hi guys managed to catch a baby eel last night about 3 inches long and about 1-2 mill thick any way i was wondering if they can survive in a tropical tank or will i need to set up a tank of his own cheers

when was the last time u saw a stream that was 25 plus degrees?

I never kept one, but according to the literature, they crawl out of the tank very easily. So, the cover should be rather tight. Also, for success, people recommend to put them first in the water they were taken from (I suppose, with a similar temperature). Apparently, they have a very keen sense of smell, and freak out if the smell is suddenly different. When they freak out, they produce a lot of slime, which fouls the water. I'm not sure if they can be acclimated to higher temperatures eventually.

It it survives, it should be possible to train it to eat from your hands. Cool fish.

You should have a big tank and replicate it's natural environment as much as possible if you're going to keep it

I had one years ago. They prefer cold water. Take my advice and get a very tight fitting lid as I found "Slimy" on the floor a few times, they are quite intelligent and can quickly become friendly and eat out of your hands. I used to fed mine strips of beef and mutton. I don't recommend any tanks mates either but a few feeder fish will keep him enviromentally entertained! :lol:

You should have a big tank and replicate it's natural environment as much as possible if you're going to keep it

So go for that rank muddy road side ditch look, lol. But joking aside the biggest healthiest eel's I've even seen was watching a farmer clear out his drainage ditches, the water prob sat at 25-30 degrees most of summer and was full cow muck and slime.

How about either getting a tall tank and/or running the water level at half full? This would help to stop it from being able to get out and let you glow plants out of the water so you wont have as many problems balancing low light for the eel and enough light so you can grow decent plants.

NZ Eels spend part of their life in Cold/Temperate Freshwater in NZ & part of their spawning migration involves time in Tropical Saltwater.

Visit:

www.niwascience.co.nz/ncfa/aquaspecies/eel

I would imagine that if you acclimatised them sensibly they would adapt to alot of conditions.

How about either getting a tall tank and/or running the water level at half full? This would help to stop it from being able to get out and let you glow plants out of the water so you wont have as many problems balancing low light for the eel and enough light so you can grow decent plants.

nice idea there suphew sound ideal for an archer fish too

I put a small eel in a tropical tank once but I took it out a few days later after i noticed the other fishes fins had bites taken out of them.

According to the niwa site warmer water makes eels eat more and grow faster, I doubt it harms the eel but it may make them more aggressive.

I have had a Long fin eel in one of our tanks all year so far. Hubby went fishing with a friend and all they came back with was something to stick in a tank :roll:

Long fin eels are black charcoal colour and short fin eels are a green colour. what sort have you got?

Our eel is a bit bigger than yours, he is about a foot long. I just popped him in one of our empty tanks at the time with the water he arrived with, topped his tank up with tap water and he has been fine all year. I keep the water level about 3 inches below the top of the tank and have good lids.

We give him a water change just like all our other fish, feed him frozen shrimp and the odd other stuff (live fish, Freeze dried tubifex, pellet foods, white worms)

I keep the eel by himself. He has a big mouth and a bigger appeitite.

His tank is rather bare, Sand on the bottom, couple of rocks and a small vallsenaria (sp??) plantand indian fern and duck weed. And a crusty old sponge canister filter which i really should clean out :oops:

NO Heater. but he is inside the house so i think he has sat at room temperature all winter.

I think the eel is great fun but one thing i never thought of when i put our one in a tank was his long term future. He is going to grow and need a bigger tank, Eels get big. Long fin eels get bigger than short fin eels. They can also live a long time. I have spent a bit of time thinking about what our eels future will be.

Bares a thought.

I had one when I was a kid, he got to about 2 feet before I decided his 4 foot tank was to small, so I just put him back in the stream he came from.