Keeping eel's

[Brown_Hair]

Anyone one here keep eels?

Im not to big on aquairms but have been getin into eels for a while. Dont think ill get one anytime soon but thought it would be interesting to see if anyone keeps em, has some pics and can tell me abit more about their captive behaviour....

 

[geckos_are_great]

i dont have any picture but i have 2 shrt finned eels. it realy depends on if there shy or not as they all have different personalitys. you will need a secure lid for larger one as they will get out.

 

[Chrisreptile]

Are you after Fresh or Salt water eels?

 

[gecko-mad]

i remember a thread with a guy that has an eel wich was goin to a new tank and wanted to know what could live in there like ackies, pygmys and netteds can anyone remember the name?

 

[bongie555]

ive seen a 4 ft one in a 6 ft tank at a mate's mate's place, one they caught at a local creek, it was an agro thing and very strong,eat anythingand and like what gecko said they will try to get out, they use to have to rope the lid down.

 

[Sdaji]

I kept one on a barbecue for a few minutes the other day, then in my belly. Delicious!

Short-finned Eels are amazing, they seem to be able to live through anything. They can live in hard, barely wet mud for weeks on end and seem fine. They can live in fetid stenchy stagnant dams and thrive. They crawl over land for several kms when migrating. When I was much younger I fetched one out of a billabong and put it in a large fish tank. I had been keeping tropical fish for over 10 years and was quite an accomplished aquarist, but my indestructable eel died in a few hours!

 

[gecko-mad]

sdaji i think you found there destructale side lol

 

[Sdaji]

Clearly! I have no idea how though! I would have thought they would live in a bucket of manure (actually, they probably would). I'm still boggled as to why that eel died. I was disheartened and never tried again.

 

[Ozzie Python]

i have a feeling smithy had an eel, might be wrong. would definately be something different to keep.

 

[Tinky]

When I was a kid we had an above ground pool that we drained down to about 1 foot over winter. My brother and I caught sime eels and other small fish in the local creek, which we put into the pool.

When summer came and we had to clean out the pool. The eels had bread and there were dozens of different size eels in the pool and a heap of fish.

 

[GeckoJosh]

The marine ones are really cool, my local petshop sometimes has some bright purple ones about 30cm long

 

[Jonno from ERD]

i have a feeling smithy had an eel, might be wrong. would definately be something different to keep.

Old Eric forgot that he didn't have legs and decided to go walkabout but didn't make it too far haha.

I used to keep a Moray Eel but turned it's tank into a planted native freshwater set up.

 

[geckos_are_great]

tinky all frsh water eels need to migrate to breed in the salt water and thats in summer so how did they breed in your fresh water pool in winter??

 

[potato matter]

I have a few ribbons, very nice looking, but quite expensive...

 

[-Matt-]

tinky all frsh water eels need to migrate to breed in the salt water and thats in summer so how did they breed in your fresh water pool in winter??

Who told you that? Because its not true at all.

Ive kept both fresh and saltwater eels. I had a small moray and a snowflake eel in a saltwater setup and they were extremely easy to look after, freshwater eels tend to be extremely messy and poo a lot...good filtration is a necessity! Also they can quite easily remove their lids on their tanks even with bricks placed on top!

 

[geckos_are_great]

no what i ment was there is no way they could have bred

 

[cris]

Short finned eels make better pets than most snakes, they are as good at escaping too. Its probably illegal to catch the little ones in most states and IMO wild caught adults dont seem to do as well in captivity, obviously more of an issue if you impale it on a hook to catch it.

What Australian species breeds in freshwater? never heard of this before:?

 

[waruikazi]

tinky all frsh water eels need to migrate to breed in the salt water and thats in summer so how did they breed in your fresh water pool in winter??

It could have been in there migration path.

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

There is a pond in Gympie. Im sure the eels breed there as they
seem to be increasing in numbers.
The Botanical Gardens in Melbourne have had eels in their lakes and ponds for over 100 years.
Do these eels have access to salt water for breeding?
I dont know, thats why Im asking.

 

[cris]

There is a pond in Gympie. Im sure the eels breed there as they
seem to be increasing in numbers.
The Botanical Gardens in Melbourne have had eels in their lakes and ponds for over 100 years.
Do these eels have access to salt water for breeding?
I dont know, thats why Im asking.

As far as im aware they breed in the ocean and travel inland, even over land during rain. They are less than a mm wide when they get into freshwater so that could lead to some confusion.