Anyone ever keep a Fire Eel?

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black ghost
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There’s plenty of small species too. My favourite is Macrognathus circumcinctus, which only grows about 6-7”. All the Spiny Eels need a good cover, and ideally fairly deep sand as a substrate.

In big tanks most fish will actually grow much bigger in captivity than is normal in the wild, because they don’t succumb to predation, parasites or diseases. A huge specimen is rare in the wild, but fairly common in captivity if the tank is big enough and they’re well cared for.
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PaulVerrall
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black ghost wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:02 am There’s plenty of small species too. My favourite is Macrognathus circumcinctus, which only grows about 6-7”. All the Spiny Eels need a good cover, and ideally fairly deep sand as a substrate.

In big tanks most fish will actually grow much bigger in captivity than is normal in the wild, because they don’t succumb to predation, parasites or diseases. A huge specimen is rare in the wild, but fairly common in captivity if the tank is big enough and they’re well cared for.
Are they aggressive by nature?
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black ghost
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Not at all aggressive. Spiny Eels have tiny mouths which are designed for finding small things in the sand/mud/leaf litter and pulling them out. The big ones can have a bit of attitude but the small ones are shy and retiring unless they’re with totally peaceful tankmates that won’t bother them.
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They can be aggressive to their own kind for sure, and they can be hella moody! But they're gentle giants really and I love my big girl <3 They're definitely a commitment fish I feel, I see so many people get them and keep them in ill suited environments. They need sand, they prefer it dark I feel otherwise I see them wash out. They ideally need to not be with boisterous fish at least to begin with as they can be difficult to get to eat. They don't like change, hence the moodiness. I'd recommend them to anyone that has a large enough tank or who is willing to commit to get a larger tank and keep them for a long long time.

Blackghost wheres the info on them getting to 6ft? Never seen that in all the years I've been learning about them.
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F3l1ss wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 19:26 pm They can be aggressive to their own kind for sure, and they can be hella moody! But they're gentle giants really and I love my big girl <3 They're definitely a commitment fish I feel, I see so many people get them and keep them in ill suited environments. They need sand, they prefer it dark I feel otherwise I see them wash out. They ideally need to not be with boisterous fish at least to begin with as they can be difficult to get to eat. They don't like change, hence the moodiness. I'd recommend them to anyone that has a large enough tank or who is willing to commit to get a larger tank and keep them for a long long time.

Blackghost wheres the info on them getting to 6ft? Never seen that in all the years I've been learning about them.
Cool thanks! I'm at a fish keeping crossroads at the moment, I need to make some decisions, re-home some fish and get something else in there. But I don't want to make the wrong choice so I'm kind of burying my head in the sand!!! I get really connected to my fish, so once I get, I won't be able to lose them
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black ghost
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I can’t find anything about it online. They were in a public aquarium and very old fish. I did say 5-6ft, they were possibly nearer 5. Fish that live long enough in public aquaria do tend to grow bigger (live longer) than in nature. But of course not every one would potentially get this big.
The biggest known to Fishbase was a meter. This was a wild caught fish that would keep growing, assuming it wasn’t killed.
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F3l1ss
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black ghost wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 0:08 am I can’t find anything about it online. They were in a public aquarium and very old fish. I did say 5-6ft, they were possibly nearer 5. Fish that live long enough in public aquaria do tend to grow bigger (live longer) than in nature. But of course not every one would potentially get this big.
The biggest known to Fishbase was a meter. This was a wild caught fish that would keep growing, assuming it wasn’t killed.
If you do find it can you share link with me, I'm always trying to help gently educate people. I'm a member of two fire eel facebook groups and it makes me feel so sad to see so many young ones and I just know they won't get to a decent age/size...
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black ghost
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@F3l1ss couldn’t agree more, and yes I’ll let you know if I find anything... :)
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