How to Feed Eels for Optimal Growth: The Ultimate Guide

The Ultimate Guide to Feeding Eels: Get It Right!. Eel farming might not be as popular as raising chickens, but eels are a beloved dish, especially when fried into crispy snacks or served as a side dish. If you’re ready to dive into eel farming, you’re looking at a promising business opportunity!

Caring for eels isn’t too tough, but understanding the right feeding practices is crucial. For detailed guidance, check out “Buku Pintar Budi Daya & Bisnis Belut” by Drs. Ruslan Roy or EELS FISH Training Guide (you can buy it on Amazon). He covers everything you need to know, including how to feed eels properly. For a quick overview, let’s break it down here.

Key Tips and Ultimate Guide to Feeding Eels

Eels are carnivores and need a protein-rich diet, around 65-70%. Unlike other livestock, eels can’t eat processed pellets all the time. They need live food like snails or fish to stay productive.

You can also feed them worms, tadpoles, fish larvae, or maggots. If you opt for chicken scraps or snails, make sure to boil them first to avoid spreading any harmful organisms.

To calculate the right amount of feed, use this formula:

FCR (Feed Conversion Ratio) = Amount of feed given / Weight gained over the same period.

A smaller ratio means the feed works well, while a larger ratio indicates it’s not effective. For 1 kg of eel meat, you’ll need about 2 kg of feed, giving a coefficient of 0.5. Multiply this by 100 for the conversion rate.

What Foods Can You Give Eels?

• Bloodworms: These are small, red worms about 10-30 mm long, found in organic-rich areas. They usually live in colonies.
• Earthworms: Easy to find in compost-rich soil, riverbanks, or wet, organic matter-filled areas. You can even farm them yourself using cow manure and rotting vegetable scraps.
• Snails: Common garden pests, their high protein content makes them ideal for eels. You can raise snails at home in a bamboo enclosure, feeding them vegetable scraps.
• Golden Apple Snails: Chop up the meat from these snails. They’re easy to find in rice fields or you can farm them.
• Water Fleas: Choose Moina or Daphnia, tiny shrimp-like creatures found in organic-rich water bodies like ponds and swamps. They feed on zooplankton and phytoplankton.

That’s your crash course on feeding eels. Dive in and happy farming!