# fire eel



## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

I was wondering if I could put a fire eel with my malawi tank, the lady at my lfs said it would be fine but i am not so sure any thoughts?


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## TTANKOFISH1 (Feb 18, 2004)

I was thinking the same thing?I think they would eat small fish.I also wonder if it did not get small fish if it would get enough food.They also get pretty big how big a fish will it eat when it grows?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Here is a response from a mod to a similar question, see page 2.
www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.p ... c&&start=0


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

I currently have two tire track eels that I am afraid I am going to lose because I havent seen them eat in two weeks. I have offered everything I can think of to them with no luck whatsoever. Tomorrow I am going on a quest to find some earthworms or mealworms or even nightcrawlers. I havent tried feeder guppies yet because I am afraid of the diseases they will bring with them. I was actually thinking of getting some convicts just to get fry for them to eat from a known healthy source. Since convicts breed like wildfire.


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## Alleycat (Dec 2, 2006)

SupeDM said:


> I currently have two tire track eels that I am afraid I am going to lose because I havent seen them eat in two weeks. I have offered everything I can think of to them with no luck whatsoever. .


If you have an LFS close by, see if they have any ghost shrimp ... Your eels will thank you for them.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I3lazd said:


> I was wondering if I could put a fire eel with my malawi tank, the lady at my lfs said it would be fine but i am not so sure any thoughts?


1. What size tank? Fire eels get pretty big - 2'.
2. Fire eels are more at home in a lower PH than your Malawi.
3. Fire eels require meaty foods that may cause problems with mbuna.

So - maybe in a 6' tank with other large predatory fish with a neutral PH.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

Well what kind of eel can I get to put in my tank or even a stingray would do. I am just finishing up my 700 gallon so there will be plenty of room I just dont want my cichlids getting eaten. It is going to be a malawi tank my tap water is about 7.6 ph so not uber high but I could raise obviously if needed for the eel. I would prefer a ray but my LFS said probably not.


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

Thank You I will see if I can get some ghost shrimp. I gave them some yellow lab fry tonight before I went to work we'll see if they ate them or not in the morning. The yellow labs are some demented hybrids anyway but I was practicing using a tumbler on them.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

any help here


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The mod said they will eat your mbuna. The other posters said they had trouble getting the eels to eat. What other questions do you have?


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

no eels at all or just the fire eels? or what about a ray?


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

From other posts it seems there is trouble with the 700. If you get that fixed then I would suggest that you do put in the fire eel or the tire track eel or the malawi eel or the tanganikan eel. I fed mine some ghost shrimp with mixed results ( Thanks for the tip!!). And I found a source for earthworms and they hit these earthworms like a rattlesnake strike. its amazing. I have noticed that they need the smaller earthworms as they swollow them whole straight in like a long spaghetti noodle. I have some rather small mbuna and fry in this tank and even after two weeks of no witnessed eating they didn't eat any of the fish.


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## BoostedX (Mar 1, 2009)

Have you tryed silversides for your eel?? They have a very strong smell to them so he should go nuts over them.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

no problems with 700 gal. just been slackin lately been busy with school thanks for the advice :thumb:


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## avy1219 (Jan 8, 2006)

I have a tire track eel in my tank as well. I havent lost a fish to him, but i also dont put anything to small into the main tank either. 1.5 inchs or so is fine. He loves ghost shrimp and earth worms. I havent been lucky enough to get him to eat pellets of any sort, but he does love eating live food. I was scared to add him to my tank at first, but now im so glad that i did. He is the star of my tank and everyone loves him and looks for him right away.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

I would just like to say in your face to DJRansome lol. I will look for the tire track eel then do your cichlids try to eat the ghost shrimp?


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## avy1219 (Jan 8, 2006)

oh yeah- at least in my tank its a free for all on the ghost shrimp. So for the eel the best thing are earthworms. I just hold the worm in the tank and the eel swims up and grabs it and darts off to eat it.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

ya I found someone locally selling a tire track eel that he hand feeds so I think I will pick him up. Do you think the eel will swim up 5' to eat?


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## elgu3ro88 (Dec 16, 2008)

what about a moray eel???? my lfs has some and i think they are sick!!!


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

Moray eels are Saltwater. And the freshwater version is a very nasty predator.


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