Anyone else have Fire Eels?

[wut?]

Hi,
I'm new here, I have oscars and a fire eel tank.

I was just wondering if anyone else on the forum had them.
Mine are 12" long.
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj320/Izzydawg/IMG_1276.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj320/Izzydawg/IMG_1298.jpg

Sorry for the blurry pics:rolleyes:

If you have one, let's see pics:cool:

[Melody]

:Welcome: Thanks for sharing them with us. Eels are a bit too 'snakey' for me, but I said the same thing about Weather Loaches and ended up liking those so I'd probably get used to them.

Are they easy to care for? They must require a large tank I suppose. What do you feed them?

Oscars are an awesome fish - true pets. If they didn't require so much space, I'd definitly have to own them.

[wut?]

Thanks for the welcome:smile:

I've been feeding them a mix of bloodworms, earthworms and shrimp.
They won't take pellets.
I'm not much of a snake person either, but the face on these guys is like a weiner dog, and the tip is flexible like the tip of an elephant trunk, it wiggles around to search for food in the gravel.
These guys come to the top of the tank to beg for food when you enter the room like my oscars do.
So far they seem to be very hardy. They are sensitive to some medications like loaches are.
I never seen these guys til the day we brought one home, then my husband brought me another one as a surprise a few days later.
They do get very big though, up to the 3' mark! Currently they are in a 55 gallon tank.
They will have to be upgraded soon, but they aren't fast growers like oscars are.
I have read that they become agressive to their own kind shortly after getting to the 1' mark. I've notice only slight agression so far.
They need either sand substrate, or smooth gravel so they don't injure themselves, because they like to bury themselves under the gravel, or decorations.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj320/Izzydawg/IMG_1305.jpg

I love my oscars as well.. they are like water puppies or something.:cool:

[Melody]

Thanks for the info! I hadn't noticed the face until you pointed that out and it is certainly not snake-ish.

THREE FEET!!!! Where are you going to put those two 250G tanks anyways? lol I hope the aggression holds off for you in the meantime.

Can they have tankmates or are they better suited for a species tank?

You can also feed seafood from the deli as long as it's well rinsed in case of preservatives. With a fish that gets so big, you may have to look for larger foods soon or feed a pound of worms/day.:err:

[wut?]

LOL that's funny:smile:

Well, they are quite peaceful, they get along with others. passive fish that won't fit in their mouth get along great. I haven't fed mine live, but I have read that they will.

If agression issues start, I may have to find a home for one of them.
I have been buying frozin shrimp from the grocery store. Prawns weren't really a big hit with them, but they do eat it.
Well, funny you mention the big tanks...we are planning on adding on to the house prob not next year, but the year after. We are wanting to build a 2000 gallon tank into the living room.
We just finished building our home by ourselves, and have thought of this addition in advance. But everything always comes down to money.
My plan was to grow the eel(s) to the size that the oscars won't think they're a tasty snack, and hopefully have them all together in the big tank.

We have been doing a lot of researching on building large cement aquariums, and done a lot of searching for products...it's going to be so much fun!
Time to start saving!
I'm hoping to get a chance to do the foundation work this comming building season.

[Melody]

Now that's quite a project! I hope you'll share it with us in the DIY section. You must be very excited. So your husband is also into fish then? Either that or he loves you to a point of obsession :laugh: .

I'll never forget being in a forum many moons ago where someone asked about a species of 'tank buster' fish. The forum went wild - they lectured, they chastised, they went on and on about cruelty. Nobody knew what the person's plans were for housing the fish, he had simply asked if anyone had done it. I tried to intervene with I thought was a pretty good point in that regard...lol...but they were too busy being self-righteous. Turns out, the man's Father had a farm-size pond in the Orient somewhere and the guy was thinking of doing something similar indoors. He could easily house the fish and they'd be in premium conditions. He didn't post again after that. The only thing that accomplishes is people are afraid to ask questions and if they're afraid to ask questions, they go ahead and get fish they can't care for because nobody will help them.

Everytime I read a thread about a fish that gets large, I remember that thread and vow to never let it happen here. It certainly sounds like yours will live well - lucky fish!

[Pamelajo]

Welcome to CAC!!! Sounds like you will be very busy. Can wait to see the pics once you get started.

[wut?]

Thanks.
Yes my hubby likes fish, and yes, he spoils me, lol. He loves the oscars and the eels have really grown on him too.
I'd like to add some big more mellow type of sa/ca cichlids in it. I think that would make a nice mix in a tank that size.

[Namor]

:Welcome:Wut?

Those eels are fantastic looking creatures!:yes:

[CACAdmin]

Hi and :Welcome: Such interesting creatures. I've never heard of them before.

What an wonderful project to undertake. :cool:No wonder you are excited. We'd love it if you would be willing to share the ongoing planning and progress with us. Then we too can share in your excitement. :smile:

[wut?]

For sure, I've still got a lot planning to do.:Smile: