Help with an eel!

StraitJacketJo · 11-12-2006, 10:59 PM

Hello everyone. I just got an eel today from someone, they recently got it from someone else, the person I got it from failed to ask the previous owner anything about it so knows absolutely nothing about it which in turn means I don't either. I don't even know what type he is, if I knew at least that I'm sure I could figure out more info. But I'm here to ask if anyone can help me with identifying him. He looks pretty much like an average eel I guess, but I'll give as much info. as I can. He's probably about three to four inches long, a greenish brown color, and has five small black dots with yellow rings around them on his tail. I know that is probably not enough information to really help anyone out but it's all I can offer, so if anyone could help me I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all in advance.
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Jo
Oh and if it's any help, he is a fresh water eel.

gm333 · 11-12-2006, 11:04 PM

First off welcome to the forum! Your eel is a peacock eel, here is some info for it. http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...y.php?id=50400

StraitJacketJo · 11-12-2006, 11:23 PM

Thank you so much. I checked the link you provided, and a few others but could not really find any information other then, he needs a soft substrate for burrowing and the water tempature. Could anyone help me now with what type of food I am suposed to feed him, regularity of cleaning the tank, whether I should keep my filter or switch it for a more gentle one? Any info. would really help. I've kept fish my entire life but this is my first eel, so I'm pretty clueless at this stage!

gm333 · 11-12-2006, 11:47 PM

Found this on one site.

Quote:

Found at bottom depths in slow-moving or standing waters. Often lies buried in the silt, sand, or fine gravel with only a portion of its head protruding from the bottom (Ref. 12693). Enters flooded forest (Ref. 9497). Emerges at dusk to forage for food. Feeds on benthic insect larvae, crustaceans, and worms (Ref. 12693). Marketed fresh and often seen in the aquarium trade (Ref. 12693).

Have also read they do well with flake or soft sinking pellet foods, blackworms, bloodworms. Clean the tank as normal.

StraitJacketJo · 11-12-2006, 11:55 PM

As I said, thank you so much. I've always liked getting new pets and watching them grow, and I've heard eels are pretty interesting to keep as pets. I deffinately did not expect to get such a fast reply from anyone, more or less a helpful one, as alot of forums in the past aren't very helpful, I'll deffinately be coming around here more often for help and advice though. Thank you for your help.

gm333 · 11-13-2006, 12:22 AM

No problem! We are always glad to help!

Tommy Gun · 11-14-2006, 12:10 AM

StraitJacketJo,

GM is right and has pointed out some good info. I have had two peacock eels in the past and I can tell you that you are not going to see it very often until you can make it feel very comfortable and/or train it to feed from your hand (very possible to do that, by the way). I fed my eels with brine shrimp and blood worms, both of which they love. The catch is (there is always a catch, right?!?!?!?) that depending on other tank mates, it may be hard to ensure that enough food is getting to the bottom of the tank without overfeeding. These eels will be great at cleaning up anything that drops to the floor of the tank, but they should not be raised on flakes alone and most other community fish are not going to pass up blood worms or brine. I have also read that these eels will eat live foods like feeder guppies, but when I tried, the guppy just grew up into an almost clear fish. The eels do get big and have a large capacity to add wastes to your tank (much like a pleco) and they usually deposit the wastes under the gravel or sand substrate making it hard to know when it is time to vaccum it out. I was often told that these eels need a big tank to cope with the high wastes and their potential size. Most recomended that I keep one in a 55 gallon tank but they grow slowly so you can eek it out for a little bit.

One BIG consideration is the substrate type for these eels. They will certainly spend a lot of time 'underground' and all you will see is their little 'noses' most of the time. These eels literally dive into the substrate, so sand works well or otherwise a smaller gravel substrate is somewhat ok, but not the best. The best thing to get or have is a very 'dull' substrate that has little to no sharp edges to hurt the eels when they bury themselves. They will go into the substrate VERY fast when spooked and they could get cut, scraped, or even have their eyes poked out. These eels do not really need their eyes to survive per say, but any cut or wound could result in a seconary infection which will be hard to treat since you most likely will not see them much in order to even notice that there is a problem.

Finally, cleaning the tank is going to be as normal as ususal, with one BIG exception. Since you cannot see the eels, and they can and will move while completely buried, it will be VERY important that you do not just go jabbing around with a python or any other tool for that matter. This is also true when putting plants in the tank or decor that you want to push into the substrate, you could simply crush them.

So, good luck with your new pals! They are really cool fish (yes, fish, they are not true eels) and will be a topic of discussion between you and the people who see the tank. I finally decided to add a few small colored LED lights to my tank when I had the eels so that I could see them more often when the lights were out. Might be something to consider if you are having problems getting them to feel confident to come out during the day.