Fire Eal ? ? :)

[meee]

i seen a fire eal at the shop and i was wondering what they are like for insdans are they shy are they a good communaty fish all what ever u can think of that may be usefull ty

 

[simonas]

they are brilliant fish but not one you could describe as community fish

they growto about 3ft are predators and would eat any small fish that wouldfit in its mouth

if you have the space for one they are great if not then not for you

 

[meee]

would a fully grow barb mayby fit in his mouth ?

 

[simonas]

vert easily once bigger

 

[NativeKeeper]

fire eels come from asia, usually a flat black color with red stripes, running length wise of its body. A pH level from acidic (6.5) to just above neutral (7.4) is fine.

Use a fine-grained aquarium gravel, several pieces of driftwood would be nice,do not use any abrasive materials as substrate, because Fire eels are burrowing fish, The scraping of the eels belly or fins can lead to bacterial or fungal infections.

Keep your temps in the lower 80s as they prefer warmer waters to be very active, if your temps are cool they will simply hide most of the time.

They prefer live foods such as bloodworms, and brine, but yours may hve already been acclimated to frozen, which will make it much easier for you.

Good luck as these are very interesting animals,

 

[Plecostomos Fan]

The fire eel is an excellent comunity fish, i have one about 8 inches, can be hand fed on freeze dried tubifex, or frozen bloodworm, place pipes or tubes in the tank, this will usualy stop them having to burrow in the gravel.

 

[catfishblues]

these fish will eat anything that will fit in its mouth. i've lost full grown mollies to a tiretrack eel( the same thing as a fire eel but brown and about half as long) very interesting fish and seem to be happy when someone comes by the aquarium almost like a dog.

 

[simonas]

they are big fish with big appetities and need more than bloodworm

I sued to feed mine lots of prawns and lancefish but due to the Thiamanese? you need to get them on to something safer like tilapia or something but certainly they need bulkier food than bllodwrom

 

[Plecostomos Fan]

Are we talking about the same fish ie freshwater fire eel? i keep one and it has a small mouth and feeds mainly on bloodworm, it is very friendly and does not bother the other fish, having said that my smallest fish is about 3ins.

 

[simonas]

Are we talking about the same fish ie freshwater fire eel? i keep one and it has a small mouth and feeds mainly on bloodworm, it is very friendly and does not bother the other fish, having said that my smallest fish is about 3ins.

I guaranteee you it wont have a small mouth . My old 20 inch fire eel used to yawn every now and again and you would see the size of the mouth. They extend to a large mouth and as a predator it will munch if hungry fish that will fit into . In my opinion bloodwrom is not enough to feeda fire eel. They love earth worms!!

 

[Plecostomos Fan]

20ins wow, then i see mine is still rather small what other food can you recommend?