Fire Eel

[Marty]

Hi AC thumbs2:

So, we have a fire eel in our 37g. Its (unsure on sex) only 3" at best.
It has been very active for weeks, likes to swim through the bubbles and be around when the light it on, and goes under the sand-gravel-combo when the light is off.
However, we noticed the other day it pooped sand, and for the past couple days seems to be a little sluggish, not as active and just likes to lie around some of the (fake) plants.

There is plenty of places to hide, with a cave and a bridge. But we noticed our small pleco (about the same size) likes to join the fire eel whenever it finds some shelter.

I am starting to wonder whether it is actually eating (i havent seen it eat, the wife has). I wonder if my angels are getting to the blood worm before it gets a chance to sink to the floor.

Does anyone know any other food that could be quick sinking so that our eel will eat. Research shows that when it comes feeding time it will battle with the rest of the fish for food.. but I am not seeing any signs of that.

I know brine shrimp is an option, but i am trying to find a food that can sink quickly, while i pre-occupy the angels at feeding time.

Thanks


[edit: changed eel size from 1.5 to 3 to be more accurate]

[smaug]

First and foremost,your tank is overstocked.The angels alone need the whole tank to themselves and even then 37gal isnt enough.You mention your plec is the same size as the fire eel,what type plec is it?If you have a common plec he will need a bigger tank.With the stocking you have at the moment you need at least a 55gal at the minimum with a 75-90 being optimum.Fire eels reach 20" or so,the angels get hand sized and a common plec reaches over a foot.
Now to answer your question about your eels eating.It is very likely he isnt getting near enough food,you are correct that the angels are beating him to it.The eel needs a nocturnal feeding,get some live blackworms or some good clean garden worms and feed him at night with the lights off.Good luck with your eel,have you any pics of him?

[Marty]

Hi Smaug

All the fish in the tank are pretty small right now, we have had them in there for about a month. And yes, the plan is to move them to a larger tank eventually, but everyone is healthy in there, getting along great and for now I am happy with the tank. We test the water every 3 days and its always perfect.

The pleco is a standard common pleco, and is a baby. We take them as a baby and when they grow larger we sell them back to the LFS and get another baby. This is our 2nd pleco.

My research shows fire eels in captivity dont get 20", maybe 12" at most, and they only tend to reach that size outdoors, but as it gets bigger we will see how he goes.

Why does the eel need a nocturnal feeding when he spends most of his time and activity during the day when the light is on? (just curious) I will look for the blackworms, but unless I can find some small garden worms, they will be too big for him.

I am going to try and get some photos, but our camera isnt as good as some of the users have here, and we dont get very clear pictures. I will keep trying though :D

[smaug]

Normal eel activity is to hide and dig.If yours is not doing that then I would expect it is because he is stressed out.Ive not kept fire eels and am fairly new to keeping my peacock eel.I have done scads of research and talked to quite a few owners of both specie.It could be with yours that he is so young that his standard actions have not shown themselves but I'm certain they will.The cave and the few plants may not be enough cover for him to truly feel safe,try adding more low lying thick cover such as some bushy plants and some flat rock caves.He really should be more shy and retiring ,the constant daylight activity doesn't sound right.

[Marty]

Smaug,

Just wanted to thank you for the advice on the live blackworm.
We immediately went to the LFS ($1.49 per ounce) and got some blackworm.. we also bought a long clear tube that runs the depth of the tank and placed that in.

We had the lights off for a couple hours and then we dropped some of the blackworms down the tube, which goes to the bottom, and none of the angels or other fish even bothered to see what it was or was down there.

Our Eel (Moby Dick) was near by and saw one of the worms and immediately gobbled it up. Then Moby went nuts.. all over the tank looking for food... I am so please :D
We didnt give a lot, and we wont overfeed, I am just relieved he actually ate and I saw him eating.

So thanks, adding rep :)

[Oscar_freak12321]

Fire eels are fun. Hope you enjoy your fish!

[Marty]

Oh we love him here, the kids love to watch Moby swim up and down through the bubbles.

I even managed to get him to eat out of my fingers, which was cool. The kids just LOVED that :D

I have spent the past couple weeks gently 'playing' with him, and he swims around my fingers, through my fingers, so to get him to eat out my hand is pretty exciting. Hopefully I can do this once a day until he gets used to it, and then eventually I hope he will come up to the top and feed :)

[Oscar_freak12321]

Yep! Keep to the plan you're on and he will eventually come to the top to feed from your hand! This is very enjoyable and well worth the wait!

[hari-goshi]

My research shows fire eels in captivity dont get 20", maybe 12" at most, and they only tend to reach that size outdoors, but as it gets bigger we will see how he goes.


Most of the spiny eels stay a decent size in home aquariums , but fire eels get big. A healthy fire eel should grow larger than twelve inches. Just my two cents.

[smaug]

not to second guess you but he is very small,normally fire eels are sold bigger then this.Do you have a pic of him or are you positive he is a fire eel and not a smaller peacock,when they are small they look very muck alike.Not much difference in there behaviour,just there ultimate size.

[Northernguy]

I agree pics are neccesary!thumbs2: :22: :19:

[Friendly]

Fire Eels grow ridiculously big! I saw a vid on youtube and it was humongous! I never knew they got that big, I actually wanted to get one, the only thing stopping me is a bigger tank.

Edit: Here's the video [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[smaug]

Geesh,why not just kep the thing in a 5 gal bucket and be done with it?Thats a big ole fire eel in a lil ole tank.See what your gonna be up against Marty?

[Oscar_freak12321]

Of course if he's a peacock eel, he'll fit into your stocking a little better. If he is a true fire eel, you might want to get rid of him now.

[Marty]

Of course if he's a peacock eel, he'll fit into your stocking a little better. If he is a true fire eel, you might want to get rid of him now.
Googling some peakcock eel pictures they look very similiar to our Moby. I will try and get some pics and you can see what he looks like. But I have no plans on getting rid of him, its actually a little pet peeve of mine that people will return pets after a short while just because they made a mistake or couldnt handle it. Suppose if this was a dog we were talking about the I am sure it wouldnt have been suggested.

Geesh,why not just kep the thing in a 5 gal bucket and be done with it?Thats a big ole fire eel in a lil ole tank.See what your gonna be up against Marty?
Well smaug, i dont come on this forum for belittling, so leave it out eh?
I knew when I got him that he will outgrow this tank and will need a bigger one, and when that day arrives he will get a new tank.
I am up against nothing, he is a great addition to my tank, and I plan on keeping him around for some time.

[hari-goshi]

.


Well smaug, i dont come on this forum for belittling, so leave it out eh?
I knew when I got him that he will outgrow this tank and will need a bigger one, and when that day arrives he will get a new tank.
I am up against nothing, he is a great addition to my tank, and I plan on keeping him around for some time.

Well you posted in the thread already that you thought fire eels stayed relatively small. Now you are saying that you knew all along it would outgrow your tank. Can you see the confusion?

[smaug]

Whoa,Marty!!!!Big time miscommunication goin on here.I was refferring to the fire eel vid that was posted,Im very sorry that came off as me giving you a hard time.(blush) I can understand how it seemed like I was refferring to you,but I wasnt .

[Marty]

Well you posted in the thread already that you thought fire eels stayed relatively small. Now you are saying that you knew all along it would outgrow your tank. Can you see the confusion?
Not really... lets see.
I knew they would stay relatively small and yet outgrow my 37g tank - small compared to eels, but too big for a 37g. Not confusing for me :S

Whoa,Marty!!!!Big time miscommunication goin on here.I was refferring to the fire eel vid that was posted,Im very sorry that came off as me giving you a hard time. I can understand how it seemed like I was refferring to you,but I wasnt
no problem smaug, maybe it was me! i was tired and grumpy last night. sorry for snapping.

[Marty]

ok time to eat some humble pie...
After looking at a crap load of peacock v fire eel pictures on google.. i am pretty sure what we have is actually a peacock eel not a fire eel. Obviously we were mis-sold at the LFS.
I am taking some photos now, but our camera isnt very good so most of the images are blurry.

Will update with the photos

[smaug]

You are in luck then!Peacock stay nice and small and manageable.Have fun with him.Is this what ya got?
14329
This one is mine,his name is Obama.

[Marty]

Yes Smaug, looks pretty close.
This is the best picture I could get....

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[smaug]

Thats a peacock for sure,good looking fella too.Just from what I see of that small pic,you need more hihing spots for him to feel really secure.

[Marty]

Ive taken a quick pic of the tank right now, again not very clear.
There is a plant behind the bubbles where he likes to hide, and the easter island head he stays in as our common pleco cant fit in it, but we will be adding some more plants, probably live ones, in the near future.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Oscar_freak12321]

There's no doubt now, you have a peacock eel. These guys are much more manageable than the fire eel. That's actually pretty lucky for you, sounds like if you stay with that tank your stocking won't outgrow the tank! Good luck!

[hari-goshi]

That is a very nice looking peacock:22: .

[longimanus]

But I have no plans on getting rid of him, its actually a little pet peeve of mine that people will return pets after a short while just because they made a mistake or couldnt handle it. Suppose if this was a dog we were talking about the I am sure it wouldnt have been suggested.


Kind of like what you admitted in this thread that you do with common plecos?

[Marty]

Kind of like what you admitted in this thread that you do with common plecos?
Erm, no..
I can handle the common pleco's and I don't make a mistake with them, totally the opposite, so not sure what you are getting at...

I adopt a common pleco from my LFS and grow him up for them, and they either use them in-house or re-donate them to people with larger tanks, and I get a small $ for the role, enough to fund my hobby.

[Oscar_freak12321]

That's interesting...I want some extra $ on the side so I might see if they're interested. Thanks for making me aware of this Marty.

[smaug]

Erm, no..
I can handle the common pleco's and I don't make a mistake with them, totally the opposite, so not sure what you are getting at...

I adopt a common pleco from my LFS and grow him up for them, and they either use them in-house or re-donate them to people with larger tanks, and I get a small $ for the role, enough to fund my hobby.
How much do you get for a common?Around here even the big commons dont get more then 10 bucks.Heck,cant even give them away when they get that size.I have a beautiful sailfin that is reaching the 10" mark and not any of our lfs want him,,,,even for free!

[longimanus]

Erm, no..
I can handle the common pleco's and I don't make a mistake with them, totally the opposite, so not sure what you are getting at...

I adopt a common pleco from my LFS and grow him up for them, and they either use them in-house or re-donate them to people with larger tanks, and I get a small $ for the role, enough to fund my hobby.

Ah, sorry I misunderstood what you are doing with them.:)

[Marty]

How much do you get for a common?Around here even the big commons dont get more then 10 bucks.Heck,cant even give them away when they get that size.I have a beautiful sailfin that is reaching the 10" mark and not any of our lfs want him,,,,even for free!
Yea, about $10-20, but rather than cash we trade for a smaller one and a couple tubs of food. They sell a small common, between 1-2" for $5.99ea.