My buy on impulse

[strung_0ut]

Hey everyone,

I bought this what the LFS called a spinny mountain eel on impulse, and I love watching this fish, its the most fascinating in my tank. It strikes like a snake and goes mad on blood worms. I am afraid though, it may get too big and eat my cories and guppies. Does anyone have any experiences with eels? Do you know how big this guy will actually get? Its growth is quite rapid, but that may be that I am feeding him too much each day. I plan on removing it soon and giving him over to my cousin who bought three of them. May you all give me some info? I couldn't find anything anywhere else on the net. Thank you I appreciate it.
Here's a picture of him, he's grown or has got a bit more fatter since the picture.

[img][450:350]http://www.killies.com/forum/albums/album02/What.jpg[/img]

Thank you,
Dennis

[stormhawk]

Dennis, I'm not sure of the species but its one of the Mastacembelid eels, genus Mastacembelus and some others. They're usually called tiretrack eels because of the patterns on their body. Some species get really big and will snack on anything that gets close enough for a bite. Without knowing the real identity of the species of eel in question we can't help you much. Hopefully what you have there is not one of the large species in the genus.

I had one once, lost several little fish to it. Ever since then I've stopped keeping any of the eels for that matter. Can't trust them with small fish and invertebrates. I'd suggest you pass the bugger over to your cousin if the need arises. You wouldn't want this fella to get really big because they love to dig and any rockwork or wood structure can be destabilised by their burrowing into the gravel.

[timebomb]

Dennis,

Your eel reminds me of one I used to have. Many years ago, I found an eel in a canal and decided to keep it in one of my planted tanks. The tank was heavily planted and the substrate was very thick. I never saw much of the eel and over time, I forgot all about him. A few years later, I decided to tear down the tank and whilst removing the gravel, had hell of a fright when a big slippery thing jumped out. I thought it was a snake at first until I realised it was the eel.

Loh K L

[strung_0ut]

Thank you both for the replies,
I love this eel, but not more than my school of cories put together and my colorful common guppies. When the need arises I will give him up. Thats a funny story timebomb, I put mine in, and I never saw him for about two weeks, then when I decided to give my other fish(other than my discus) a snack of bloodworms over pellets he came storming out, and now he's out all the time eating very vigorously. That must of been pretty scary, hehe, I wish I was there to witness.

Dennis