment for all the symptoms. Try look it up and if you have any problems - just come on back and let me know. OK?
bill - 2011-11-27 1st time try some salt (not your house salt) in your tank. You can find it at your fish supply store where you get your fish from. Then only use it when you change 50% of water in your tank. The more oxygen in the tank is the best way 4" round stone. I had that problem with a 12" spotted eel. It worked for me.
Amy Lark-Rakow - 2011-08-30 These fish definately get larger then 12 inches. I have 2... the smaller one is just under 12 inches while the other is nearing 16 inches and both are less then 1yr old... Very similar care/personalities to M. Armatus ( Tire track )
The Black Spotted Eel may not be brightly colored but it has a beautiful design!
RONALD P RAGLE says:
August 27, 2021 at 4:27 pm
I have what I believe to be a black spotted spiny eel. I’ve had him for 5 years. He’s about 2 feet long. He lives in a 120 gallon tank. I have a Fluval FX-6 canister filter. I use 6 bags of carbon and the rest is mechanical filtration and a 100 gallon Aqueon filter that sits on top of the tank with 2 carbon inserts. The tank also has 2 power heads hooked up to a under gravel system and a large air stone and a wave maker that shoots water right down where he hangs out so I believe the water has more then enough oxygen for him. His tank mates are 2 full grown tin foil barbs, one green terror and 4 plecostomus. He’s eaten 2 tiny red worms in the last 6 weeks. He refuses to eat and has heavy breathing all the time (panting). I’ve tried cooler water, warmer water, aquarium salt and API general cure with no good results. I don’t know what else to try. Now that I think about it in the years past he has had times of heavy breathing but not continuously. I never figured it to be a bad thing because he was always eating. But now he doesn’t eat and the breathing is very heavy. On the outside he has no scratches or scrapes or puncture wounds and there’s no signs of ick or any type of white fungus anywhere. His outer body looks normal. I checked the water with a test kit and everything seemed to be fine. I also took a sample to my local pet store and had the water checked and that test also came back normal. No problem with the water. If there’s anything you can suggest it would be greatly appreciated. He’s a beautiful eel and I don’t want to lose him. I sent some pictures and a small video with this email.
pH – 7.6
Nitrite – 0
Nitrate – 80 – To me it looked close between 40 and 80 but the girl at the pet store said 80 so that’s what I’m going with.
Ammonia – 0
The tank has been set up for 5 years. Size 120 gallons. Last water change 1 week ago. Water source tap water. I do use water conditioner when doing water changes. Regular water changes every 4 weeks. Water and filter change every 6 weeks. Water parameters were checked today August 24th. I used a liquid test kit. Temperature 82. Tank mates 2 adult tin foil barbs, 4 adult plecostomus and 1 adult green terror female small. Like I said in my original email the eel has always had periods of heavy breathing but not continuously like this and has never refused food. That’s all I got for you. Please help.
I have what I believe to be a black spotted spiny eel. I've had him for 5 years. He's about 2 feet long. He lives in a 120 gallon tank. I have a Fluval FX-6 canister filter. I use 6 bags of carbon and the rest is mechanical filtration and a 100 gallon Aqueon filter that sits on top of the tank with 2 carbon inserts. The tank also has 2 power heads hooked up to a under gravel system and a large air stone and a wave maker that shoots water right down where he hangs out so I believe the water has more then enough oxygen for him. His tank mates are 2 full grown tin foil barbs, one green terror and 4 plecostomus. He's eaten 2 tiny red worms in the last 6 weeks. He refuses to eat and has heavy breathing all the time (panting). I've tried cooler water, warmer water, aquarium salt and API general cure with no good results. I don't know what else to try. Now that I think about it in the years past he has had times of heavy breathing but not continuously. I never figured it to be a bad thing because he was always eating. But now he doesn't eat and the breathing is very heavy. On the outside he has no scratches or scrapes or puncture wounds and there's no signs of ick or any type of white fungus anywhere. His outer body looks normal. I checked the water with a test kit and everything seemed to be fine. I also took a sample to my local pet store and had the water checked and that test also came back normal. No problem with the water. If there's anything you can suggest it would be greatly appreciated. He's a beautiful eel and I don't want to lose him. I sent some pictures and a small video with this email. pH - 7.6 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 80 - To me it looked close between 40 and 80 but the girl at the pet store said 80 so that's what I'm going with. Ammonia - 0 The tank has been set up for 5 years. Size 120 gallons. Last water change 1 week ago. Water source tap water. I do use water conditioner when doing water changes. Regular water changes every 4 weeks. Water and filter change every 6 weeks. Water parameters were checked today August 24th. I used a liquid test kit. Temperature 82. Tank mates 2 adult tin foil barbs, 4 adult plecostomus and 1 adult green terror female small. Like I said in my original email the eel has always had periods of heavy breathing but not continuously like this and has never refused food. That's all I got for you. Please help.
Hi I have what i believe is a spotted eel, and i love it. I ne ver knew such thing exists until a friend told me. However, i want to know how to stock live shrimps and to breed them ... any advise on what is required to breed river/ghost shrimps?
Your best bet would be cherry shrimp. Set up a 20 gallon tank with plants and moss then stick about 30 shrimps in and they'll breed like snails. Ghost shrimp babies need brackish. Cherry shrimp just need fresh. Hope this helps
Hi! Guys, Recently I purchased blick spt eel, but it's not eating anything, plzzz tell me, what I can do? I feed him some pallets, and blood worms but no response.
Try frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp. If he wont accept it you might have to try live ones. Good Luck.
Hi there,
I've had my black spotted eel for about a year now & he is doing well eating mostly live tubifex worms. You might want to give that a try.
Find out what pet store was feeding. I have two small blk spt eels bought at the same time and one is flourishing (now after contacting the store) on the same freeze dried tubifex worms the pet store was feeding. saddly not the other but we are still trying to figure out why he seems to be failing
I used to have a dinosaur bichir, and I had the same problem, and I saw that it had really expressed nostrils so when was feeding it live food I would just injure it before i put it in there, sure enough about 15 seconds later he came out his cave and started looking for it with an eagerness in his movements. so i assume that a bichir is similar enough an to eel, maybe you could try that.
All eels love earth worm/night crawlers.I have two ells. It's been 8 years now and they don't get aggressive as they do with bloodworm.
From what I have read these eels may only need to eat once to twice a week, the eel may just be eating at night as they are also nocturnal in most cases. Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get to skinny, and also make sure there is enough food for him to scavenge through the night and that may help! Best of luck!
I recently bought two very small black spotted eels for my 20 gal tank (sales person didnt say anything about them being intollerant of one another or that they would be needing a larger tank fairly quickly but then they were suppose to have been tire track eels). One (about 3 and a half inches) is flourishing, eating freeze dried tubifex worms and ocasionally sniffing out whatever flake the lace cat misses, active and even swims up to my hand whenever I'm near the tank. The smaller of the two ( about an inch smaller) however seeems to be failing, interested in the same foods but does not eat the way the larger eel does, seems listless and has darkened considerabley even though we have moved him temporarily into the 10 gal with the guppies and added a second side filter to keep amonia levels down. There are no obviouse signs of ich or bacterial infection, could the darkening be stress related?
I hope that littler guy starts doing better. Darkening in color can be stress related... tank parameters or tankmate intimidation. Sound like you've removed the intimidation factor. So the only thing you didn't mention was if he has plenty of hiding places and if there are floating plants or anything to dim the tank. They are nocturnal and eels can be shy in general. Hopefully the guppy tank will be more to his liking. (the guppies could become food?)
Our new black spotted eel is breathing very quickly. It looks like s/he is panting. Is that a sign of too little oxygen, too much food, anxiety, or something else?
Check your water levels. Increased amonia can cause that.
I'm in love with these .... now my only question legal in HI?
You would have to ask what is your Animal Control or Fish and Game
Would a black spotted eel get along with south american cichlids? Would he eat feeder guppys?
Animal World wrote in the article on the black spotted eel "The Black Spotted Eels are carnivores. Feeding is not a problem because they will eat most fresh or frozen foods including small fish, worms, and shrimp. They may be trained to eat freeze dried brine shrimp or bloodworms but this is not something that can be counted on. They will also eat small fishes so make sure their tank mates are too large to be able to fit into their mouths".
The eel will grow to be about 20 inches and cichlids start out fairly small and grow to 4 - 5 inches or so. Eels also can crush their prey - my concern is the size of the cichlids and the size of the eel as the eel is not good with small fish. I would think that means guppies or neons but the crushing part bothers me a little. I think why take the chance?
How do I know mine is eating. I had it for over 3 weeks and it seems happy and active he loves to spim all over. And I put blood worms in about ever 3 days and they dissappear. But I never actually see him eat?
I've had my black spotted eel for nearly a year now and he has developed a small amount of bacteria on his tail. I clean the tank every other week to ensure a clean environment for him and he eats regularly. Any ideas on how to cure this? Thanks in advance.
Animal World article Fish Disease and Treatment lists various symptoms and the corresponding recommended treatment for all the symptoms. Try look it up and if you have any problems - just come on back and let me know. OK?
1st time try some salt (not your house salt) in your tank. You can find it at your fish supply store where you get your fish from. Then only use it when you change 50% of water in your tank. The more oxygen in the tank is the best way 4" round stone.
I had that problem with a 12" spotted eel. It worked for me.
These fish definately get larger then 12 inches. I have 2... the smaller one is just under 12 inches while the other is nearing 16 inches and both are less then 1yr old... Very similar care/personalities to M. Armatus ( Tire track )