tyre track eels

[jmaster]

hi all

would my eels disturb my BN plecs from breeding??

thanx
jmaster

 

[rixy]

my eels only about 12".he's still a baby.

 

[jmaster]

thats kl

do u no if my eel would disturb my BNs breeing if i moved him in there tank??

thanx
jmaster

 

[mellowserra]

He probably won't disturb them, but I am sure he would eat all the fry!

 

[rixy]

who can tell if he will eat all the fry.mine lived with small neons for a year and never ate one!!

 

[jmaster]

i was plannin at one point to move my neons into his tank but im worryed if he does eat them

he lives with black widow tetra an doesnt eat them but then they are a lil bigger than neons

jmaster

 

[mellowserra]

who can tell if he will eat all the fry.mine lived with small neons for a year and never ate one!!

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You may be very lucky, rixy, and have a fire eel that doesn't think of small fish as food.

Also, if the tank is heavily planted, fry may have a chance. Tyre tracks are the most predatory of the spiney eels, hence the reason why most people who have them warn that they will try to eat anything that fits in their mouth.

Besides, what fish doesn't like to eat fry?? You can always take your chances .

 

[Francis]

Hi,

As were talking about tyre track eels i was wondering if you could help me; My tyre track eel lives in a 3x1x1.2 ft tank and is 6 inches I have a 5x2x2 ft 125 gal tank on standby at what size should i move him?

Also he was living with a Bircher but that died will angel fish live with my spiney eel?.

Thanks For your time,
Francis.

 

[mellowserra]

With as small as he is now, he will probably be OK for a while, but if you are able to put him in a bigger tank the more so better for the eel. Oh, and good luck catching him , mine wouldn't even fall for the clear soda bottle trick which I tried for weeks

As for the angels, I would say that depends on how big they are, and if your tyre track prefers to take live food. With the eel's juvenile size he should be getting fed every day, and may put on about an inch a month given the proper conditions. Angels can get large, but unless they are pretty well grown they have a pretty skinny profile, which would make them an easy target for the eel to predate upon.

From what I have read and seen, most tyre track eels are very predatory and nearly impossible to wean off of live foods. Mine is a very adept predator, I have lost fish I never would have dreamed he would try to take due to their size. When he strikes, he grabs fish over directly over their gill plates and then swallows them in one bit. If he takes a fish (certainly not intended for him to eat!) that is too large, he just kills it, but so far has never made a repeat kill of the same species. Albeit he is very peaceful, but his eyes can be bigger than his mouth!

 

[Francis]

Thats quite scary i couldn't imagine that happening, thanks thanks for the advice.

Thanks,
Francis.

 

[Juno]

Also had problems with my tyre track eel. He ate all the neons in my tank then some platies had fry and he ate the fry and eventually the platies too. heard from somebody that if you feed them high protien foods in big enough quantities they start ignoring live prey. Needles to say it cost me an arm and leg in bloodworm.

i then tried live earthworms which he gulped down as fast as i could give them to him. he then stopped eating other fish until he got to about 20cm. then he started again.
at my wits end i thought well the only thing rich enough in protien would be some kind of meat. beef heart was to tough and fatty and he was not interested in anything chopped into small pieces. eventually i tried ox liver cut into strips so it looked like worms and since then he's never touched another fish. I've had him now for 4.5 years and int he last 2.5 years hes never eaten any other fish. He is about 40cm now. liver carries no fat whatsoever unless the ox it came from was a alchoholic. most fish cannot digest animal fat.

 

[Francis]

About the snail thing, in my experience he wouldn't eat them.

Sorry about the platies.

Francis.

 

[Juno]

i've also never seen a eel eat snails of any kind.
@francis: no worries about the platies it was a long time ago. i've learnt a lot since then. currently i am breeding rainbows, obviously not in the same tank as the eels.

edit: francis the quicker you get the eel into a bigger tank the quicker he will grow and the bigger he will get. my eels all started life in a 5ft extra width and extra height 550l tank.