Feeding a Tessalata
- Thread starter viper
- Start date
skirk
Member
Welp, it's like this. Not that you can't feed him goldfish, but you should ween him onto a frozen food variety diet consisting of krill,shrimp,silversides,etc. This will prove to be less of a hassle, less expensive, and probably more beneficial to the health of your eel. Well, maybe not less expensive but it won't cost much.
Feed him til satiation (look at his belly and if you think it's bulging with food then discontinue feeding). You'll be able to tell. I mean, it all depends on the size of the goldfish, which can have a wide range of sizes. Good luck with your beautiful eel. Watch out when he grows though. The one that ate my 8-9" lionfish when he got hungry did it very quickly. Talk about a crazy site to see. They're great as a single pet when they are large (kinda like having a dog) but when they get that size they shouldn't be kept with other fishes under a ft long. Then again, they may eat the ft longers depending on the shape of the fish.
ONE MORE THING: I'm not here to harp you but I wanted to be sure you were aware that the eel gets about 5ft long. Way to large for a 55gal. You will need at least a 150 to 180. I'd say get a 225 minimum when there full grown. The large one my friend had that ate my lionfish was in a 125 for a while and that was too small. It eventually hopped out and didn't survive. You can't really secure your top too good from an eel that is about 5ft long/5" thick and full of muscle. So if he doesn't like the small tank he's in then he will definitely leave.
[ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: skirk ]
[ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: skirk ]
[ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: skirk ]
Feed him til satiation (look at his belly and if you think it's bulging with food then discontinue feeding). You'll be able to tell. I mean, it all depends on the size of the goldfish, which can have a wide range of sizes. Good luck with your beautiful eel. Watch out when he grows though. The one that ate my 8-9" lionfish when he got hungry did it very quickly. Talk about a crazy site to see. They're great as a single pet when they are large (kinda like having a dog) but when they get that size they shouldn't be kept with other fishes under a ft long. Then again, they may eat the ft longers depending on the shape of the fish.
ONE MORE THING: I'm not here to harp you but I wanted to be sure you were aware that the eel gets about 5ft long. Way to large for a 55gal. You will need at least a 150 to 180. I'd say get a 225 minimum when there full grown. The large one my friend had that ate my lionfish was in a 125 for a while and that was too small. It eventually hopped out and didn't survive. You can't really secure your top too good from an eel that is about 5ft long/5" thick and full of muscle. So if he doesn't like the small tank he's in then he will definitely leave.
[ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: skirk ]
[ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: skirk ]
[ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: skirk ]
guppie
Member
I agree with skrik get him off the goldfish, they don't get all the good stuff they need eatting goldfish. My snowflake will only eat as much as he wants, then he will stop, he is about 12in and he eat 4 good size krill or silversides each day, some people only feed their eels everyother day, I tryed that and he went nuts, so I feed every day. Good Luck
pufferlover
Active Member
guppie is right out of my 3 eels 2 eat every day and one skips (the baby one) a day or two here and there. I hate to think what the 2 bigger ones would do without their food. Mine eat frozen Krill and frozen Silversides (the bigger snowflake will take a 3 inch silversides and in one gulp it is gone. The baby one gets the smaller size that is available of the silversides (after all it is just a kid).
moruti
New Member
Just one more caveat about feeding goldfish to Your eel. Apparently constant freshwater fish of negligible nutritional value can cause some liver damage to saltwater fish, so this should be kept in mind.
If You can't feed it silversides, have You thought of feeding it shrimp or fish fillets from the "bargain bin" of Your local grocery? This could prove economical (& healthier) in the long run.
If You can't feed it silversides, have You thought of feeding it shrimp or fish fillets from the "bargain bin" of Your local grocery? This could prove economical (& healthier) in the long run.