Tire Track Eel

[Commander Cool]

I saw tire track eels on a website and it said they only need a 50 gallon tank. I am getting a 55 gallon tank sometime soon and was wondering if anyone can awnser some questions about them. What other fish can be housed with them? What is their primary diet? what do I need for hiding places? Can I have live plants? Any other info I should kno.

 

[JawsA10]

they can live in fresh to slightly brackish conditions and are not to aggresive but can be if tampered with, so dont get any annoying small fish! they hide all day under the gravel. they will eat frozen foods like bloodworms and will eat any fish small enough to eat........so no small ones........and they get very big so limit the animals

 

[CFC]

As being tyre track eels can grow to over 3 feet in length i cant see how a 55 gallon tank is suitable for keeping one since a standard 55g is only 1 foot wide, the minimum sized tank i'd recomend would be 180 gallons and ideally you want a tank that is closer to 3 feet wide and at least 8 feet long.

 

[nmonks]

There's a slight problem with identifying tyre track eels because there are more than species. They all used to be Mastacembalus armatus, and then there were some subspecies, and now multiple species are recognised. The two commonest appear to be:

Mastacembalus favus

Mastacembalus armatus

Of the two, I believe M. favus is actually more commonly seen. It is smaller (70 cm max) and has markings all over the body, whereas M. armatus (up to 90 cm) has markings only on the back. M. favus is certainly the species that I kept for a couple of years. My experience of M. favus is that it gets to around 50 cm or so within two years and doesn't grow much beyond that. Even at the full 70 cm, a 55 gallon tank would be, in my opinion, ample. Spiny eels are more concerned with the complexity of the habitat than how much space there is. They need sand for digging, caves for hiding in, and floating plants for security.

Both these species will tolerate brackish, but I hesitate to call either true brackish water fish. They certainly don't need salt, and they would do just as well, if not better, in fresh water. Unlike "true" brackish water fish, their salt tolerance is very low, certainly no more than 1.005.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[blcknwitecuban]

in most places i've bin told they need at least 75g tanks but a 55 would be ok because they dont need 2 much space like nmonks said.

 

[nmonks]

Just to be clear: I think M. flavus would be fine in a 55 UK gallon tank, but M. armatus, would benefit from being kept in a 75 gallon tank. All fish are best in a larger rather than smaller tank, that goes without saying. What I am suggesting though is that one person's tyre track eel might be a 90 cm species, while another's is a 70 cm species. You need to identify which species you have first, and then act accordingly. If you really do have M. armatus, then the advice to get a big tank remains valid.

Cheers,

Neale

in most places i've bin told they need at least 75g tanks but a 55 would be ok because they dont need 2 much space like nmonks said.

 

[ringham]

I agree with CFC in that i highly doubt that a 55gal tank wil be anywhere near big enough. You might want to try a 90 gal if you want to keep to full adult-hood IMHO. I have never seen or even heard of a 3' tyre track eel but I know for sure that they defo grow to at least 2'. Either way i don't believe that a 55gal will be enough.

Fish is their primary diet (i.e. white bait / lance fish / prawns / feeder fish) although mine very happily ate frozen bloodworms.

I am 90% sure tht they will be fine with plants in terms of eating them. you may have a problem with them being uprooted though, as most eels like to burry under the substrate.

a semi-circle wooden tunle that can be found in most LFS will be fine (as well as the substrate for hiding places.

 

[nmonks]

Seriously, you think a 55 gallon tank is too small for M. favus? I've not yet seen this species above 50 cm in captivity. It has less mass than a common plec, so a tank big enough for a plec is surely big enough for M. favus? My specimen seemed fine in a 55 gallon tank, along with a bunch of rainbowfish and sailfin mollies.

On another tack, has anyone here actually ever seen genuine M. armatus in the UK?

Cheers,

Neale

I agree with CFC in that i highly doubt that a 55gal tank wil be anywhere near big enough. You might want to try a 90 gal if you want to keep to full adult-hood IMHO. I have never seen or even heard of a 3' tyre track eel but I know for sure that they defo grow to at least 2'. Either way i don't believe that a 55gal will be enough.

 

[CFC]

Paul MTS has a M.armatus and ive had one before, theyre quite commonly seen in Wildwoods too.

I personally wouldnt keep a fully grown common plec in a 55g either, 12" wide tanks are just no good for anything with a length above 8" or so, a better sized tank would be one with at least a 18" width as well as the 48" length.

 

[nmonks]

Interesting. When I had Mastacembelus armatus, or what I thought was M. armatus, looking at Fishbase and other resources, I'm 100% sure now that it was actually M. favus. Fishbase actually calls M. favus the "tire track eel", not M. armatus.

You're right about the width of a tank, of course. I wouldn't recommend a tank only 30 cm wide for any medium or large sized fish. Are there really 210 litre (55 US gallon) tanks only 30 cm wide? Those would seem rather pointless. Even the 180 litre tank next to me here is 40 cm wide, and I'd consider it to be adequate for a subadult M. favus, if not perhaps a fully grown adult.

Cheers,

Neale

Paul MTS has a M.armatus and ive had one before, theyre quite commonly seen in Wildwoods too.

 

[CFC]

The standard sized 55g tank seems to be around 48x12x21", at least this is the size most people with 55g tanks seems to have. I made the same error when saying that Sorubim lima can be kept in 55g tanks, i just presumed that they would be 18" wide but i was put right luckily. (of course we are using US gallons here, not UK)

I presume the tank you have which is 40cm wide is a Juwel? These seem to give wider tanks with less height which are much more usefull for keeping decent sized fish in than most manufactorers standard sizes.

 

[nmonks]

Indeed. The Juwel tanks, whatever their faults, do seem to come in logical sizes. I'll have to be more careful when speaking about tank sizes to our friends in The Colonies!!! You're right of course, width is often much more useful than depth.

Cheers,

Neale

I presume the tank you have which is 40cm wide is a Juwel? These seem to give wider tanks with less height which are much more usefull for keeping decent sized fish in than most manufactorers standard sizes.

 

[Paul_MTS]

I thought I would dig this old post up to say that my M. Flavus is couple inch off being fully grown!

He's a fantastic 26" and is touch under 3" in girth. Unfortunately I'm currently selling him as hes a bit agresive towards my cats.

I would no way let him be sold to anything less than a 6x2x2, he sits ina tube most of the day but does need space when he comes out.

Here's some pictures from august last year.

When hes gone, my M armatus will move back into the big tank and I'll take some pictures of him then.

The M. armatus is less agresive, slower growing, shyer and at equally matched size to the M. Flavus it doesn't have an as big girth.

 

[cane76]

shame you have to sell it
that is a lovely looking eel
great markings

 

[rixy]

have to agree with cane.your eel looks a beast lol.no spare tanks to put him in?