# Feeding my eel with meddling cichlids!



## Eraserhead (Feb 1, 2007)

Hey guys,

I have a smaller tire track eel, very cool looking little guy. He's probably about 5 inches long or so, in a 72 gallon bowed front tank with about 9 juvenile cichlids (mostly African, but two are S American). The eel eats live blackworms, which is great, except I have to go to great measures to ensure that the cichlids don't totally bum rush the worms before they can burrow into the rocks. The eel will sift through the substrate and nab them. However, many of the cichlids like to root through the substrate and steal them. They aren't getting them all, probably only about 25% or so, but it's hard to be sure. Does anybody have suggestions as to how I could prevent the cichlids from annihilating the eel's food? I had a piece of acrylic sheet made at Lowes, and I will shoo the cichlids into one side of the tank and block it off while the worms are burrowing. I even go so far as to put a thin layer of gravel on top of them to give them a head start. But it never seems to prevent the cichlids from going nuts on them as soon as I open up the rest of the tank to them. I thought about putting a clear acyrlic tube in the aquarium for the eel, and put the worms in that, but manhy of the cichlids are juvenile and almost as thin as the eel, so they would probably be able to invade the tube as well. Any suggestions would be more than welcome!!!

Thanks!

Bobby


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2007)

how about a piece of PVC pipe? make it long enough so you can place it down by the eel, and drop the worms down the pipe. hold the pipe there until the worms have made it down.


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## Eraserhead (Feb 1, 2007)

Thanks for the reply, I thought about using some type of pipe to feed him, the only thing is he likes to hide out in the tree stump ornaments I have. I guess I could dump some of the worms in the stump and see what happens also...


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