GDM haven't ate in 3 weeks - Advice needed

CivicS14 · Feb 10, 2020

Hi All,

So, my GDM I've had for 6 months now, he use to eat once a week - a full silverside or half a frozen shrimp. Recently, I added to peppermint shrimps to the tank to help with aiptasia, well - he decided they would be a good meal and ate both of them overnight... that was 3 weeks ago. Now he won't eat. He comes out, I put a fish or shrimp to his face and he smells it but doesn't eat it.

How long can they go without eating? I'm getting worried. Could there be something in the peppermint shrimp that got him ill?

lion king · Feb 10, 2020

They can go quite a while without eating, literally months, a couple of months is not unheard of. Some eels can be very tempermental to the slightest changes in tank dynamics and chemistry. Make sure all your water parameters are in check. Have you added any other inhabitants or has a relationship with a previous tank mate changed, like anyone bullying or challenging for territory? Are you adding any supplements to the food, what brand of silversides are you feeding? I've found a proper level of mg, over 1200, to help with my predators digestion and appetite. Smaller chunks of food rather than huge pieces seem to digest more easily as well, you may also find him to eat more cleanly when not tearing up huge chunks.. At this point I would not get overly panicked.

CivicS14 · Feb 10, 2020

lion king said:
They can go quite a while without eating, literally months, a couple of months is not unheard of. Some eels can be very tempermental to the slightest changes in tank dynamics and chemistry. Make sure all your water parameters are in check. Have you added any other inhabitants or has a relationship with a previous tank mate changed, like anyone bullying or challenging for territory? Are you adding any supplements to the food, what brand of silversides are you feeding? I've found a proper level of mg, over 1200, to help with my predators digestion and appetite. Smaller chunks of food rather than huge pieces seem to digest more easily as well, you may also find him to eat more cleanly when not tearing up huge chunks.. At this point I would not get overly panicked.

Thank you. Water parameters are stable, I run a full SPS tank. No new additions other than the two peppermints he ate. So I guess I’ll just wait it out.

jda · Feb 14, 2020

All of the pebbletooth eels can "hibernate" some. Sometimes you do not even see them when this happens. I had a zebra that would just disappear for a few months at a time (you could see it, but ti was not "out")... when I saw it again, it was ready to eat.

Mix it up with some squid, cuttlefish, octopus and other tasty stuff and it if is not interested, then don't worry about it, but keep trying every few days.

CivicS14 · Feb 17, 2020

jda said:
All of the pebbletooth eels can "hibernate" some. Sometimes you do not even see them when this happens. I had a zebra that would just disappear for a few months at a time (you could see it, but ti was not "out")... when I saw it again, it was ready to eat.

Mix it up with some squid, cuttlefish, octopus and other tasty stuff and it if is not interested, then don't worry about it, but keep trying every few days.

Sounds good. He’s out and about, just not hungry. Thanks