What Oddball Could I Get?

[Nevergone815]

hey, it's been a while since i posted on here, but i have a 55 gal tank (the one in my sig) and was wondering if i could swing any oddballs in there. i really like the spiny or peacock eels (put both names depending on what you guys use), but i dont know if they will work in there. also what special accomidations whould i need?

if you guys have any suggestions that would be great, and if you have any breif info on how to properly care for the fish (i.e. water conditions, feeding, etc.). thank you for all your help in advanced

-joey-

 

[Sp3nc3r]

you could keep a few peacock eels, what you do have to watch out for is tyre track eels being sold as peacock like i seen in superpet today

i think they like a little bit of salt, i think they are low end brackish and they eat bloodworms, blackworms, micro worms, and some other stuff

here is a pretty usefull site:

http/www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Spiny%20Eel.htm

 

[0x0000ff]

hey, it's been a while since i posted on here, but i have a 55 gal tank (the one in my sig) and was wondering if i could swing any oddballs in there. i really like the spiny or peacock eels (put both names depending on what you guys use), but i dont know if they will work in there. also what special accomidations whould i need?

if you guys have any suggestions that would be great, and if you have any breif info on how to properly care for the fish (i.e. water conditions, feeding, etc.). thank you for all your help in advanced

-joey-

Hey buddy, there's heaps and heaps of info on the Peacock Spiny eel here on this forum, take a look in this thread for example:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=156870


Peacock is a type of Spiny Eel, which also covers Fire eels, tyre track eels, and zigzag to name the most common.

a genuine Macrognathus siamensis is incredibly tame, and with the looks of your 55g tank any variation of the Peacock spiny eel would do fine.

They need hiding places, and frozen/fresh food. not prepared flakes/pellets etc.

a long set of tweezers/forceps will be very handy in order to place the food in a convenient location if your other fish are pigs. Eels are very slow hunters/eaters.

I cannot stress how important some live food is, even if only once a fortnight. These fish adore worms.

i think they like a little bit of salt, i think they are low end brackish and they eat bloodworms, blackworms, micro worms, and some other stuff

This is a common misconception, at least for Macrognathus siamensis they most definately do not need any salt, in fact I would go as far to say that they don't like it at all.

I had a species tank and under recommendation I slowly raised the SG to the specified level (forget what it was) and they really really did not like it at all, eventually burying themselves in the substrate COMPLETELY (not even leaving their nose sticking out) and not leaving at all until I replaced with fresh water.

 

[Nevergone815]

thanks guys for the peacock eel info. do you guys or anyone else have sugestions ofr any other oddballs that could be put into the tank. not necessarily with the eels, even by themselves. thanks for the quick responses does anyone else ave any input? thanks guys and keep em coming.

 

[Nevergone815]

ok i got another question, in my lfs i saw that they have peacock spiny eels. they are lighter in color really pale, but they also have a peacock spiny eel that is the same patttern but really dark and full of color. its labeled yellow tail peacock eel or sumthing. is this a mislabel or is it a color variety? it cost $1 (US) more than the regular ones so i wasn't sure if it was jsut a specal color or a differet species of spiny eel and just mislabeled.

also, is their any other suggestions, i was htinking of an albino senegal bichir, or even a black ghost knife fish. would these work?

i'm not to keen on stocking a larger tank full of larger fish as my 55 gal is the first one i had and my first attempt at the larger fish. thanks again in advanced for any help i get.

 

[0x0000ff]

I'm not so sure about the 'yellow tail' peacock eel, there are so many different breeds and their behaviours vary greatly. The reason the peacock spiny eel gets so much conflicting info is because too many people regard all the 'similar' species to be exactly the same.

If you want an oddball eel that will definately be passive and completely disinterested in attacking your fish, get the lighter coloured one.

If you want to risk the chance it could be a veritable fish destroying monster, get the prettier one; you could be surprised!

The common, peaceful spiney eel is Macrognathus siamensis.
They have a very distinctive colour/texture; a silky looking pale brown. I believe there's a few pics of various peacock eels (with their respective names) in the Fish Index of this site.



I've never had a Bichir, but I hear they're quite nasty.



A black ghost could work, when they get big they do tend to eat smaller fish, but they're also very playful and can easily become the favourite in your tank.