# Can you buy Eeels ??



## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

Hello,

Im just woundering can you buy eels and if so how much and how would you care for it thanks

Jake. =]


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## Grond (Jun 17, 2008)

yes you can. jellied! Check out your local deli.:Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

what kind of eels? natives?

you can get freshwater moray eels (though they do best in brackish water) or there are a variety of marine morays


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## snowgoose (May 5, 2009)

like daftlassieEmma said, it depends what your setup is and what species your after. I have one in my tank that my little brother caught in a ditch lol we feed it on chopped earthworms and its doing great although he does seem to attack the other fish when he's hungry


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

i have not got a set up yet but thinking very hard as i want a big fish well 2 or 3 big (BIG) fish in it as i think it would look really coool and relaxing  any ideas.. ??


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## ReefKeeper (Jan 16, 2009)

You could keep a moray eel with a couple of big marine fish.

Just remember to keep the lid on as they can easily get out, My mates got out and ended on the lawn


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## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

you can get fire eel's for fresh water and a few others


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

rum&coke said:


> you can get fire eel's for fresh water and a few others


 lovely fish, can't believe i forgot bout them :blush:


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

ReefKeeper said:


> You could keep a moray eel with a couple of big marine fish.
> 
> Just remember to keep the lid on as they can easily get out, My mates got out and ended on the lawn


 
Any pictures of what your talking about sorry i dont know alot about fish .. more Snakes guy but i love fish .. 

Thanks it sounds good thoo what the guy above said ..
How big of tank and how much would it set me back inc set up .. filters .. pumps etc 


THANKS EVERYBODY SO FAR :blush:


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## ReefKeeper (Jan 16, 2009)

Tbh if your only desire is to keep a Eeel you cant beat the moray for looks or pure predatory instincts! I would go for one.

Its not going to cost an awful lot of money considering you can keep them with minimal light a few chosen bits of ocean rock and you certainly wont be keep inverts .. unless you want to feed 15 quid shrimps a go.

Space of course is an issue as they are quite big so go for 4ft -ft or bigger.

If your into ''land snakes'' then moray snowflakes would be ideal .. id skip any freshwater types too boring for me.

Ill grad a pic or two


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## ReefKeeper (Jan 16, 2009)

Snowflake moray - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a lion fish a perfect freind for him


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

ReefKeeper said:


> Tbh if your only desire is to keep a Eeel you cant beat the moray for looks or pure predatory instincts! I would go for one.
> 
> Its not going to cost an awful lot of money considering you can keep them with minimal light a few chosen bits of ocean rock and you certainly wont be keep inverts .. unless you want to feed 15 quid shrimps a go.
> 
> ...


Excellent so what do i need then to keep one of them and 3 marine fish is that possible ?? and were do i buy them from eels!!:S Lol!


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## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

my dad has a snowflake moray in his tank and has had it for years its pretty cool I will try and get a pic of it next time its out of it hole


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## ReefKeeper (Jan 16, 2009)

Ok a basic set-up is what you need , lets base this on a 4foot tank.

You will need obv the tank can be bought cheap secondhand, the lid, sand, rock for it to hide in ... could cost around 50 quid all in, bit pointless using live rock if your only keeping the eel and two or three others.

A heater 150w 200w, a refratometer for salinity , these are marine fish dont forget, t5 lights a couple will suffice. 

Salt can cost from 30 to 60 per bucket, you wont need to change much tho, you will need a few basic test kits also when starting the tank . But your local fish shop should have the knowledge to help you out on this, you live in a good area for marines.
some kind of mechanical filter for waste disposal. fluval filters do the job

Again this is advice based on very basic set-up for the minute, you can always go full blown reef tank with morays but atm, you might be at a stage where its a little difficult to take it all in , although it can be done.

any questions just ask


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## Daniel1 (Apr 13, 2009)

Yeah I agree with Reefkeeper snowflake flakes are a good choice and they like a good lot of rocks to to hide amongst and you could add a Lionfish or Puffer if you like big fish. Zebra Morays are nice too.


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

Ok thanks very much how much are marine fish then and eels ?

=]


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## ReefKeeper (Jan 16, 2009)

Morays can be ordered in from any marine outlet if they have an account with TMC which alot do, I cant stress enough tho pls do your own home work a little on marine fishkeeping if its your first attempt a basic book is a very good starting point and is a good reference guide


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## ReefKeeper (Jan 16, 2009)

off the top of head, i can find out the exact price you may be looking at 50 to 100 quid for an eel, although im sure the price will vary some what, I payed 25 for my lionfish .. but again it can vary loads.


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## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

also not really eel's but if you wanted some thing you will see more than an eel that will hide and fresh water why not one of these

YouTube - Polypterus senegalus senegal bichir



or

YouTube - Snakehead


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## Daniel1 (Apr 13, 2009)

ReefKeeper said:


> off the top of head, i can find out the exact price you may be looking at 50 to 100 quid for an eel, although im sure the price will vary some what, I payed 25 for my lionfish .. but again it can vary loads.


What Lionfish have you got and any pic's ?


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

don't forget reedfish YouTube - Reed fish 2


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## Daniel1 (Apr 13, 2009)

Jake201 I pm'd you.


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## Nismo75 (Mar 23, 2009)

I used to have a freshwater tropical eel, cant remeber the name of it though, they make an interesting addition to any tank


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

There aren't many easily obtainable "true" freshwater eels (although I saw an undescribed sp. in pier aquatics the other day which i believe was in freshwater)

most of the true eels for sale (most of them sold as "freshwater" morays) are actually brackish fish, however there ARE a couple of true freshwater morays, they turn up fairly rarely, and you need to do your research to ensure a correct ID.

Marine eels as has been said are supposed to be realtively easy to keep (although not tried myself)

There are a lot of eel-like species available, which aren't true eels (eels don't have pectorial fins amongst other features), including; Spiny eels (including species like fire eel, spiny eel, half banded eel, tire track eel), polyterus species (lovely predatory group of mid-to-large sized fish), snakeheads as has been mentioned and probably my recommendation for someone who has little experience of keeping fish but wants eels; ropefish.

Ropefish (actually classed in the polypterid family) grow to around 14" in the aquarium (although can occasionally reach twice this), but are very slender bodied not producing to much waste. Pretty easy to keep, constantly active, and very gregarious, keep a group and they will live together, curl up together and be very friendly. They are predatory but not aggresive, and have small mouths so can be kept with a lot of mid-sized community fish. They are obligate air breathers so will occasionaly come to the surface for air, and are expectional escape artists and being slim they fit through almost any hole!


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

sounds brilliant so far ..

I have come to the idea i want a ...
6ft tank .. 
a few sharks .. (2ft) ishh

and a baby stingray as i have heard they can be kept but cant touch but i wouldnt touch any of the fish any way is this possible to keep theses and are they .. Cold water or tropical ?

Thanks so much!!


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

Jake201 said:


> sounds brilliant so far ..
> 
> I have come to the idea i want a ...
> 6ft tank ..
> ...


Stingrays are very delicate, and need really pristine water quality. Also remember baby rays get big quickly  Rays are lovely fish and very friendly, just be careful of their stinging barb. However a 6ft x 3ft wide tank would be great for quite a few species. if you can manage 8ft x 3ft even better.

2ft sharks? The only FW (freshwater) shark that is readily available that I can think of around that size is the black shark which is very aggresive and will try and claim a 6' tank as its entire territory and will quickly attack and kill rays and most other fish in a tank. Cigar sharks are nice and peaceful, if a bit timid but only reach about 14". FW sharks are actually in the cyprinid family and aren't true sharks. The closest to a true shark would be the FW stingray!

All available freshwater rays are tropical.


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## Daniel1 (Apr 13, 2009)

I would stay away from Sharks and Rays unless you have a very wide shallow tank and if you decide to go for a Shark, Bamboo Cat Sharks are nice and get to about 3-3.5ft. If I were you I would get a Puffer, a Lionfish, a Snowflake Moray Eel and a Frogfish. I have some pic's from my local aquatics shop of some nice marine fish/inverts and other pic's I will post soon.


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

Could i keep 3 or 4 big ish sharks together and 2 baby sting rays or not is this possible ??

sorry to be a pain in the ass!!

I love this i want this in there aswell what do you think ??

http://www.buylivecoral.com/images/bambooshk.jpg


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## lizardloverrach (Dec 1, 2008)

i know the 'world of water' near me has eels, no idea what sort! 
theres bound to be one near you they are everywhere (world of water not eels!) they have loads of other weird and wonderful aquatics too

you must REALLY love snakes...you even want your fish to look like them!


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

Jake201 said:


> Could i keep 3 or 4 big ish sharks together and 2 baby sting rays or not is this possible ??
> 
> sorry to be a pain in the ass!!


Freshwater or marine?

How big is bigish? Bigish in freshwater sharks is 16" - 2', bigish in marine is 6' long.

It all depends on the size of the tank really.

Baby stingrays can go to adult stingrays in less than 2 years so think of adult sizes.

In a 6' x 3'ft wide tank you could have (freshwater) 2 rays and a few other mid sized fish.

Marine i don't know, as I understand it marine rays are more delicate than freshwater. Also all marine true sharks need a lot of space otherwise will get rubbed noses, I wouldn't suggest trying any true shark in less than 8'x4'

Edit:

Didn't see you were after a bamboo shark. THe pic is a brown banded bamboo shark I believe. They reach about 40" and would be at ok in around a 12' x 5' x 3' tank. All sharks and rays produce lots of waste and need some serious filtration as well! It would be a great project to setup


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

xyra said:


> Freshwater or marine?
> 
> How big is bigish? Bigish in freshwater sharks is 16" - 2', bigish in marine is 6' long.
> 
> ...


 
That sounds good a few rays and a few medium fish but,.. im talking about the size of the tank about 6ft x 3ft .. would i be able to have some sharks or not what grow up to about 3ft ish .. :S??


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

Jake201 said:


> That sounds good a few rays and a few medium fish but,.. im talking about the size of the tank about 6ft x 3ft .. would i be able to have some sharks or not what grow up to about 3ft ish .. :S??


Probably not, but my expertise is really freshwater. Freshwater rays are lovely 

There are some smaller shark species around (20" - 28"), but are pretty rare in the trade i believe


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

Over 6ft Rena Aquarium & Cabinet at Aquarist Classifieds

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Would that be a nice good buy for a few Rays and a few medium sharks ??


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Jake201 said:


> http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/detail59_129014.phpWould that be a nice good buy for a few Rays and a few medium sharks ??


Nope, needs to be far wider than that mate. : victory:


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## Jake201 (Mar 26, 2008)

Esfa said:


> Nope, needs to be far wider than that mate. : victory:


 
FIND ME ONE =[=[ !!!! please i dunoo what sizes  Help me lol :bash::bash::blush:


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

Jake201 said:


> FIND ME ONE =[=[ !!!! please i dunoo what sizes  Help me lol :bash::bash::blush:


Something like this Aquariums Ltd UK - would make a nice FRESHWATER ray tank. Marines would need bigger.


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

I'd say no to marines tbh... unless you can have a swimming pool built into your house. : victory:


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## Mark83 (May 12, 2009)

If you were serious about getting marine setup suitable for rays you would be talking about a huge aquarium. They are very interesting and worth the effort. However you will be needing to spend thousands to get the tank and filtration organised. Although sharks in home aquariums sound interesting I find that many people very quickly get bored of them assuming they can get them to feed.

The most suitable species whch come to mind are the bamboo sharks however they are fairly inactive and are still fairly big. Marine Eels such as a snowflake eel on the other hand are fantastic great fun and real characters. More importantly they are much better suited to beginners, hardy and easy to feed.
Snowflake Eel
You could easily put together a reasonable community of fishes including a snowflake eel in a tank under 200L. In larger tank you could even consider a dragon eel if your pockets are deep enough. 
Dragon Eel - Muraena or Enchelycore pardalis Species Profile by your About Guides to Saltwater Aquariums


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