# Eels.



## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Hey I was wondering if anyone could please give me some info on eels.
Like, what species, care, what size tank, food etc.

Is it possible to feed them bloodworms or anything apart from live fish & how often?
And I only have a 3.5tank, would that be big enough?
And what price do they go for & does anyone know if theres anyone that has them for sale in the brisbane area?

Cheers, Ashleigh


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## NRE-808 (Dec 17, 2006)

LOL go the EELS!!!!

the aquarium that first got me loving eels was in Brisbane. They had a Zebra Moray in a tank that wasnt for sale but they said they could get a few spieces in if i wanted... thing is... i just cannot think of the place i went to as it was a while ago...

sorry Ash


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

woops wrong section, thought it said Exotics/other animals..
Sorry..


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## Adam (Dec 17, 2006)

Salt water,,, mooray eel, feed it frozen white bait. Had one for 2 years and he loved me, I could hand feed him and even put my fingers in his razor sharp mouth without a single bite!!!! Snowflake eel got me a few times though Just like hitting your finger with a hammer!!!! OUCH!!


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## NRE-808 (Dec 17, 2006)

perhaps do some online yellow paging...? in fact... i will and see if anything jogs my memory


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Thanks nre.
There was a great aquarium shop at morayfield years ago, across from the shopping centre.
But they havent been around for years.


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## speedy (Dec 17, 2006)

dont know much about them but fresh water eles are great bait for gummy sharks


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Adam, Its for my bf, so i dont really know much about setting up aquariums and stuff, but hwo do you maintain a salt water tank?
And how much does the 'frozen white bait' cost & how often to feed it?

Cheers


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## melm (Dec 17, 2006)

take a look at www.masa.asn.au

It stands for marine associtation societies Australia.

It's a very informative site and you will find all you need to know there


I have a snowflake eel which is just over 2ft long in a 4x2x2 tank with around 10 other fish.

He has been in there a few months and hasn't touched any fish and I have never fed him live food. He eats prawns, mussles, squid and whiting

I dont knowe the Brisbane area at all but if you're near Pet City, call in there and ask to speak to Andrew. He uses the masa forum, manages pet city and is very knowlegable when it somes to marine

Cheers
Mel


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## Adzo (Dec 17, 2006)

Freshwater or saltwater?
I used to have spiny eels. Freshwater from S.E. Asia. Tyre track and fire eels are similar but get bigger (i think up to 2 ft.)
They eat anything they can fit in their mouths.


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## Adam (Dec 17, 2006)

1 kilo of frozen white bait used to last me about a month and cost $7. Salt water is pretty easy for just eels but hard for corals an fish to mantain. 1/3 water change every 2 weeks and a VERY good filter system, usually a mini reef is the best way to keep them. That means the tank filters to a smaller tank under the main tank. A bit expensive to setup but REALLY worth it!!!!! I fed every second day and only as much as he would eat by hand. I WOULD NOT SUGGEST hand feeding untill you KNOW the eel. Mooray eels can cause horrific damage!!!!

WOW melm, my snowflake was 4 foot long in a 4x2x2 and any live fish would never last more than 2 minutes!!!!!!!!


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## nook171 (Dec 17, 2006)

white bait u can eat that stuff in nz it is eatin by eveery one y would u feed it to eels i would feed it blood worms and fish


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Well hwo do you maintain both fresh & salt water?
and how what sort of snake would be suitable for a 3.5ft tank?
Cheers


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## nook171 (Dec 17, 2006)

eel dnt u mean lol nt snake


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Adam, as i said i dont know much about setting up aquariums and stuff but apparently his got a very very good filter.. like yer i dont know.
And like how do you get salt water??


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## melm (Dec 17, 2006)

blood worms are not a suitable food for marine fish. Blood worms have little nutritional value and are sometimes used in a marine aquarium to get a fussy eater to start feeding - otherwise they are not recommended.

I bought a dozen prawns for me eel yesterday and it cost me $1.65. He will eat 2 - 3 of these every 3rd day or so.

Please go the the masa site as mini reef set ups that have been mentioned here aren't really recommended anymore. your eally need to look into all filtration available before you decide which way to go. It's expensive when you get it wrong!

I have learnt the hard way to research, research and research before doing anything with marine.

It isn't difficult but there is 'alot' to learn.


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## mitchdiamond (Dec 17, 2006)

I have kept Tropical Fish for a while and there are some great fresh water eels that are cheap and easy to look after


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Yer I understand melm, just like before i got my snake, i researched & researched.

I will call a few local aquarium shops & get some advise off them.
Thanks


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## melm (Dec 17, 2006)

Salt water comes from the ocean 

Seriously - that's where most of us get it from. can't beat nsw (natural sea water)


Yes saltwater has to ebe tested, for all sorts of things (I think this was one of your questions)

Basic test kits to keep on hand would be nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, kh, calcium and salinity also needs to be tested with an instrument such as a refractometer

there are also tests available for copper, phosphate, magnesium among other things


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

So are they easy to look after cause im beginning to think they arent lol


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## melm (Dec 17, 2006)

Ashleigh:];695539 said:


> Yer I understand melm, just like before i got my snake, i researched & researched.
> 
> I will call a few local aquarium shops & get some advise off them.
> Thanks


 

Not a bad start but remember you will get alot of conflicting advice. The good thing with the forums, as I am sure you have disovered with this one, is the people giving advice aren't trying to sell you anything.

There is also a section on masa for 'new to the hobby' where there are marine biologists etc to answer all of your questions


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## melm (Dec 17, 2006)

Ashleigh:];695544 said:


> So are they easy to look after cause im beginning to think they arent lol


 


Not difficult, although I admit my tank did my head in for the first 12 months.

There is just alot of information you need - it isn't necessarily 'hard'.


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Yer so are they easy to look after??


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

oh ok


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## melm (Dec 17, 2006)

once your tank has cycled and you have good water quality with a good routine re water changes etc the eel is very easy to look after

Initial set up is quite costly though

Cheers


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## gaara (Dec 17, 2006)

www.caudata.org

--

On the forum there they have info and what not on caelians (i think thats the term for eels).


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## Adzo (Dec 17, 2006)

melm said:


> Salt water comes from the ocean
> 
> Seriously - that's where most of us get it from. can't beat nsw (natural sea water)


I think using natural seawater is a bad idea. Its full of plankton and other organism that will die in the tank, this can foul up the water really badly. (smell, algae blooms, etc)


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Does the water have to be heated or anything?


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## NRE-808 (Dec 17, 2006)

http://www.equarium.com.au/store/ - this might have all the bits and pieces that you will need - tests, furniture etc...


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Ta.


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## carpetsnake (Dec 17, 2006)

the aquarium shop at morayfield is near bob jane t-marts


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 17, 2006)

Cheers i will have a look there tomorrow.
I was going to look there anyway


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## cris (Dec 17, 2006)

You could always just get some long finned eels(freshwater ones) instead of being hard to keep alive i think they would be hard to kill. They will live in almost any water or sludge and eat just about anything meaty. They become 'tame' fairly quickly you just have to watch they dont climb out of you aquarium so you need a good lid.
They are just like other eels but not as decorative.

They are abit like snakes, only they have gills and seem to bit a bit smarter.


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## marcus09 (Dec 17, 2006)

Water has to be heated and u can buy sea salt just add to tap water and u have salt water need a week or 2 for the tank to work its self out and test water before you can put fish or eel in.


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## melm (Dec 18, 2006)

marcus09 said:


> Water has to be heated and u can buy sea salt just add to tap water and u have salt water need a week or 2 for the tank to work its self out and test water before you can put fish or eel in.


 
TAP WATER IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR MARINE TANKS DUE TO CHLORINE, CHLORAMINE, PHOSPHATES AND ALOT OF OTHER NASTIES IN THE WATER.

BUYING SALT IS FINE IF YOU PREFER TO GO THAT WAY BUT YOU WILL NEED RO WATER TO MIX IT UP WITH.

With a 20kg bucket of salt costing more than $100 it's an expensive way to go. you will also find nsw has the correct levels of kh, calcium etc and if you are doing regular water changes you won't ever need to use any supplements with nsw. Unless you have a full reef tank which then calcium such as kalkwasser would definitely be needed.

Sorry, didn't realise caps was on up there. 

A week or 2 is nowhere near enough for a marine tank to cycle. It would be a minimum of 4 weeks - adding any livestock before then is plain cruel.

As for using natural sea water, the die off from plankton has minimal, if no affect at all. I have changed 300 litres out of 500 and have had no die off - if there were die off ammonia would be present.

Most people filter their sea water as they are pumping it into containers and another alternative is to buy it from the aquarium store already filtered for about $5 per 25 litres.


Marcus please don't go giving people advice on things you aren't quite sure of yourself.

Setting up a martine tank isn't as easy as filling it with tap water, chucking in some salt and 2 weeks alter adding livestock - there is alot more to it than that and if you have been told otherwise I would suggest you do a bit of research as I would hate someone to be taking your advice right now.

Remember mother nature is very clever and replicating what she has done is not exactly easy.


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## gaara (Dec 18, 2006)

I reiterate with http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/24792/24792.html?1160401029

that link takes you directly to the eel section of the caudata.org forum. There will be people there who can actually help


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## gaara (Dec 18, 2006)

here is another website that you may find handy.

http://gymnophiona.org/


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## marcus09 (Dec 18, 2006)

As i come from Dubbo which is 5 hours away from the sea it is abit hard to get sea water out here so tap water works get for me and has for many years.


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## Ashleigh:] (Dec 18, 2006)

Thanks for the advise everyone 
Chris's idea sounds good to start off with lol.


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