Banded moray hunger strike

[ReefNutPA]

Hello all!

I've had a banded moray for many months now. It's staple diet has been krill, however, for the last three weeks it's refused to eat. Nothing in the tank has changed. The tankmates (royal gramma, hawkfish, choc. chip stars, blue damsel) are doing wonderful.... I'm just at a loss as to why the eel would suddenly stop eating. It used to eat upwards of 6 - 10 pieces of krill every other day. Is this a common behavior? At what point should I begin to worry. If I recall correctly I remember reading some hobbyists had eels that didn't eat for very long stretches at a time, however, I can't find those posts at the moment.

Tom

 

[Jerry W]

It's not uncommon for some species of eels to "fast" for extended periods. Most resume eating regularly. I would change up the diet a bit though. Krill is not a good staple food for predatory fish. Offer chunks of squidd, clam, silversides, chopped table shrimp, scallop, and other crustacean flesh. Try not feeding for a few days. The eel will be okay. Then offer it something different. Observe for any distension in the abdomen (blockage), labored breathing, listlessness or inactivity. Also, check your water parameters. In some cases, fish will lose their appetites if nitrates are too high. FWIW, I kept a large snow flake eel that didn't eat for almost three weeks. He suddenly began showing interest in food again and never went on a hunger strike again.

 

[Triterium]

I had an eel go for almost 2 months without eating. My snowflake just ended a 2 week hunger strike. I hadn't even seen him for that whole period, since he hides in his PVC home.

 

[stykthyn]

offer it some silversides or squid.

 

[Frostyeel]

My snowflake went on a really long hunger strike a few years ago. I'm not sure how long it lasted, but I think it was definately over a month, probably over 2 months. As my dad tried to get it to eat he went so far as to buy it a pair of live cleaner shrimp to temp it, but it wouldn't even eat them. Eventually he started eating again, but he never ate the cleaners, even though they always hung around his cave.

 

[Big Ying]

My snowflake did the same thing recently. Feeding every 3 days with a mixture of shrimp, pieces of baitfish, and squid seems to work well now. He comes out of the cave aggressively right over to where I sit as soon as some food is in the water.

 

[ReefNutPA]

Thanks for the help and replies everyone! I appreciate it!

Tom