Fire Eel

[Deanellenfins]

Dear ARC,

Not new by any means to the hobby and am a local very successful breeder. I have picked the brains of " The Man", king of Austin fish and zoologist. I will not mention names. We are dumbfounded here.

I have actually successfully mated a pair of fire eels. Unfortunately, during their last spawn, Mermaid broke through the top of a very heavy and secure top. We found her the next morning. She was 32 inches, full of eggs and hand tamed and fed like her mate Tuvok. He would not eat for 5 weeks. He was also quite large, 31 inches and girth of 5.5 inches. They are both 6. He slowly started to eat again and has been finally eating vigorously, at least 9 very large mussels I have to open from HEB evey other day. He ate 3 days ago. The next day I noticed a wound and though he had scratched himself. Picked up some methylene blue. Within a few hours he was floating mid section above water and the lost the ability to flip over. He then developed brand new wounds within just 6 hours, panting heavily. I stayed with him all night to monitor. He cannot get into his tube and is mostly upside down with his tail and head dragging. He is very heavy. I have dealt with columnaris outbreaks that have wiped out 1500 guppies in 3 days. It was a terrible strain, no amount of meds worked. I had a few surviving fry who grew up and seem to be even heartier than the previous 5 generations.  But this whatever this is is very fast moving and honestly I have called experts across the country and we are at a loss. It's the weekend. I'm about to have emergency surgery any day now( waiting on the VA). I love this fish. He is like a puppy in a tank. I am trying everything not to loose him. His wounds have stopped spreading, he is breathing better and the bleeding has stopped. Don't worry, I have clown loaches to eat all the eggs because I do not believe these fish belong in any tank of any size. They are way too intelligent and it's cruel. They belong in the wild, but I have him now and I owe him the best life possible. Doing the absolute slowest water changes twice a day. Takes about 5 hours each time. Gonna post some pics. Be ready. They are horrific.The first pic is the first wound it was small but within a few hours swelling set in and he is ripping open. The rest happened with 6 hours. Please don't be cruel, but I would like input. I'm desperate to save my boy if at all possible. It been almost 4 days. He is still fighting and happy to see me, but I want the best for him, whatever that may be. Thanks 

Glass is filthy due to constant water changes. Got more things to worry about. Water is green due to meds. I am using a pipette for the methylene blue. Straight into the wounds and gills. I know I'm killing my filters. I have plenty more ready to go. Constant water changes and seachem  neutral 7.0 every 22 hours and with every water change.

 

 

[Timfish]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss and the problems you are having with your remaining male.   The only suggestion I have is contact Dr. Geigel-Ortiz, https://vidaveterinary.com/about-us, he has advanced training for working with fish.

[Gabe Pippas]

I was under the impression that after adults mate they will die, and the eggs have to be released from the female to be fertilized by the male outside the body. So the presence of eggs in a female would not indicate successful mating. What do you think?