What's an easygoing FW eel?

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snapcrackler

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I'd like to add 1 eel to my 46g FW. Looking for that "special eel".

I have pea sized smooth river rock substrate, 4 clown loaches and some random guppies.

I am wondering at this point, is there actually an eel species that is not an escape artist, or wanting of soft substrates, or tending to burrow all the time, or not tending to eat any fish smaller than itself, etc. The Tire Track seems to be the closest to what I would like but apparently it needs soft substrate.

I have 4 kuhli loaches upstairs in the 70FW and I see one of them maybe once every three months. They spend most of their lives burrowed under the substrate.

So while KL's are cute and somewhat eel-like in appearance, point being is that I'd like to see the eel that I get once in a while. LOL

Anyway thanks in advance, if you have an easygoing eel or have heard of such a creature, please share.
 
Most eels are going to get too big for that 46, from what I understand. Also, they all need hidey holes and/or burrow, and for that reason need soft substrate like sand or cave material that will not scrape them. Many will live inside a PVC pipe, but they mostly like to feel their cave touching them on all sides, so it has to be a snug fit. I have heard good things about fire eels but again, too big for your tank. I got new reference books for Christmas ("tanks" Santa :wink: ) so I will look this up and see what I can find.

P.S. Okay from what I can find, easy-going and eel don't really go too well together! None of the fish in the mastacembelidae family that I can find seem to do well in any community tank setup, but some can be kept in large tanks with larger more aggressive species like large cichlids.
 
Thanks, Tankgirl that is much appreciated. I sorta don't have high hopes for "eeling it" in this tank either so I won't be disappointed if no eel fits the bill (or the other way around), but pleasantly surprised it it does. :p hehe

Heck, if there's a small enough eel for a 46 I could always do a substrate swap and make a bunch of hiding spots for the eel.
 
Snapcrackler...

Here is some basic information that might come in handy:

There are a number of 'eels' from Africa but they aren't often available in the average lfs. They also have a tendency to get quite large and are very secretive.

The Asian members of the Mastacembelidae are more commonly offered in pet stores. They include:

Mastacembelus erythrotaenia, often called the Spotted Fire Eel. These come from Java, Borneo and Sumatra and grow to about 46cm (18 inches). Like all of their close relatives, these 'eels' are mostly nocturnal and very secretive and should have hiding places provided. They will often burrow in the gravel.

Mastacembelus armatus, the White-Spotted Spiny Eel, is from India, Ceylon, Thailand, and Sumatra. It is the largest of the Spiny Eels, reaching lengths of 76cm (about 30 inches). This one is way too big for your aquarium when it reaches its adult size.

Mastacembelus zebrinus, the Zebra Spiny Eel, is from Burma. It also reaches about 46cm (18 inches). It is another consummate gravel-burrower.

Mastacembelus circumcinctus is called the Half-banded Spiny Eel. It reaches to over 20cm (8 inches) but is usually seen much smaller. Another 'hider'.

Macrognathus siamensis, the Spot-finned Spiny Eel, hails from Thailand. It reaches up to 25cm (10 inches) and has similar habits to all of its kin.

As you can see, pretty much all of the members of the family get pretty large and virtually all of them are secretive and like to hide during the day. Many of them will become more active during daylight hours once they have gotten comfortable with their surroundings. All of them are carnivorous and are not to be trusted around smaller fish.

Hope this has been informative, even if it didn't provide you with an 'eel' that fits your requirements.
 
Thank you for the detailed info. Eels of a feather tend to share habits together, I am beginning to see.

:D
 
I have an eel in my 55 gal tank that used to be in my 29 gal tank. It is all grey and looks like a snake. it is completely docile and eats large night crawlers that I put in the tank once a week. It is completely blind and is an air breather (it actually got out of the tank twice and no harm was done to it). Right now it is about 2 feet long and lives in a castle I have in the tank. I got the eel with my 29 gal tank for free from someone who got the tank from someone else and have had it for about 6 years now. It is the coolest thing I have in any of my tanks. It doesn't come out much except when it sticks its head out of the water to breath and when I feed it. I have a pepble substate in my tank. I have also never seen another eel like this before and when i ask people about it they arent sure what it is. I need to take some pics of it to some lfs. If anyone knows what lind of eel it is let me know. So there are eels out there for smaller tanks. where to get one on the other hand is a good question.
 
oops! didn't mean to put 2 of the same crappy pic there but whatever. that is the only oic i have of my eel right now if i get a better on ei will post it
 
That eel scares me...bad...lol. I don't know why but I hate anything snake / spider like and ugh...thats snake like ahhh gross.
 
If it had the little "legs" it would look more like the african lungfish at my lfs..
Other wise it looks like eels (common I guess?) I used to catch fishing in the backbay water in VA. They go on land. I think they breath through their skin like worms.

A miniture eel hmm. (well since most get 3-4 feet min..it would be miniture ^_^ ). But what I know of eels is for good eating.....so I wanted the big ones! That little would be neat, but I have a nice supply of tankmate gulpers already...
 
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