Spiny Eels?
- Thread starter dougie
- Start date
there are an awful lot of "spiny eels". two subfamilies, four genera, and sixty seven species of mastacembelids. though most spiny eels stay under a foot, many of the popular species can attain three feet, even in captivity. thus, many of them are way too much fish for a 29 gallon tank.
my recommendation is to accurately determine what species of "spiny eel" you want to buy and find out about it BEFORE you actually buy it.
i have no personal experience with any of the eel species but would be hesitant to have one in a tank already inhabited by a red tail shark and bristlenose pleco. all bottom dwellers.
my recommendation is to accurately determine what species of "spiny eel" you want to buy and find out about it BEFORE you actually buy it.
i have no personal experience with any of the eel species but would be hesitant to have one in a tank already inhabited by a red tail shark and bristlenose pleco. all bottom dwellers.
a 29 gallon aquarium is to small for a full grown eel of most species, if u go with an eel get a zigzag eel (Mastacembelus circumcinctus) do NOT mistake it for a tiretrack eel (mastacembelus armatus) because tire track eels get 3 feet.
A peacock eel probably wont get too hefty for that tank, provided its wide enough for when the eel reaches its max size, I have a peacock in the same tank with my brown knife and they are getting along great. I cant say whether the eel will get along with the shark though
As far as the uprooting and such you are concerned about...it depends on the substrate and more importantly on the individual eel!!! I have a tire-track in my moderately planted tank with a sand substrate, and he prefers to hang out in between rocks and tangled up in the leaves than digging in the sand. They are GREAT fish with a lot of "personality." My eel will only eat though out of my hand (which is good and bad) unless I throw in some ghost shrimp, which he promptly wolfs down! Oh, and make sure you have a well-secured cover...and if it is ever missing in the tank, check the HOB filters for it to be chilling in.
None of my eels uproot plants, i have six spiney eels, of five different types.
My peacock eel is small and active and tbh, couldnt uproot a plant if he tried.
If an eel is forever dashing into the substrate then your tank is too bright and he is acting scared. Whilst spiney eels are substrate burrowers, this is an emergency live saving behaviour, not one a happy eel in a suitable environment should be exhibiting on a daily basis.
I wouldnt be happy putting a delicate eel into a tank with that shark though.... although two of my eels share with an albino red finned shark, hes less aggressive.
Be sure of your eel also.... two types are commonly called peacock eels.
They are, Mastacembelus Siamensis (true peacock eel) which shouldnt get much past 10"
and
Mastacembelus Aral (one stripe spiney eel, also called peacock eel), which will get to around 2ft and is too big for your tank.
Em
My peacock eel is small and active and tbh, couldnt uproot a plant if he tried.
If an eel is forever dashing into the substrate then your tank is too bright and he is acting scared. Whilst spiney eels are substrate burrowers, this is an emergency live saving behaviour, not one a happy eel in a suitable environment should be exhibiting on a daily basis.
I wouldnt be happy putting a delicate eel into a tank with that shark though.... although two of my eels share with an albino red finned shark, hes less aggressive.
Be sure of your eel also.... two types are commonly called peacock eels.
They are, Mastacembelus Siamensis (true peacock eel) which shouldnt get much past 10"
and
Mastacembelus Aral (one stripe spiney eel, also called peacock eel), which will get to around 2ft and is too big for your tank.
Em
What do you feed your eel and how often? We have a young peacock eel who is only about 3-4 inches right now. Live worms are out, not an option in this house, it has to be frozen/flake or freeze dried. We gave one frozen cube of blood worms last night. What other things should we be feeding and how often?
the whole cube of blood worms for one feeding is too much for one eel of that size. i like my two eels but they are never seen. i feed them at night when lights are out because it's the only time they come out. when they were in the smaller tank they were always out, but now that they are in the bigger tank they hide in the sand most of the time, but still don't uproot my plants. also they are afraid of me the most. mine are true peacock eels of about 8" long. mine are not fun at all