I Like Eels...

[adam98150]

Ill stick with the eel.

 

[JawsA10]

heh good choice, but remember if you have deep soil he will burrow into this and you will never see him until night

 

[adam98150]

Ok, thanks.

 

[JawsA10]

no problem, and good luck

 

[adam98150]

one last thing, what sort of "habitat" would they benefit in most? I know i need sand as substrate but what else?

 

[nmonks]

Floating plants are essential with spiny eels. They stop them jumping, and the eels will "burrow" into floating plants and lurk there, which is very cute. If you want to breed them, then they lay their eggs in floating plants. Hornwort, Ceratopteris, pretty much anything large and floating will do.

Try also and identify your eel, as there are several species sold as peacock eels. The most common is Macrognathus siamensis. It is pale pinkish brown with a pencil-line thin cream stripe running from the head to the tail. It has a few dark eyespots on the dorsal fin. It is quite sociable, and if you want to see it settle in quickly, get at least three so that they can hang out together. Provide a reasonable number of caves, so that they can be on their own if the want to. Provide silica (silver) sand for digging into -- never gravel. With small spiny eel species, gravel is a death sentence. Macrognathus siamensis gets to around 25 cm in aquaria, and while it will eat neons and potentially something as large as a female guppy, it is completely safe with swordtails, rainbowfish, and other fish of that size.

Cheers,

Neale

one last thing, what sort of "habitat" would they benefit in most? I know i need sand as substrate but what else?

 

[adam98150]

Thanks, so is it sure to eat my amano shrimp and neons?

 

[nmonks]

Yes and yes. Spiny eels really are not good "community" fish in the typical sense of the word, and they're definitely not good fish for beginners, being rather difficult to keep alive (they escape too easily, for a start). If you want a "safe" eel that's easy to keep, consider either the kuhli loach or the weather loach (soetimes called the dojo loach). The latter especially is more fun than a barrelful of monkeys.

Cheers,

Neale

Thanks, so is it sure to eat my amano shrimp and neons?

 

[adam98150]

(Loaches are not eels), anyway ive been in fish keeping for a while. I think i can handle an eel.

 

[JawsA10]

whoa a little aggresion there!

 

[adam98150]

Yea sorry, i sort of said it wrong abit.

 

[JawsA10]

heh, its ok it wuz funny

 

[nmonks]

Indeed, but neither are spiny eels (despite the name). True eels, family Anguillidae, are virtually never kept by aquarists, and their relatives, the morays, family Muraenidae, and the spaghetti eels, family Moringuidae, are only seen in the freshwater hobby to the tune of maybe four species altogether.

When I suggested loaches, I meant as eel-like animals. The thing with spiny eels is that they are a challenge. Lots of people keep them, but find they die after a few months. Keeping them for 5+ years or however long they live is difficult. It's certainly worth doing, but you do need to read up on all the problems first (escaping, hunger strikes, eating tankmates, aggression, need for sandy substrates, incurable skin infections, etc.).

Cheers,

Neale

(Loaches are not eels), anyway ive been in fish keeping for a while. I think i can handle an eel.

 

[adam98150]

Yea thanks, im also getting a new filter just because im getting an eel. Will a fluval 305 external be ok for a 30g? Or will it be to powerful?