spiny eel not eating, HELP!

[schoch79]

I don't think my yellow spiny eel is eating. I'm feeding it thawed out frozen bloodworms and I have never seen it eat. I have only had this fish for 3 days now so it is possible that it has eaten and I never see it or it is not eating and will starve itself. I feed with the lights on. Are spiny eels nocturnal and I would be better off feeding at night or "twilight". Or is it just a shy fish? I have it with some zebra danios, maybe they are just scaring it. I have seen it come out of the sand several times but never have I seen it eat. Please help.

 

[BlackGhost]

how big is it? It's probably just becasue its new to the tank but just keep trying different foods. Ask the place where you got it what they fed it and try that.

 

[Bandito_41]

Most fish that you dont see during the day, are out at night. Try feeding after you turn the lights off. Then leave the room for a while and come back and look for the eel.

 

[dethjam316]

some spiny eels will only eat live food. get him some live blackworms and try that. another suggestion is thaw out the frozen worms and try feeding him with a medicine dropper (as in, for a baby, look in drug stores). that way you can squirt out the worms right in front of him, simulating movement on the part of the prey and also targetting the eel......because these fish are not the fastest and other fish will eat up everything before them if given the chance.

i had a few different species of eels for years, and they have different personalities...i had one that wouldn't touch anything that wasn't alive, another that would eat live blackworms and earthworms, frozen bloodworms, and ghost shrimp (once he got a little bigger), and another that would eat anything at all, even flakes! they do tend to be reclusive and semi-nocturnal, especially at first. eventually they will learn that you're giving them food and will come out and "beg" just like other fish when they see you.

but trust me on the medicine dropper!