Captain Conkout Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Hello all - just been browsing old threads about native eels fish and crays but perhaps you have some more up to date advice or experiences.? I have just aquired a rather sad looking shortfin (I believe) eel. He is estimated >10 years old but around 60-70cm. His fins appear a little sad/rotted. I have him in a holding tank until his tank gets delivered Monday in which I have added a little melafix, a little tonic (white spot fin rot etc) so hopefully he will be a little cleaner when he goes to his new home once set up. We went to the beach today and got a really nice log, hard and dark - a bit burnt in a spot so I'm trying to scour through all the loose burnt wood with a steel brush. It's got a great hole for him/her to hide in. Although I will have to chop it in half to fit it into the tank. I guess water temp is around 8 atm would they prefer a bit warmer/using a thermo on lowest setting..? I am interested in other fish that may accompany an eel of this size. He seems very dormant atm and clumsy. This may be related to his condition having been in an uncleaned tank for about 2 years... but then I am used to my very active tropical spiny that is more like a mouse or rat - constantly watching and begging. Thsi guy seems like a very clumsy lurker - more like an axolotl.. Would native crays be a threat to an eel at all? I was thinking of catching a few larger fish and maybe having one cray in there, I just thought they might nip. Is there a size of fish that would be safe or are the crays just too nasty to be housed with anything..? I'm in Wellington, years ago we laid an eel trap overnight in the Ngaio stream the next morning we had what appeared to be a small brown trout - aprox 16cm long waiting to be let out. This would be where I would have a look first for a fishy tank mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 clean cool water will do the eel the world of good when well they will eat anything that will fit in their mouth and things that won't either crays are a natural food for them small brown fish was probably was probably one of the gallaxiads, inanga, kokopu etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Conkout Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Ahh so the rule of if it doesnt fit in their mouth it's safe doesn't count for eel vs cray? Hmm, maybe it will be a messy one-off meal for mr.eel. I've been looking for any natives but haven't found anything that looked like what i saw (or what I remember - from almost 20 years ago!) it was a very vertical x-section like a trout or rainbow (to use a tropical example) and it wasn't a bottom dweller it may have even been 20cm and was quite finny. It was just swimming in place waiting and when released just cruised off. I'm going to whip up a few new traps and see what turns up... maybe we'll see it again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 it may need a bigger trap after 20 years of growing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 I set a trap that was a converted office wastepaper basket. It caught an eel about 50cm long, three banded kokopu measuring 25, 25 and 20cm long each (all guestimates). And two crayfish claws..... I have reason to suspect there was a crayfish between them at one point... but nothing else remained.... Native eels are usually rather sluggish and inclined to sit there and do nothing for hours on end. I know they are huge fans of shellfish meat, but I don't have much experience with feeding eels. Don't bother with a heater. Like all our native fish they are truly COLD water fish, preferably under 18 degrees. (I hate cleaning my tanks in winter!) Not much of a lower limit, but preferably not actually frozen solid. Probably not a lot you could keep with him safely. They are pretty much the top of the food chain. Actually I am now quite intrigued as to *how* an eel would eat a crayfish, which is really a tank armed to the teeth... Do they attack from behind? Break off the nippers first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 big eels just power right in and crunch the armour smaller eels take out the claws first, depends how hungry they are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzoom1 Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 You can keep Short-finned eels right? What size tank would they be able to be kept in if they were young, only about 15-25cm long? I heard they live for a long time so it would take a while to grow I'm guessing. Would a 15-25cm one be able to live in a 2ft tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Yes it is legal to keep them. It is also legal to kill and eat them.... A very interesting article has just been printed in the NZ Herald about this and the SERIOUS situation our eels are in. Mike Joy is a pretty major name in the freshwater ecology feild, and Amber is one of his postgrad students. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/stor ... d=10519200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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