Eels...do they shed their skin?

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Okay, I know I shouldn't have done it, but I couldn't resist. In one of the lfs around here, they occasionally have "snowflake eels". But it's not very often. I've been wanting one for quite some time now and finally found one. So far I have found very little useful information on these eels on the internet. Anyway, the question is about shedding. Or more specifically about his eye. One of his eyes is either blind or has a white coating over it. A friend of mine keeps snakes, and it kinda looks like that right before they shed. It's only his eye, nothing else on him. It doesn't appear to be a fungus, at least not at this point. Water conditions are good. Tankmates include a Red Terror, Green Texas Cichlids (2), Chineese Algea Eater, Corydora, German Blue Ram (long story), Oto, and a Bamboo Shrimp. It's a 55gal tank.

Now, before I get yelled at, I know this tank won't support all these once they get bigger. And I'm prepared to move them when that happens. As for the little ram, he's in no danger. In fact, being less than half the size of the terror, he nips at him anyway. It's one fearless little ram. He's holding up very well. Also, I'm prepared to evacuate him if he should start getting in trouble in there.

Anyway, has anyone got experience with these eels? Or has seen this sort of eye condition before? If I'm not mistaken it's actually a moray eel, alleged freshwater but I suspect it should be brackish...need more info there as well. Thanks in advance. :)
 
I can't help with the cloudy eye, although I can tell you that fish, unlike reptiles, never shed their skins. Not even eels.

I CAN give you the advice that your snowflake eel is FAR from a freshwater fish. Snowflakes are a moray species, and are most definitely heavy brackish to SALT inhabitants. And they get large... somewhere around a foot I think. Maybe larger. Could reasonably be kept in a 55, but not a 55 freshwater, or even brackish.

EDIT: Here's what the AC species profile has to say about it:


A salinity of 1.025 and temperature between 72-82 degrees F is recommended. It is a hardy fish that will adapt to most marine aquarium conditions.
Click to expand...

Click here for the full article

I'm afraid you'll be making the decision soon as to whether you want to keep your freshwater fish, or move on over to saltwater.... I'm sure Corax would be happy if you embraced the Kool-Aid and took the latter... but the more financially reasonable solution is to take the eel back where you got it and explain the situation.... of course, they'll just sell it to someone else without pointing out its natural environment, but at least your conscience will be clear.:shake:

Or, better yet, give the eel to a saltwater tank owner :)
 
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Well, a friend of mine bought the same type of eel from the same store almost two months ago. He also has a freshwater setup. His eel has been doing fine. So i naturally figured I could pull it off as well. I was skeptical when he first got his, I really didn't think it'd live too long in freshwater. But he proved me wrong. However, I woke up this morning to a dead eel :( Luckily the store has a 15 day return policy, so it's carcass is going back in a few minutes. When I pulled it out of the tank I noticed a black lump under the skin, just below the gill area. I have no clue what that is, but it certainly looks to big (around the size of a marble) to be a healthy thing inside the eel. I guess I'll try to investigate why mine died and his is living well.

Anyway, thanks so much for the help PBQ.
 
A couple months really is not that long when you consider they live for years and years.... the fact of the matter is that they are a saltwater fish and belong in a saltwater environment. Anything else is cruelty. It's like putting a clownfish or a coral into a freshwater tank, or a neon into saltwater. It's just not a good thing for the fish.

I'm sorry to hear your fish died though :(
 
Petco sells them as a freshwater creature. I trusted them, sadly. I feel bad for subjecting the poor thing to that. I learned a lesson though...I'll do my homework before buying a species I don't know anything about. I know, and have experienced in the past, that the stores seldom know what they're talking about. So it's up to the buyer to assure a good home for the pet(s). I'm not sure how long it would take for a salt water fish to die in freshwater, but I would think it'd last longer than a day. I could be way off there. But I'm thinking there was problems with it to begin with...the cloudy eye thing shoulda been an indicator to me.

Anyway...a lesson learned...the hard way. :(
 
I am just wondering why people go to places like Walmart or Petco in the first place- Is it because there is no alternative in their area? It seems like everybody has something negative to say about these apparently incompetent businesses. There is no reason to settle for such negligent and misleading service in my opinion, and I am in interested in knowing whether or not people who shop at these stores have other options. In my personal experience, I have never run into the problems that people on this forum often talk about - granted, I have limited experience with fish suppliers in America, but I would not expect cultural differences to be the determining factor here. Also, the few American dealers that I have done business with have been sufficiently knowledgable and honest for the most part, so I find it hard to believe that it is impossble to find decent service. Sorry if this sounds like a sermon, I dont mean to come across as angry either- I am just interested in understanding why people go to places like petco and walmart for their fish.
 
dwf73, I agree 100% with you. Those huge outlet stores are about as smart as the fish in their tanks. They simply sell fish just as another reason for people to step foot in their store and blow their money. And as far as eels go, I've had my little pair of Marbled/Snowflake Moray Eels for a few weeks now in a brackish water tank and they are doing just fine. I know it's so soon, but I love 'em.
 
A lot of times, it is cost-prohibitive or distant to go to a specialty store for things, and many people don't understand that chain stores don't know what they are talking about until it is too late and they have a sick or dead fish.

I have gotten several GOOD fish from chain stores (but I know what day they stocked them, so I could get there before they were put in the water, etc...) but have also gotten some real bad ones. The good ones were a matter of luck...

I know that I spend about the same money at the specialty store as I would at walmart, but the average beginner doesn't know that the cost is not too bad :)
 
Originally posted by pinballqueen
I can't help with the cloudy eye, although I can tell you that fish, unlike reptiles, never shed their skins.

Click to expand...


I know of at least one fish that sheds its skin, the weather loach. I see it every so often in my aquarium with them. I have read it in a few different places on the internet as well, such as this page http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/wloach.html
 
Some fish will shed their slime coat, especially scaleless fish. It's usually not a good thing--it's a reaction to some irritant or parasite, rather than a result of growth, as it is in reptiles. Amphibians as well will shed their skin--not quite like a snake, and seldom noticed, since most eat their shed.

For an eel--shedding the slime coat is a sign of extreme stress. Sorry you lost this one--they really do not belong in FW tanks for very long. Eventually, they lose too much salt from their bodies--normally, they are constantly removing the salts from their body in a salty environment. You should strongly encourage your buddy to plan moving them into at least brackish tanks (meaning marine mix is used--'aquarium salt' and table salts won't cut it), preferably a marine tank.

There is one FW moray. It's called the American eel, and gets about 4-5 feet in length, and is considered one of the nastiest tempered eels out there--worse even than green morays.
 
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