fire eel's...

[unleashed]

I recently bought a fire eel for my freshwater aquarium. Its not very big right now, maybe just over 5 or 6 inches, but Im concerned about him. I did research on it after I bought it (it was the last one at the store so I couldnt help it), and apparently they like to bury themselves in sand. I have just regular gravel...should I be concerned about that?

Also, I am aware they eat frozen bloodworms and other live food, but the store owner told me they will eat sinking tablet food (made for plecos), so I purchased those instead. So far I have seen him swim right over them and not even notice the food. Maybe they only eat at night? since they are nocturnal...? Im not sure tho...can anyone help me out with this?

 

[hc8719]

they need a high protein diet, bloodworms and frozen food are a must, no freeze dried, and i would only use the pellets or wafers sometimes, they should feed heavily on frozen though

 

[FreddytheFish]

How big of a tank is he in?

I'd feed him frozen or freeze-dried food, along with live food and shrimp pellets (not sure why your LFS guy said they wouldn' work...). Feed him right before you turn off the tank lights since they are nocturnal.

Make sure he has plenty of hiding spots. What are the other fish in the tank?

Freddy

 

[kody1192]

i would suggest blackworms over bloodworms mine loves them..you can order them off of www.aquaticfoods.com and as for the sand thing...forget about it i got sand in my 235g and my fire eel prefers the back of my driftwood over the sand very kool fish but they do get pretty big so as long as you got a 55g-75g with some good hiding space with a good diet of live foods they it should do great goodluck with it

 

[Hurley]

Spiney eels do like to bury themselves in the substrate. All of mine have at some point or another but regular gravel, so long as it doesn't have any sharp edges, should be fine. While he is small black and blood worms will be fine and as he gets bigger you will need to switch to earth worms and shrimp. Frozen food works fine as well. He is not going to eat the bottom waffers you bought. Mine have always eaten at any time of the day but if you are having trouble getting him to eat try feeding him at night, like freddy said.

He is going to grow up to three feet long though so a bigger tank is going to be a definate must in the future.

 

[unleashed]

I have a 55g tank with...
-the fire eel
-1 large pleco
-4 convicts (2 large, 2 small)
-1 albino algea eater (not sure the exact name)
-1 gourami

So theres plenty of space and many hiding spots, and in that respect, he should be ok aslong as burrowing themselves is not a necessity for them to have a low stress level.

Also, Im even more worried about the eel now because it seems to have ich developing on it. I read through the forums and now starting "trying" to heal him by adding salt and raising the temp...and man does it take a lot of salt for a 55g tank! But if it helps get rid of ich, ill do anything I can.

To make him (fire eel) stronger I will also go buy frozen bloodworms and feed the shrimp pellets on occasion. I also have a 10g tank with a bunch of feeder guppies and just put 1 small one in today. I cant find it anymore so maybe he at it? But im not sure...

Hopefully it starts getting healthier, I dont wanna lose the little guy! I'll keep you posted on how things turn out. Any advice is always appreciated...

Thanks for the responses so far everyone.

 

[Ghost_knife]

pleco-commom gets over 20 inches. and will fast outgrow a 55G. just my input. I think the eel will outgrow the tank too

 

[FreddytheFish]

GK is right, the pleco will outgrow your tank.

55 is bare minimum for a fire eel, but as long as you keep stocking levels down is should be OK.

 

[Cathy G]

If you have a female fire eel, it will be well over 3 feet long, and get very girthy- unless you are going to sell to someone, you will need a 125g in a few years.

Ours has never eaten anything but clumps of thawed bloodworms and live red and earth worms. They can eat like pigs, but then go days without eating at all.

They come out the most at night, and like to explore the whole tank. Make sure it is totally covered, they will get out if they find a open spot!

They will also eat anything little fish which can fit is their mouth, so be careful as the grow. They are not agressive, can be trained to eat out of your hand and are very very cool fish.

Betcha you will love him/her! Oh, salt and heat works great. Bump temps up to 86 slowly, add 2 teasp. salt per gallon slowly. (Like 1 teasp the first day, and the second teaspoon the 2 day.) Very very important however is adding extra oxygen, get airstones going in there. (Had to treat our tank with the fire eel for ich, held those temps and salt for 3 weeks, added 2 extra airstones, there were no fatalities, and no stress...)

Good Luck,
Cathy

 

[unleashed]

Thanks Cathy, i'll need it! Never delt with ich before until now. I would think the tank will still receive enough oxygen with the powerhead and the airpump already in place. That should be good enough right?

Ghost_knife, ya I guess you have a point. The pleco I have is a monster and prob still growing, but I'll just live with that for now...But I hope your right about the fire eel FreddytheFish, Ill try to keep my stock low. I wonder how you tell the difference between male and female? Is a female just more plump?