Freshwater eel

[Mcgolg76]

I got room at the bottom of my 75g freshwater tank and would love to get an eel. Sand substrate and plenty of driftwood for hiding. Do have a few questions and concerns.

What are some of the smaller species that stay under 10 inches. Looked into peacock and half banded. Would any other species work?

Tank is planted. Would they completely destroy them? What if I leave some areas with no plants ?

Smallest fish in tank are harlequin rasboras that are full grown. Would they be safe with the smaller eel species

Have an african brown knife fish. Would they get along? Also have some zebra loaches who are active but only bother each other. Will the presence of the loaches bother an eel.

Can they be fed with a turkey baister ?

Thanks for any help. Only want to get if they will be happy in my tank. Love oddball fish

 

[corey.boucher]

I have a tire track eel....which is not technically an eel....but regardless...he is about 15 inches long now...he is in my 75 gallon with my large albino oscar....11inches give or take...two crab...amd several smaller loaches....havent had any issues except with fake plants the tiretrack likes to mess with them...planted he leaves alone....iknoow its not a smaller eel but thought id share my experience in the same size tank....and i should menion i hand feed both the eel and oscart

 

[Mcgolg76]

How does he do with the loaches? Did you have any problems initially feeding him?

 

[corey.boucher]

i havent had any problems feeding him from first bringing him home.....he doesnt show any interest in the loaches at all.....i have a couple stone caves that both the eel and loaches hang in....he loves the shrimp pellets and earthworms....hasnt wanted anything to do with bloodworms...tubifex or the such....my albino oscar keeps the crabs away from the eel...kinda cool to watch him have the eels back so to speak....when i can get my phone to successfully upload pics to the site i have plenty of pics of both fresh water tanks and the fish within them.....and i named the eel Frank...dont know why tho haha

 

[Legit Fish]

I have a tire track eel....which is not technically an eel....but regardless...he is about 15 inches long now...he is in my 75 gallon with my large albino oscar....11inches give or take...two crab...amd several smaller loaches....havent had any issues except with fake plants the tiretrack likes to mess with them...planted he leaves alone....iknoow its not a smaller eel but thought id share my experience in the same size tank....and i should menion i hand feed both the eel and oscart

actually the tire track eel is indeed an eel...... but tire track will get 3 feet but rarely and if does very slowly. the smallest species of eel is the peacock which gets actually only 7 inches long in captivity if grown from a small size but the largest is 12 inches give or take. they are also more peaceful (though all eels are) but what i mean by that is that they don't really eat live small fish..... but i didn't say they won't. i have been keeping eels for 5 years and kept from tires to fires to peacocks to fresh morays. i mention this just to let you know that i am pretty knowledgable and no false information will be given.

 

[corey.boucher]

actually the tire track eel is indeed an eel...... but tire track will get 3 feet but rarely and if does very slowly. the smallest species of eel is the peacock which gets actually only 7 inches long in captivity if grown from a small size but the largest is 12 inches give or take. they are also more peaceful (though all eels are) but what i mean by that is that they don't really eat live small fish..... but i didn't say they won't. i have been keeping eels for 5 years and kept from tires to fires to peacocks to fresh morays. i mention this just to let you know that i am pretty knowledgable and no false information will be given.

I admittedly am not an experrt on eels or any other fish....but after u said that a tire track as indeed an eel i had to go research them more....every site i could find indeed said they are not technically an eel...they are a freshwater tropical fish....with spines in front of their dorsal fins....liveaquaria.com which i kno is a site to purchase fish etc also has that listed in their quick stats on the tire track....the way they had listed..the entire "spiny eel" family was all freshwater tropical fish and not technically an eel....how true that is i really dont kno again as i said im not an expert by any means...wasnt trying to claim the tire track was a small eel either....just sharing my experience with mine

 

[Mcgolg76]

So would the peacock be the best eel for my sit? Do you have a epic with them and plants? Had some eels at my lfs that are just listed as spiny eels. Think they are half banded but not 100 percent sure.

 

[Bichir Bro]

So would the peacock be the best eel for my sit? Do you have a epic with them and plants? Had some eels at my lfs that are just listed as spiny eels. Think they are half banded but not 100 percent sure.

I do think the Half Banded Spiny Eels will work fine with your stock! Id honestly be more worried about your Brown Knife doing something to your Rasboras rather than one of the smaller specie of eel, like the Half Banded. I don't know much about the Peacocks but I do think they stay small and will be ok with your stock! You also shouldn't worry about him messing up your aquascape, spiny eels love heavily planted tanks with tons of cover! They love navigating through sand and plants and checking out all their caves and stuff!
Also the eels in the Spiny Eel family are not true eels, they're really just elongated fish!

 

[Mcgolg76]

Never seemed worried about my brown knife fish attacking anybody. He is so jumpy around other fish even with lights out. In fact only fish he like were my panda Cory's before I moved them out. He shared a cave with them. Pretty sure the spiny eels in my lfs are the half banded. Are there any other fish that get big that look like half banded. Don't want to get something that gets to big by mistake. Don't mind that they aren't officially eels. Just like that they are diff looking. Seems like the personality will be like my knife fish. Even though he is shy around fish he is very interested in me. Goes crazy when he sees the turkey baster and will nibble on my fingers.

 

[Legit Fish]

I admittedly am not an experrt on eels or any other fish....but after u said that a tire track as indeed an eel i had to go research them more....every site i could find indeed said they are not technically an eel...they are a freshwater tropical fish....with spines in front of their dorsal fins....liveaquaria.com which i kno is a site to purchase fish etc also has that listed in their quick stats on the tire track....the way they had listed..the entire "spiny eel" family was all freshwater tropical fish and not technically an eel....how true that is i really dont kno again as i said im not an expert by any means...wasnt trying to claim the tire track was a small eel either....just sharing my experience with mine

i have seen many websites too that say that they are not technically eels but from what i have heard in many pet stores and few websites and my knowledge i just stick with that, but to answer the person who started this thread question i think that the peacock eel would be the best especially since you normally find them relatively small in the pet stores. i mean really small. good luck!

 

[Mcgolg76]

Ended up getting a peacock eel. They also had the half banded that where smaller but also younger. Just found the peacock better looking and more active. Fire eels was so beautiful but just think it will be top big for my 75. Hopefully this peacock will do well

 

[Legit Fish]

nice choice mate! good luck with the eel!

 

[Mcgolg76]

Ty. Just hope he does well. After an hour in the tank he is already sharing a cave with my brown knife fish. Small cave so they got to be wrapped around each other

 

[bettaowner]

Nice fish. Peacock eels are generally the best eel like fish for community tanks.

 

[anteatergoanna]

What is the bio load of an eel, anyone know? Wouldn't mind getting one myself. Would it be okay with FW mussels?
Thanks