Can you keep eels

These creatures are mostly nocturnal and will scavenge for food after sunset. Burrowing in the sand is among their favorite activities. Avoiding sharp aquascape and gravel comes without saying. Fine sand is the best substrate option for the Kuhli loach. Larger gravel may promote injury. As opposed to other larger eels, in this case, the danger comes from tank mates eating your eel-like pet and not the other way around. A rule of thumb is that any well-mannered community fish will do here.

A Kuhli loach will mainly hang out at the bottom of the tank. Bottom-dwellers are not an issue as Kuhlis tend to get along with them. When feeding with pellets choose the sinking ones. Flakes meals should come from a quality brand. Unfortunately, this is not exactly true but there are enough other fish that do in fact eat aquarium snails. The reedfish, also known as ropefish, is a large, yet docile eel-like fish species.

They are friendly and curious, but will not bother your other fish. The Reedfish can actually live in both freshwater and brackish aquariums without any issues. Anyway, though in the wild they will reach a mature size of up to 3 feet 90 cm , in captivity Reedfish maximize their growth at no more than a feet and a half 45 cm. Nonetheless, these eel-like fish are very social and enjoy the company of one another. To stimulate their activity in the tank you should keep 2 to 3 at a time.

Speaking of which, they do go on a hunt for prey at night. The tankmates for your reedfish should not fit in its mouth by any means. Just no. This fish is not to be kept in captivity unless you are a top-level specialist. It grows up to 8 feet cm , but larger species have been recorded. Not to mention a solid filtration system as these fish can really make a mess. Obviously, this is not the scary part. These fish are worldwide famous for a reason.

The electricity they produce can reach up to volts and 1 ampere. A repetitive electrical shock of this proportion can stop the human heart, resulting in death for the unlucky owner. They will try to stun you with electricity during water changes. Whenever they grow larger all they will do is hang out on the bottom, motionless.

In the wild they will spend days like this, waiting for prey. Because of this, the electric eel would have to swim to the surface to breathe atmospheric air. They are so boring, in fact, that some fishkeepers install speakers that monitor the electrical charge in the water. Upon feeding, the eel produces massive charges and the speaker transmits them as sound.

The sound very much resembles a Geiger-Muller counter near a nuclear reactor. As a carnivorous predator, it will eat whitefish, trout, invertebrates, amphibians, and even small mammals. But enough speculations. The P. This fish is better off alone in a tank. Any tank of 65 gallons or above will do for an adult lungfish. An African lungfish will eat just about anything — white lancefish, prawns, mussels, worms, crustaceans, shrimp, frogs….

They will eat pellets as well, occasionally algae wafers can be offered too. Mature specimens can be fed whole live fish. As a carnivore, the lungfish will produce copious amounts of waste. Your filter should be top of the notch to keep the water at a healthy level. The water movement should be kept down to a minimum.

They do enjoy a sandy or better yet — muddy substrate so make sure it has at least 3 inches of that. The lungfish needs to be able to reach the water surface, as well. They breathe mostly atmospheric air, as they have a rather sophisticated lung-like organ. There are general similarities between all the eel fish, that need to be taken into consideration.

They will escape if your lid is not securely positioned. They are all surprisingly intelligent and unimaginably curious. All of them without exception have the physical ability to squeeze even through the tiniest opening. Secure all possible openings, be it with a plastic bag or some other barrier.

Others will get injured from the drop and possibly die without water. Some will be more temperature-sensitive than others, but overall try to stick to the recommended values. Most of them will require pristine water. The lack of scales leaves them prone to parasites and illnesses. Keep your water condition in check and perform the needed water changes.

Do not use medication that includes copper in an eel aquarium. They are all shy in their nature and are mostly nocturnal. Eels that are to be freshly consumed are chilled and put into bags that are filled with oxygen. There should also be enough water in the bag to keep their skin moist. They are then ready for transportation to market. Eels that are to be smoked are usually transported alive to the processors.

The young glass eels most commonly come from the wild, so they are more prone to carry parasites or diseases. It is important to quarantine the glass eels before introducing them to tanks with other fish. The change from salt to fresh water also helps to eliminate many parasites naturally. However, here are some parasites and diseases that need further attention. Symptoms include swellings on the body, gills or fins. There can also be white or brown fibrous patches on the skin, which can cause the eel to die when on the gill area.

Treatments include salt water solutions or the removal of the infected eel so the fungus does not spread to other eels. Symptoms of a parasitic infection include an increase in mucus, frayed fins, lethargy, respiratory distress and white patches on skin.

The eel may display changes in behaviour such as attempting to rub off parasites on the surface of the enclosure. Treatments for parasites include formaldehyde or salt solutions.

This is a bacterial disease that affects the fins. The symptoms are a rotting of the tail and fin areas. Treatment is with a salt solution. This bacterial disease causes symptoms of swelling, red spots and ulcerated lesions on skin. Treatment is with antibiotics. Treatment is through vaccination of young fingerlings, salt water solutions and also by decreasing the temperature of the water. During times of stress, such as when being handled, graded or if the water becomes poor quality, eels can also become more susceptible to infections.

Care must be taken to keep the stress levels to a minimum at all times in order to produce healthy fish. Prevention is always better than cure, so regular maintenance and cleaning of equipment are recommended, and also routine inspections of eel stock. Eel farming has long been a worldwide industry. However, there is now concern over its sustainability , due the decreasing amount of elvers found in the wild.

This is particularly significant for the European eel, whose numbers have dramatically declined in recent years. The reason for the decline is not yet known, although there are a few contributing factors. One reason could be from the over fishing of glass eels, meaning less eels reach maturity in rivers and streams, leading to the decline in the overall wild population. Eels remain and grow in fresh water for very long periods, males for about years and females years; occasionally females have been known to live in fresh water for 25 years or more, probably in land-locked locations from which they cannot escape.

Change the water every other day or so to keep it clean. Yes, keep them in a minnow bucket or a small tuppaware container with just there own slime no water. Put the container in a cooler with ice. The cold will put the eel in a hybernation state and they will keep alive. As soon as you lower the eel in the bay, he will come alive just like new.

Light would go out at PM and no one would be back in the store till the next day. So the ones that did not survive were probably close to 14 hours out of the water.

Dennis B. In terms of being reef safe, Garden Eels will not harm coral or invertebrates, but keep in mind their required habitat varies dramatically from a typical reef tank full of live rock. The easiest approach would be to keep them in a species-specific aquarium. Since Garden Eels are a timid animals, they can fall victim to larger carnivorous fish fairly easily. Big aquarium fish like tangs and angelfish may startle and cause them to retract into their burrows.

This makes it difficult for the eels to obtain enough food in an aquarium with larger, more aggressive fish. These larger fish would be best kept in another tank and only smaller, peaceful fish with your Garden Eels. Be the first to know about the sales, specials, new products, the latest BRSTV episodes and win free prizes!

The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Close Call Email. Shop By Categories. The real deal about eels: feeding, care and compatibility. Categories: Food , How To. Author: Guest Author. Moray Eels — Family Muraenidae The biggest misconception with Moray Eels is that they are all extremely aggressive and will completely clean out your aquarium of other inhabitants as well as pose a risk to your fingers during feeding time.

Moray Eels can become quite large. The largest can grow to over 12 feet long! Garden Eels — Family Congridae Garden Eels are among the most peculiar aquarium animals because of their unique behavior.

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