keeping shortfin eel

[oneeyedfrog]

DD 2 ( 7 yrs) has been down in the dry creek bed rescuing eels from the last bit of mud and putting them in the pond around the old well. That's the last body of water left with this drought -even the bore has dried up!

She found quite afew dead ones which sparked this rather messy rescue!

She wants to keep a couple of little ones in a tank for a few days to observe them.

So we want to know what they would like in the tank and what to feed them. Also she wants to know how to sex them.

Thanks

[N1CK]

they would appreciate a sand/finer substrate base, lots of hiding places and a preferably not too bright light/none at all.

food would be things like bugs and worms

I'm not to sure if it will be possible to sex them, although eventually the females do get quite bigger than the males

depending on how long they will be in there, they should be fine with no filter/water changes for a few days. But anything longer and you will need waterchanges/ and a small filter

HTH

[HaNs]

Messy eaters, escape artists also.

[maoripho3nix]

escape artists also.

Definatley need a lid that will stay closed, otherwise you may end up with one on the floor exploring at night. :lol:

They like dark shaded areas and things to hide in/under. Off cuts of soft meat, or liver/kidney as food, but cut and wash first otherwise it will get messy in the tank. We used rotten meat to catch them for food :oops: but I wouldnt use that to feed them.

Good luck with rescuing the lil falas

[HaNs]

Mine escaped with a lid, must have squeezed out.

[Stella]

Really really serious lids.

I mean TAPE IT DOWN.

They are amazing escape artists.

As the others have said: fine gravel, lots of cover and hiding places. She probably won't see them moving unless she keeps them long enough for them to become accustomed to her.

I always found it hard to get them feeding. If she wants to keep them for only a few days I wouldn't bother trying. Other than that, live invertebrates are good. Meat is also good but spoils and fouls the water much faster.

Even if only keeping them for a few days, I would recommend doing partial waterchanges.

Nope, not a hope of sexing them.

She can tell the species though.

Longfin: when the body is bent tightly, the skin on the inside of the bend is loose and folds into obvious wrinkles

Shortfin: when bent the skin does not wrinkle so much, it is more attached to the muscle underneath.

(this sounds vague until you have seen one of each!)

HUGE "GOOD ON HER" for rescuing them!!!! Completely awesome :bounce:

Now have a read about and sign the Forest & Bird petition to save the longfin eel:

http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/saving- ... e-longfins

[maoripho3nix]

HUGE "GOOD ON HER" for rescuing them!!!! Completely awesome :bounce:

Now have a read about and sign the Forest & Bird petition to save the longfin eel:

http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/saving- ... e-longfins

This is part reason why I have stopped catching them for food, I think if the word got out more and locals (and iwi) where involved a lot more could be done.

River reserves? If i remember rightly there is a Marine reserve up coromandel somewhere??? Apparently one of the few in the world, and the marine life is thriving there. Funny enough I only know this from watching an overseas doco about global changes in the oceans.

Read and signed Stella :bounce:

[oneeyedfrog]

oops better go tape down the lid then. I put some cut hose pipe along the edge of the tank to fill the 6mm gap but methinks it may not be enough.

Thanks for all the info. Will get everyone to sign the petition. I didn't realise that the shortfin were in trouble too.

One was hardly moving when she got it. So not sure if it will survive. One is about 12 cm and the other 17cm.

She put quite afew in the pond the other day and is now concerned how many more are out there slowly dying.

How long can they live for in the mud? I guess not only do they dry out but starve too.

The top 30cm or so has dried out and cracked and she has been lifting the "blocks" out to find them in the mud underneath.

I let her keep these two for a couple of days so she could ID them and learn more about them. They look like shortfin. She's gone to bed with a blue light so she can check them out to see if they move about at night.:lol:

Once the cat brought one in one rainy night. We put it in a bucket in the laundry sink so we could let it go in the morning.

In the morning it was gone! We were sure it was too big to fit down the plug hole but I took the trap off to check and there it was. Took it down the creek and off it swam. Pretty tough.

[Adrienne]

Make sure the water temperature stays low, they do not like it warm (my personal experience). The one we were keeping did well at 18 degrees.