rileyrk190

Hi everybody...I'm interested in starting an "oddball" tank but have found that i have to take the information found on these creatures with a grain of salt. Everything i find is contradicted by another source, so i thought to supplement the information i have, i would get some first hand info from you guys. My first priority for the oddball tank would be to get an eel. My personal favorite is the fire eel but i do like them all.
1) My biggest question is how fast does a fire eel grow? Also, if someone owns one, how big is it? I ask this because while it's smaller i intend on keeping it in a 45 gallon tank and upgrading it to my 55g when it grows larger.
2) I have read that eels prefer fine gravel, does this mean that sand is a good option?
3) Is it better to keep them in strictly fresh water, or with a slight amount of salt in the water ( I have heard both ways).

If possible i would really like someone who has owned an eel to answer any of my questions that they can, just because of all the discrepancies amongst the information. The info i have found doesn't seem to be written by someone speaking on personal experience.

Again, i am open to any eel species information to see which species i will be better able to accommodate but my preference (as of now) would be a fire eel or a peacock. Thanks in advance!

one more question sorry..Is it better to have a longer tank or a taller tank?

Hello. I merged your two posts to save space. Thanks! Ken

ATKINSON

I kept a fire eel a while ago. They grow very large. Up to a metre. Mine grew up to 40cm in a 75gal tank and I personally think that that is the bare minimum.

cerianthus

Longer is always better for majority of fish. Just make sure tank is well sealed or covered when keeping eel. Fish always seems to find what seems impossible but do find those open area aroundt the filters.

T Fishie

i have 2 spiny eels and they are great! you must be careful though b/c they WILL escape. One of mine did a while ago and my husband thought there was a snake in the house..LOL! They are a peaceful species. One of mine is in a 125 gallon tank with more aggressive fish. they get along very well. It helps that my eel is one of the bigger fish in the tank. My other eel is a baby. She is in my 55 gallon tank with community fish. when she gets bigger I will add her to the larger tank. If you are looking for a nice interesting eel this is one that I would look into. Enjoy!!

Toddnbecka

My favorite species of spiney eel is the Tanganykian plagiostoma. They don't grow too large for a 3-4' tank, and don't bury themselves in the substrate like many of the more commonly available species do. There is a catch though; IF you can find any f/s they aren't cheap by any means. The lowest price I've seen them go for was around $50/each, and they're usually priced higher. I had a pair for several years, just lost them a couple months ago to water pollution. I moved a group of pleco's into their tank, and some zucchini got "lost" behind the plastic plants. It decayed, and the resulting bacterial population explosion lowered the O2 in the water too much for the eels to survive. The pleco's all survived, but the eels will be very difficult to replace.
The more commonly available peacock eels are a better fit for a 55 than a fire eel or a tire-track eel. There are also a few other species available online, but not much info to be found on their max size or care requirements IME.

Fish_Face

I have a peacock eel in my 26 gallon tank. He's six inches long now. I bought him this past July, so he hasn't grown very much in the 3 months that I've had him. I've heard that they can get to be around 14 inches, so both of your tanks should be more than enough. My tank is a tall one, and he seems to be doing fine in it. I have a substrate with smaller gravel that he sometimes buries into, but most of the time he hangs out in my water wisteria. It's cute! Like T Fishie said, he's peaceful with the other fish in my tank. He hasn't attempted to escape, though. I hope this helps!! ^_^