Fire eel

[boogie]

I can't remember if I asked this question before, but if anyone has a fire eel, how long have you had it and do you know how long they can last?

I have checked numerous sources and I have not succeeded in finding the answer. I have had mine since 2002 and it is a giant. Thanks.

 

[Mudfrog]

They can get pretty old.. How long is yours?

Mine was 16" when it escaped my tank and died. Major props to you for keeping one since '02

 

[asudavew]

Mine was 16" when it escaped my tank and died. Major props to you for keeping one since '02

I had my peacock for three weeks.. .. when I couldn't locate it in the tank.. I found him on the floor...

Does not take much space for them to escape.. ugh..
Lesson learned.

 

[Mudfrog]

I had my peacock for three weeks.. .. when I couldn't locate it in the tank.. I found him on the floor...

Does not take much space for them to escape.. ugh..
Lesson learned.

Sadly I had a tight lid with four 3lb weights holding it down.. he was able to move it.

 

[boogie]

Mine is a monster at almost 30 inches and at least a couple of inches around its thickest area.

He is in my newly planted tank. He was a lone for quite some time and had the tank all to himself and now he is sharing it with many tiny fish.

I was worried about him eating them as he is a monster and they are all babies, so I put 2 dividers in and still a lot of the baby fish go over and visit him, it's hysterical.

I still keep the divider in - he only has 1/3 of the tank now - he is so crowded out, but when I let him take the whole tank back he pulls out all my plants looking for buried black worms.

Unfortunately he is so unhappy, but anyway.....

Does anyone know how long they live? I know this sounds awful, but do they live like 20 years???? If so, I will have to invest in a larger tank and I'm not interested....

 

[Mudfrog]

I would say 10-15 but with proper care who knows.. they could possibly live that long.

What size tank is he in now?

 

[boogie]

He is super unhappy now cuz he is in only 1/3rd of the 125 gallon tank. Poor thing, but I also need to take care of the other new residents and new lovely plants. Before I got all the other goodies, it was such a horribly boring tank with just him and a pleco and huge fake wood. Now it is a wonderland full of fun stuff; baby whale, knife fish, catfishes, elephant nose, etc....dragon goby, reed fish - lots of babies. I think I will have to get a larger tank when they start growing. He wants to come out and play and mess everything up - he's like a big yellow lab that wants to hog the room full of tiny puppy wiener dogs. Can't trust him until the rest grow cuz he's a fish, not a dog and fish eat fish...
I feel bad, but I made my choice. He can barely move

 

[Mudfrog]

Dragon Goby are brackish water just fyi..

If I were you I'd rehome him. A 24x18" space is not big enough for a 30" Fire eel. If I were closer I would take him in a heartbeat.

 

[boogie]

You're right. I should just get rid of him and hope that someone else will not take care of the water perimeters or allow him to be picked on by another fish or two or maybe allow it to escape, or, ya know, since I have had him since 2002, I could just throw him away.

If there is one thing I know about myself, is that I can take care of fish, as I have been doing this for 20 years. I have one $1000 fish in one of my tanks along with $500 plus fish and people come to my house and always tell me it's like they are visiting an aquarium. Just the other day a contractor told me that my sharks are like the ones he pets in the L.B. aquarium.

So, all I wanted to know, initially is how old these eels live, cuz if I don't know, it seems no one else knows - I've been searching for a long time for the answer. Thought someone would have been able to keep an eel a long time - seems like I'm the only one so far.

I don't need to be reprimanded and yes, I know gobbies are brackish. He eats great & is very happy and was stuck in a horrible LFS in FW before I saved him.

All my fish are fine, my eel is just upset cuz he used to rule my tank. Now he gets attention everyday and eats more than ever, so I think his irritation is fine. Of course, I could just give him away where someone would then post on this site, "I'm so sad, my new gorgeous eel died...."

 

[Mudfrog]

Unfortunately he is so unhappy, but anyway.....

Does anyone know how long they live? I know this sounds awful, but do they live like 20 years???? If so, I will have to invest in a larger tank and I'm not interested....

Obviously you just stated your not interested in giving him a space larger then 1/3 of a 125g but your right.. you know how to take care of a 30" fish.. You asked for opinions.. you got opinions.. the truth hurts.

 

[R6Chick]

You're right. I should just get rid of him and hope that someone else will not take care of the water perimeters or allow him to be picked on by another fish or two or maybe allow it to escape, or, ya know, since I have had him since 2002, I could just throw him away.

Wow, that is a pretty uncalled for response. Dude, you stated you had no interest in giving the animal a proper home. You would not keep a great dane in a 3ft x 4 ft box so why would you be so resistant to finding a proper home for the creature?

If you are that attached to him then treat him properly and give him a properly sized home.

 

[boogie]

Good luck with all this pious advice. You guys should never go to any fish store and definitely stay away from Monsterfishkeepers.com where they advertise putting large predator fish in tanks that cannot hold them as perfectly as you all would. Maybe we should make sure prisoners get homes not cells or dogs should be killed if they are found on a street and not given a small cage instead. LA alone has 50,000 homeless dogs running around - better not give them food and water at shelters - it's inhumane, huh? See, these are still fish, they actually can handle smaller spaces than humans. With your statements there would be no animals left, as most of the wild animals have had their environments devastated by humans and now live only because zoos keep them alive. Stop posting to this thread if you can't deal with my fire eel, which everyone else here seems to kill - mine is fat and healthy. I guess maybe they live 10 to 15 years - duh, since I've had mine since 2002, great guess......I would have never figured that one out.

 

[Mudfrog]

I'm an avid member of MFK and they would NEVER suggest keeping a large fish in such horrible living conditions.

Tell you what though.. go ahead and post what you posted so far on MFK so you can prove me wrong.

Mod's it's probably time to close this thread. We were simply trying to offer this guy some help but it's obvious he's not looking for help.

 

[booginish]

i would just sell it to a dedicated aquarist, who will give the eel a proper home. you probly got that thing on the brink of death, the only thing keeping em alive is the thought u might let him eat all those goodies you got in your tank. Your dragon goby wont make it past a year without brackish water, sorry to agree with mudfrog, no ones trying to repremand you, just give you the write advice.