Keeping eel's

[Sdaji]

Short-finned Eels (the dark ones you catch in rivers, lakes, dams, the Melbourne Botanic Gardens etc) breed in the ocean, and yes, as I said in my last post, they migrate up to several kms over land. The Yarra is right near the Botanic Gardens, so it's a very easy place for them to reach. Baby eels are called elvers, they get into fresh water bodies or stay in rivers, grow up, then go back to the ocean to breed. Sometimes lost adult eels turn up in strange places. Once in a blue moon we had them turn up at my primary school, much to the confusion and amusement of some of us!

 

[beney_boy]

i own a 3ft Queensland long finned eel. freshwater ofcourse. willing to sell him if anyone wants to buy lol

 

[beney_boy]

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?

lol that was me . yer i still have the eel. hes being moved outside soon enough.

 

[-Matt-]

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.

Wow well I stand corrected in my post then, I just assumed that they could breed in freshwater as I had a few short finned eels in a pond in my backyard and they bred...however the young didnt last very long at all.

 

[wokka]

The scientists are pefecting breeding in captivity for aquaculture, but at the moment wild elvers are harvested as they swim upstream from the ocean and sold under licence to grow out for market. Once grown they are chilled alive, to sort of hibernate them, and then shipped live overseas for sale, mainly in Asia.

 

[greeny1]

i once found an eel in one of my dams. bloody huge thing it was. i recon at least 4-5ft. it was lying near the shore and i nearly trod on it! this spooked it and there was rather large ripples coming off the water. ever since ive put an eel trap in there hoping to catch it. so far, NO LUCK!

 

[Brown_Hair]

Some VERY interesting information has came out of this. Thanks guys! Certainly didnt know they could travel k's on land!?!?!

Anyone have some pics of their eels? They come in such an array of beautiful colours.

 

[garycahill]

Short-finned Eels (the dark ones you catch in rivers, lakes, dams, the Melbourne Botanic Gardens etc) breed in the ocean, and yes, as I said in my last post, they migrate up to several kms over land. The Yarra is right near the Botanic Gardens, so it's a very easy place for them to reach. Baby eels are called elvers, they get into fresh water bodies or stay in rivers, grow up, then go back to the ocean to breed. Sometimes lost adult eels turn up in strange places. Once in a blue moon we had them turn up at my primary school, much to the confusion and amusement of some of us!

To add to Sdaji's post, both long & short finned eels breed off the coast of New Calidonia, the only place in the world that this happens. The elvers then travel via ocean currents to their new locations & migrate into fresh water. They only breed in salt water at this location. If you can get them to breed in your pond, I am sure there will be quite a few scientists very interested, so maybe you should consider contacting them to help them in their studies if this is indeed true.
I will post a pic of my long fined eel tomorrow, after I take a pic of him. They are extremely placid if raised in captivity & will even eat from your hand. Mine is around 3 foot long & has lived in a 4ft aquarium it's entire life (after being caught as an elver) It has shared the aquarium with fish of all sizes, but is currently sharing the aquarium with Eastern Long neck turtles. It has only ever eaten commercial fish food, so it doesn't bother any of it's tank mates.

 

[Tinky]

The eels and fish we caught came out of a creek in Wallsend, Newcastle, where the water comes out of local mines. Minerals that come out of the water stain the rocks and reeds orange.

I have seen documentaries on eel breeding, and cannot offer any explanation as to how we ended up with baby eels. However I am telling the truth 100%.

In case there is doubt my JP number is 118696.

 

[jamesf55]

so eels all breed in the the ocean? I have seen baby eels inland over 10km from the ocean, to get there they would have had to cross huge amounts of dry heath land, sand dunes, farmland, roads, it just seems amazing if this is true. I have also seen eels in creeks in the north western suburbs of sydney. do they swim to there too?

 

[Tinky]

I have just sent an email to Dr Bruce Pease from NSW Department of Agriculture: Fisheries Division, after reading an article he helped write on freshwater eel reproduction.

Hopefully he can shed some light on my eels.

 

[Zoltag]

Yes, eels all breed in the ocean.

Dont forget, almost every single natural body of fresh water is connected to the ocean in some way. A lot of people tend to forget about the underground paths that water takes - Eels are just as happy travelling back up such paths as they are in any other type of water.

 

[beefa270]

so eels all breed in the the ocean? I have seen baby eels inland over 10km from the ocean, to get there they would have had to cross huge amounts of dry heath land, sand dunes, farmland, roads, it just seems amazing if this is true. I have also seen eels in creeks in the north western suburbs of sydney. do they swim to there too?

I would like to know this too

 

[-Matt-]

I had two fairly large eels in a pond in my backyard about 10 years ago and over a period of a week at least ten very small eels appeared in the pond...I assumed that the eels bred, but now Ive learnt from this thread that all eels breed in the ocean. Is there a chance that these small eels have come from the ocean and just by chance managed to find my backyard pond seeing that there is no way they could have bred in my rainwater pond? I do only live about 100 metres from the ocean though.

I have also seen eels in small water bodies on tops of mountains a very long way from saltwater or any other water source for that matter.

 

[RemoverAccount]

best way to keep eel is to smoke them - sensational!!

 

[beatlloydy]

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??

I heard that too,...there are Eels in centennial park in the Eastern suburbs of sydney...I have heard that they migrate via the drains to Botany bay ..a distance of 10 km or so ..to mate and somehow return.

 

[beatlloydy]

The eels and fish we caught came out of a creek in Wallsend, Newcastle, where the water comes out of local mines. Minerals that come out of the water stain the rocks and reeds orange.

I have seen documentaries on eel breeding, and cannot offer any explanation as to how we ended up with baby eels. However I am telling the truth 100%.

In case there is doubt my JP number is 118696.

Lol....we will need you to sign a stat dec on this and get it signed by a JP.

I believe you..stranger things have happened...perhaps eels make calling noises only picked up by other eels and this is how the elves? found their way there.

 

[Sdaji]

best way to keep eel is to smoke them - sensational!!

They say smoking is bad for you, but it sure cured my fish, and my ham.

 

[1fishystuff1]

genetics

I would like to know this too

its in there genetic imprint to return to waters of there parents.

 

[1fishystuff1]

genetics

Lol....we will need you to sign a stat dec on this and get it signed by a JP.

I believe you..stranger things have happened...perhaps eels make calling noises only picked up by other eels and this is how the elves? found their way there.

its in there genetic imprint to return to the waters of there parents. its all really amazing they travel thousands of kilometers