** Note: The eel has escaped and unfortunately died. August 2010, this tank became a bichir tank.
I just don't see many eel tanks on these forums, so I thought I would share mine with everyone. I started this tank back on Sept 9 with installing the cave for the eels to hide in.
I added the wood and some plants on the next day, just a few crypts and blyxa.
09/17/09 - moss and anubias has been attached to the wood, several stems have been planted
10/16/09 - I changed a few of the stem choices
And of course, the 2 eels. These were purchased yesterday and have been a lot of fun to watch. I decided on Peacock eels since they don't get too large and are fairly docile. I was only planning on getting one, but the LFS had several so I bought two. This first photo is "Big Worm". I took the name from a character in the movie Friday. It just seems to fit as he/she is the plumper of the two eels.
Not a bad idea. Those 2 sticks on the right side/center have been bothering me for a while. I've been trying to come up with something to hide or soften the look and a sword might just do the trick.
I raised the light several inches to try and clear some BBA several weeks ago. The BBA went away, but several plants started to die. I lost most of my Blyxa on the left side and almost lost my Limno sp 'Mini'. I put the legs back on the light and repositioned it on top of the tank last week. For now, I'm only using 2 of the bulbs (instead of 4) to see if I can keep the BBA from coming back. I've also been having a major issue with cloudy water for some reason. I'm not sure if the eels are digging around stirring up dust from the substrate or if there is some other underlying issue. I have also been dealing with green dust algae for about a month. I stuck to a strict dosing regimen and water change schedule. I finally stopped scraping everything and just let it go to see if it would resolve on its own. Last week I added 8 otos and they have been busy. Tonight was the first night I didn't see any dust algae on the glass. Not sure which of the many things I have tried helped, but I'm glad to see it finally disappearing. Now if I could just get rid of the cloudy water everything would be great.
Here's a few pics I took earlier.
FTS
Top shelf above the cave-crypts are filling in nicely, many are sending out runners with new plants popping up all over the place.
I'm happy to report that the cloudy water went away. I ran my diatom filter for an hour 2 days in a row, then did a big water change last weekend. So far the water has stayed crystal clear. :icon_bigg
I'm still trying to get the eels to at least take live blackworms from my long tweezers. Skinny (the skinny one, cheesy I know) is getting brave and stays in sight as I come in with worms. He hasn't tried to take them from me, but he does patiently wait for me to drop them real close to his head. Big Worm is still a little skiddish and takes off into the safety of the cave if I get too close.
The haze is from the lights, not cloudy water-
A few of the cleaning crew. The otos swim in groups in this tank. I've never seen this in my other tanks, but I guess there aren't any real threats in the other tanks.
Another shot of the upper shelf. I wish I could get a good pic from above the tank but the light reflections always ruin the shot.
I was trying to get some pics last night to show how much the eels have grown. Skinny was an easy target, he's always swimming in the open.
Big Worm was not. You can sort of see his head in this pic.
This is terrific, haven't seen eels in a planted tank before. I really like the elongated cave structure and the low-light plants in and around it, I bet those are two happy eels. Have the algae problems cleared up?
Yep, algae problems are in the past. I added several otos and started dosing small amounts of ferts. I still get some green dust algae on the glass, but nothing out of control.
What size is the tank? What is your lighting? Co2?
How long to the eel live? How long do they get? I wonder if there is a variety that could live in a 30 in long tank? They are astonishing to watch. Seem to be intelligent and curious.
I wonder if dosing with KNO3 would help keep the algae away? It worked for me.
This is a 75 gal tank. I'm using a Catalina Solar 4x54W fixture. Most of the time I only run 1 set of lights on a 5 hr timer. Sometimes when I'm home on weekends or during the day, I turn the other set on manually for about an hour.
These peacock eels are the smallest of the freshwater eels, maxing out at around 12-15" and live for about 5 years. They would probably do ok in a 30" long tank. My eel isn't much of a constant swimmer. He hangs out in the dark cave about 98% of the time. It's fun to watch him hunt, very methodical and a quick strike similar to a snake.
What size is the tank? What is your lighting? Co2?
How long to the eel live? How long do they get? I wonder if there is a variety that could live in a 30 in long tank? They are astonishing to watch. Seem to be intelligent and curious.
I wonder if dosing with KNO3 would help keep the algae away? It worked for me.
Here's a recent photo of the eel. I would have to estimate his size to be about 7-8", nearly double from when I first bought him back in October. You can get a real good perspective on his size in this video compared to the orange platies swimming around him.
i would love to have another eel... my zigzag eel died from some sort of intestinal infection after having over a year... im worried about them digging at my crypts roots and causing them to melt, have any problems with this?
Here's a video monkeyruler90 made for me last month of the eel hunting and eating. I have been out of town for the last four months so he was kind enough to go over and feed the eel and do my water changes for me. Unfortunately, the eel managed to push the glass top open and crawl out a couple days ago.
I went out looking for replacements this afternoon and found a Senegal bichir. I'm only getting one fish for now until I can find a way to add some PVC pipe in the cave without destroying the scape. Bichirs can be a little fiesty when it comes to territory and I want all fish to be happy in their environment. Here's some pics. This little guy is only about 3" right now.
Not sure yet. I've only had him for a few hours. I picked this one because he was the most active bichir in the store tank. I was worried when he just laid on the bottom for about 10 minutes after I got him home. Then all of a sudden, he was swimming around checking out the tank. He kept swimming until the lights went out, so he may be a pretty active fish.
Eels tend to burrow, although my previous eel never bothered. He would hide in the cave rather than burrow out in the open.
This tank has been untouched by me for almost a year, just let the plants grow and fill in as they will. It provides lots of hiding and exploring for the bichir which he seems to really enjoy.
I noticed some platies and ottos with your birchir. What does he do with these?
I kept a senegal from 4-8 inches and he ate everything, except large cichlids and a male betta (which he only harassed).
The platies and otos disappeared before this summer, most likely eel food. The bichir is the only fish in the tank currently, with a few feeder fish. I'm guessing they are still too big for the bichir as they have co-existed for a few days together. I may put some livebearers back in this tank once the bichir is big enough to eat the fry.
Those eels are rad. and your tank is also very impressive. quite a forest of crypts youve got going.
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