# i have a fire eel and was woundering if i can add one ormore to my 20 gallon tank



## crazyt123 (Feb 27, 2005)

he is friendly and shares his cove with the cory cats and a blood parrot


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

Well i wouldnt add another, watch out for him eating the corys when he gets bigger (if he will in a 20 gallon) the cory's horns will stick in his throat, the cory will suffocate and kill the eel. they get larger than tire tracks, and will outgrow your tank.

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball, Spiny Eel.htm

the fire eel in the first picture is 30 inches long. i would say they need >55 gallons

what are you planning on feeding it?


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## crazyt123 (Feb 27, 2005)

tanks alot


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

for the PM. 5 inches isnt a baby, you will rarely find them under 3-4 inches. this is because spiny eels arent bred in captivity, and are caught and taken from the wild. when you find them in the store they are either fine and dandy, or falling apart and dead. spiny eels may get along fine when young, but i've heard (never kept more than one in a tank) that they don't like eachother. they are nocturnal but will adapt to your feeding schedule, feed them during the day and they'll be out and about in the day. also when they get bigger, they become less "hidey". they like to burrow into the gravel, and have very small scales, more like a skin. so sand would be better, so large gravel pieces doesnt cut him up, and they need clean gravel since they burrow through it. PVC pipe is an excellent hidey hole for them.

what are you feeding it? live foods are best, like live tubifex, earthworms/redworms, mosquito larvae are a favorite, small fish like guppy fry, glass worms, ghost shrimp, white worms, and things similar to those.

do not try to feed them prepared foods like flakes or freeze dried foods. you won't be able to ween them onto it. frozen foods like the ones above will also work. i would start them on live and move them to frozen. tire track eels are similar to fire eels, except they don't get as large, yet eat larger things. when the fire eel gets bigger it can eat whole earthworms. until then you can buy a pack of night crawlers from a bait shop and freeze one, then rip them into pieces and feed them to the eel. kind of gross, but you can also cut live worms in two.

20 gallons is too small, their growth will get stunted.


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## Larry-T (Jan 18, 2005)

The last fire eel I had was in a 125 gal tank. I had only five fish in the tank:

Fire Eel (24")
Black Ghost (20")
3 Clown Loaches (8" each)

I fed the fire eel and black ghost by hand.


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

A 24 incher is something to be proud of, especially for an aquarium eel.


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## Fishnut2 (Jan 18, 2005)

Crazy,
Get a bigger tank, or smaller fish. Your tank is WAY overstocked with the fish you have! Cruelty to animals


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## buddah101 (Mar 20, 2005)

Mine is 19 inches, I posted a pic in another thread. I love Fire Eels. I keep mine in a 240 Long with other assorted cichlids.


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## buddah101 (Mar 20, 2005)

Here is a pic of mine. I wouldnt put another unless they're small yet.


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## buddah101 (Mar 20, 2005)

by the way mine is over 20 inches now!!


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