Adrienne Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Looking for assistance with the setting up of an aquarium for native eel. Does anyone keep these, I don't need step by step instructions, just some idea of what the set up should be and what sort of filter size and water flow is needed. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keriboi Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 i had some for about 3 months, well babies. tank got damaged by a soccer ball while i was away and they died Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 I did. Got out god knows how. Make sure there are NO holes or they become carpet eels and die. Fed blood worms(it was young), try to get them onto beef heart and other cheap but good foods(low fat) Mine liked sand rather than a small rock substrate. Make sure the sand isnt sharp. and remember they get huge(but take time) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 when they get too big eat them :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keriboi Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 are you allowed to collect and sell eels privately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 you can collect them but dont think you can sell them Live but not 100% sure on that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Hokitika Zoo has a huge display tank with them in, the eels are huge some 30cm thick at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 TM are you referring to Hokitika Waterworld (as it used to be called)? I don't think they have their big display tanks any more. Don't know what happened to the massive eels they had in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Haha, go to the auckland fish markets and just buy a live eel. They have hundreds of them. Cant remember the price per kg though. They are huge buggers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 TM are you referring to Hokitika Waterworld (as it used to be called)? I don't think they have their big display tanks any more. Don't know what happened to the massive eels they had in them. i think they had eels last year just not the sharks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 yeah and the huge buggers are probably female longfins that should be going to sea to breed at the end of their lives :evil: Because of commercial fishing there are hardly and females left. They live in the streams much longer and grow much bigger, so have a higher chance of getting caught. This means we have a SERIOUS population skew. Some sampling of rivers have come up with around 500 eels caught, *5* of which were female. That is NOT sustainable as a fishery or as a population. Chances are trout etc have bred prior to being of legal size. Eels breed once at the very end of their lives. Chances are they are already screwed as a species but we won't see it for a while yet because they live so long (a two-foot eel is probably 20 years old and young at that). Habitat loss is a big factor, but commercial eeling is mostly to blame. Back to keeping them, get a screw-top aquarium! Excellent escape artists, as HaNs said. Yes you can take them from the wild. You can not sell them unless you have a license to sell them and the buyer has a license to recieve them (the buyer then sells to retailers etc). As for setup - eels are lurkers. Lots of places to hide: Pilers of wood, rocks, vegetation, low light levels. They can become quite tame, but can also be very inactive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Am helping the bio teacher where we live create a decent sort of environment for a short finned eel. The last 3 he's had have died imo because theres not enough water flow and he doesn't clean the tank, filters etc out enough. What was your setup like Hans? My hubby is the budget holder so he's put about $800 aside for it. The department has a 4ft X 2 ft x 2ft tank I think. Theres also a power head but we'll need to get the rest of the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 have you seen my setup adoge? at hte museum. 8ft by 3 by 2 I think from memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Am helping the bio teacher where we live create a decent sort of environment for a short finned eel. The last 3 he's had have died imo because theres not enough water flow and he doesn't clean the tank, filters etc out enough. What was your setup like Hans? My hubby is the budget holder so he's put about $800 aside for it. The department has a 4ft X 2 ft x 2ft tank I think. Theres also a power head but we'll need to get the rest of the stuff. Small tank(was only young), no filter. Just 100% water changes from the tap. They are hardy. Low o2 levels are fine with them. Heat maybe a prob in a classroom... They live in swamps...they shouldnt need much water flow. Id clean mine out once it got dirty. Places to hide are a main factor IMO They get quite tame....i want one again.... How big where the ones he had and what food was used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Not kept one in a tank, but we have a 4ft 'Pet' one in the back garden, and about 3 smaller ones (2-3ft). I would suggest just a 'normal' setup as for any other LARGE fish, lots of water changes and ours seem to like bits of chicken and fish. It might be better to start with a little one, under 30cm. They grow slowly so a small one like that could live for decades in a decent sized tank. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 2 of the smaller ones you missed seeing when you were here i don't think their tank would fit in the classroom you'll have to visit again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Water flow shouldn't be an issue at all. Water quality probably was the killer. Filters shouldn't be cleaned out too thoroughly, but regular waterchanges are vital. If he is not going to bother with that, he shouldn't try again. Swamps should have good water quality generally, just because they don't look pristine to us doesn't mean they are unhealthy. (they also live in rivers, lakes etc) Check the tank, if it doesn't have a wide internal lip all the way around, get one put on as an absolute priority. Saves it turning into a carpet eel if someone leaves a lid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Wonder if a human put something in the tank. I know when i was at at school a science teacher had a gold fish, but someone decided to give it for HCL and it died. Id try and fix the lids on so noone messes with it and it cant get out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishfreak Posted October 30, 2008 Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 Not sure what happened to the hokitika eels . might have to ask about that . I heard they were huge but never got to see them myself. I wouldnt worry about then not getting a chance to breed stella , if they are like us they would of noticed them changing and released them. we have had to release several of the ones from S.E.A over the last 7yrs ive been here. its pretty easy to tell the heads change shape , blue rings around the eyes and they stop eating etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted November 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 I think the issue was more than likely the temperature in the lab. Given that the heating is on all winter and it gets pretty hot in summer. Don't know how chillers work but would we most probably need to get one. Second cause will be the water quality - I guess I'll be the one who has to keep making sure that the tanks cleaned out enough. He's very keen to have another go at keeping one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Adodge - I would still say that water quality was the big one. They can generally cope with slightly elevated temperatures (I am talking low 20s here) if the water quality is impeccable. But if the water quality is bad and the fish are already a bit stressed or lowered immune systems, then the temperature becomes a bigger issue. If you can't convince this guy that weekly 30-40% water changes are vital, then tell him not to bother as it will only fail yet again and kill more critters. What do you mean by 'cleaning the tanks out enough'? Sounds kinda drastic. Too much thorough cleaning can keep a tank on the brink of being uncycled just as too little cleaning can quickly turn it into a cesspit... Chillers are around $1000 each, depending on size. Try using a small desk fan aimed at the surface of the water and on 24/7. Can work well on tanks with a large surface area like that. Just remember to make some kind of escape-proof mesh lid to allow air in (and preferably another for out) Fishfreak: Good to hear that you are conscientious about returning those eels! Sadly most of the large eels I have seen in captivity have had that blue ring around the eyes (though it alone is not a definite indicator, I just don't know the head-shape well-enough). I was rather disappointed recently when spotlighting with some guys from... A Public Aquarium... got all excited about this enormous longfin we saw and they wanted to come back and get it for their already very-well-stocked eel display. How about leaving her where she is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted November 13, 2008 Report Share Posted November 13, 2008 A relative.. somehow... Is/was an eeler, we went to visit him once when he was doing his thing, Buller river (from memory), and there was a maximum size he could catch and keep, really cool to watch.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annae Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Hi I'm new here. Don't know about keeping eels in a tank but can't you put them in a pond? I didn't read the whole thread so maybe this has been discussed already. I feed some eels locally, there is a creek over the hill for me with a pool where a really big one lives. I started out taking a can of tuna and putting holes in it so the oil would leak out and head downstream then feeding with whatever I have. The fish lets eels downstream know you are there and on the busiest day we had about 6 eels in the pool. Now days they just come when I put the food in but the big mama eel bullies the ones that are too small so I go and feed downstream as well. I have found that eels love KFC and corned beef. Once I tried some veges but they prefer meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Problem with a pond is that if the eel decides it doesn't like it's new home it will just wait for a rainy night and leave. They can travel hundreds of meters overland and once they reach a drain they will quickly be back in the river. The large ones that people do have in ponds are only staying there because they like it there. (free food) Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 Native eels are brilliant pets, caught mine in a river and within a week it was completely tame, have had it inside with the frog for over a year, can hand feed it but tank has moonlighting so prefer to watch it chase down live guppies at night. its strange in that its vision during the day is crap and fish can swim straight past its nose, he will strike at it but miss, night time is a whole different ball game he's lightning fast and deadly accurate, he will chase fish back and forth at speed, can hear him snapping at them on the surface, fish jumping out of the way..its awesome to watch.. Had a larger eel with him recently but let it go after a week because they didn't get on, when larger eel was in tank I would often find smaller eel sleeping/lying on dry land or at the top of the waterfall for hours on end, so don't recommend keeping different size eels together in a small area.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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