Slim shady is missing

[raw88gt]

what are you feeding him and how long did you have him for? Mine used to be that big and would like to get another one but it takes a while to get them big and with my tank mates that would be so good if he was little.

 

[Triggerman1964]

all of my fish get raw cut shrimp.He was the size of a pencil when I got him.

 

[moriartiholmes]

There's a lot of evidence that SFE's diet switches more towards fish as they get older. Take a look at its teeth, I've read that as they get older their teeth become more like those of fish predators than the molar type teeth associated with crustacean eaters.
One of the reasons people may be unfamiliar with this fish's adult diet is that most SFE's do not reach adulthood in home aquariums. My boss at my old work had a SFE for about ten years. In the end, it was in a tank alone with a lion. If a fish became too aggressive in one of his other tanks, it would be placed in this tank. According to him, it was always the eel, not the lion that got the fish.

 

[Triggerman1964]

My sf eel is formidable.

I wouldn't want to be housed with him.

 

[Frostyeel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7684214#post7684214 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by moriartiholmes
There's a lot of evidence that SFE's diet switches more towards fish as they get older. Take a look at its teeth, I've read that as they get older their teeth become more like those of fish predators than the molar type teeth associated with crustacean eaters.
One of the reasons people may be unfamiliar with this fish's adult diet is that most SFE's do not reach adulthood in home aquariums. My boss at my old work had a SFE for about ten years. In the end, it was in a tank alone with a lion. If a fish became too aggressive in one of his other tanks, it would be placed in this tank. According to him, it was always the eel, not the lion that got the fish.

That could be true with some eels, but not mine. It is 15 years old and close to 30" long, and he hasn't eaten a fish in many years. He is friendly enough that the fish that get picked on by the other fish hang out with him. The more bite sized fish he lives with are 4 lyretail anthias (one of which hangs out near his cave), a tomatoe clownfish, a maroon clownfish (hangs out in and around his cave), and a sunrise dottyback. I guess they might be more likely to eat fish when they grow older, but that is still probably an individual thing.

 

[assassinco97]

So has anyone had an experience where an otherwise peaceful SFE after many years all of a sudden developed a taste for fish....

I strongly believe that what you feed your fish....can gear their diet later...is that something that runs pretty common in eels too

 

[EricBrian]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7685871#post7685871 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Triggerman1964

Love that pic! LOL

 

[moriartiholmes]

I really like that pic too. I also have a zebra. I really like that species, no aggression at all (unless you have a shell).
I looked a little more into the SFE and it looks like only the males teeth change, implying a dietary change. So, from this thread it sounds like Triggerman may have a male and frostyeel may have a female. Too bad you two don't live near each other