OzzieJay

Greetings All,

My wife & I* started with a 65L (17 Gallon) tank about 6 weeks ago.* * I stumbled across this site/forum last week & after reading a few topics I have realised there are some things we have been doing wrong.* For starters we introduced too many fish in too short a time & we have over stocked our tank.* We have a pair of Mollies, 17 Neon Tetras (inc. 5 Black Neons), 5 Glass Catfish, a Clown Loach, a Spiny Leopard Eel and a Bristle Nose Catfish.* As soon as we realised that our tank was over stocked we went out & bought a new AquaOne 'AquaStyle 850' 155L (40 Gallon) tank.*

The new tank is currently cycling but we have used half the ceramic noodles from the old tank, 25% of the water from the old tanks, some plants, some live bacteria, & our Mollies to accelerate the process.*

I have a few questions that I would like to ask.....

• Does any one have a Spiny Eel & if so can they please direct me to where I can find some reliable info on them ?* I know they like to burrow & they prefer Blackworms in their diet but that's all I know.* I was told by my LFS that they are peaceful & take 5+ years to reach full size but other info on the net suggests otherwise.
• Does any one have any tips on how to feed your Spiny Eel black worms without the rest of the community 'stealing' them before the Eel can find them ?
• What's the easiest way to transfer fish from one tank to another with as little stress as possible ?* Do you duplicate the process of buying a new fish (IE put fish in plastic bag, float the bag in new tank & wait 15min, add 1 cup of water from new tank & wait 5 in than introduce fish to new tank ?
• Are Clown Loaches OK to be the only one of their species in a community tank ?
• Should you heat the fresh water when doing a water change to match the same temp ?

They're the only questions I can thin of right now but it is late & I'm half asleep so I may think of some others to add tomorrow.*

Thanks in advance to any one who can help out - I appreciate any assistance you can give.*

OzzieJay

Oh, BTW, here is the only pic I can find that resembles the Spiny eel that I have. Mine has the same body shape etc. but markings are different. Mine has the same pattern on the body but the 'tail' has about 3 or 4 circles that almost look like eyes.