Peacock Spiny Eel

[_newbie_]

hi everyone. sometime in the future i would like to own striped peacocks. I want to get it right so I'm researching as much as possible on the net (my LFS isnt too clued up). I want to base the whole tank around the eel/s. So I have a bunch of questions to ask all of you as you have had hands on experience.

what size tanks do you have?
what do you think is the best sand for spiny eels?
what is the smallest common spiny eel?
are they better off alone or with others of their species?

I have room for a 72g tank at the absolute most, is this big enough?
Can anyone suggest a nice fine sand?
How deep should the sand be?
What wattage & type of lights should I use?
How many is a good number for striped peacocks?
Are there any good companions?

More questions to come as I think of them. All tips and advice welcome, I'm here to learn.

 

[ringham]

if you get a small striped peacock eel then I would say that 1 would be very comfortable in a 125 lire tank.

small eels do require sand but so lond as the sand doesn't contain calcium and at your LFS as for sand for a fresh water aquarium. No special type of sand other than fresh water compliant sand in neccessary.

smallest commons spiney is probs the zebra spineyor basicly the zigzag spiney (around 12cm tops IME)

IME spiney eel can very happily live on their own (in fact on their own the don't have to compete for terratory)

A 72 UKgal tank is more than enough for 1 stiped peacock, in fact you could probs have two or three.

around 1 inch is about perfect for sand. When eels aren't particularly big then the can easily burrow under 1inch of sand.

Standard lights that are available at every aquatic store ar fine for lighting. Baring in mind that eel are nocturnal anyway.

tyre track eels eat pretty much EVERYTHING in your tank, so so long as you keep away from tyre track eels then anything that isnt microscopic can be kept with them.

 

[Dragonscales]

IME spiney eel can very happily live on their own (in fact on their own the don't have to compete for terratory)

Personally I think this depends largely on the type of spiney eel you have. While this certainly holds true for the larger species such as fire eels, etc, I disagree with smaller species such as peacocks. I personally would never keep these in groups smaller than about 3 - I have 5 in one tank together at present with no problem what-so-ever - as they can be highly sociable fish and tend to have less problems when kept in groups in terms of skittishness and (for want of a better word) "pineing". Whenever I have kept peacocks alone they always tended to be more sickly and seemed alot more reserved in their behaviour as well as feeding compared to ones kept in groups, which is the sole reason I no longer keep them alone.

I have never observed overly aggressive, territorial behaviour with peacocks either in all the individuals I've kept over the years (and I always have a handful mooching about the joint) either. My eels often spend their time submerged mere millimeters/centimeters away from each other as well as often touching without the slightest problem. When free swimming there is sometimes alot of chasing going on between some individuals but this never culminates into an injury nor into stress related behaviour or bullying associated problems. I suspect alot of this is nothing more than mere frollicking between said individuals as not 2 minutes later the same eels are sitting on the bottom or lazily swimming in the current together and not showing the slightest bit of tension/agression/submissive behaviour/interest in each other.

 

[ringham]

dragonscales, you are right that smaller species can be fine when kept in groups (i guess tht i should have been more specific etc.).

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i have to also point out that everything i've ever read has been very explicit: no tankmates under 2" for the smaller eels and no tankmates under 3" for medium-large eels. giant eels such as tire-track shouldn't have tankmates under 5-6"

 

[ringham]

pica, I HAVE to agree about the tyre track eels, they are very good at eating your fish.