american eels?

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A very interesting place near me had them. I don't remember the name but it was a sort of science center for kids at Tysons Corner (I think...?). They had all sorts of interactive exhibits involving robotics, physics and the like. I don't know if they're open since I no longer live in the area and most of their hands-on stuff would be closed right now anyway. They had another area that I spent all my time in that had a mantis shrimp, a couple of small bamboo sharks, and a pair of american eels. They had them on pellets and they were always very active. Once in a while they'd feed minnows and do a little presentation on them to the kids. That's all of my experience with them, never heard of a private keeper having them. I never asked where they'd got them, I was around 8 at the time.

I seem to remember them being pretty big, though coloration and size probably depends on locality.
 
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This is a very cool animal. Try to get males as they stay smaller. Females get very large. They get out of tanks easily. I had one years ago, but it got out one too many times.

They are farmed for food, but it takes a lot of grading. Males staying small is a challenge. The big issue is that they haven't been spawned successfully, and the industry depends on wild caught larvae. Hopefully that can be done one day.
 
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Potato Patatto said:
Close but other way around lol they live in freshwater and migrate to saltwater to reproduce.

And they will die in a bucket overnight if you have a lid covering it. They are ridiculously hardy. I have kept them on ice before for HOURS, then would hook them through the nose and back, troll them, and somehow be squirming around an hour later.
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They weren’t in a covered bucket, they had an air stone running but still dropped their slime costs. They are very hardy and can survive for hours out of water as long as they don’t dry out. I have caught them up to 3’ when fishing inside the bays and estuarys. I’ve never seen one in the full fresh in my 20 plus years fishing. The baymen set traps to catch them and then bring them into the tackle shops. They don’t catch them in fresh water.
 
TheWolfman said:
They weren’t in a covered bucket, they had an air stone running but still dropped their slime costs. They are very hardy and can survive for hours out of water as long as they don’t dry out. I have caught them up to 3’ when fishing inside the bays and estuarys. I’ve never seen one in the full fresh in my 20 plus years fishing. The baymen set traps to catch them and then bring them into the tackle shops. They don’t catch them in fresh water.
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they can definitely live in fresh.
 
It is way more complicated than you think. I have heard this conversation before and never understood the issue. All I was able to say is they definitely live in full fresh as they are found all the way to southern Illinois and they definitely live in salt as they have had a commercial fisheries in marine environments. I found this article that helps clear it up. This is definitely not something I was ever going to figure out on my own or talking to other aquarist. Genetic analysis of the American eel helps explain its decline (phys.org)
 
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I think they ae also some what protected? atleast in canada they used to be common in southern ontario but the construction of dams has all but wiped them out up here my dad used to catch them all the time in full fresh in New Hampshire but only in certain times of the year apparently they ran up rivers like salmon and then retreated
 
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The American eel can live in about any place that has water. Most ascend coastal rivers in search of freshwater, but some live in brackish or even full marine conditions. By far, the most adaptive fish. Sex usually isn't determined until they are a few years old, and females tend to go further upstream if they can. Females also live longer and grow bigger than males. All American eels spawn somewhere in the vicinity of the Sargasso Sea, and the young eels drift in the ocean currents that eventually carry them to land. At this life stage they are collected and sent to Asia to be grown out for sushi. Some of the aquaculture does take place in the US.
Choose a tank and tank mates wisely. They are very good escape artists and will eat about anything.
 
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spotfin said:
The American eel can live in about any place that has water. Most ascend coastal rivers in search of freshwater, but some live in brackish or even full marine conditions. By far, the most adaptive fish. Sex usually isn't determined until they are a few years old, and females tend to go further upstream if they can. Females also live longer and grow bigger than males. All American eels spawn somewhere in the vicinity of the Sargasso Sea, and the young eels drift in the ocean currents that eventually carry them to land. At this life stage they are collected and sent to Asia to be grown out for sushi. Some of the aquaculture does take place in the US.
Choose a tank and tank mates wisely. They are very good escape artists and will eat about anything.
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It said in that paper that once a baby eel acclimates to brackish or fresh they can't change from one to the other if I'm understanding correctly?
 
It seems like they can't for the long term. Obviously the freshwater ones make it back to spawn. I guess the marine eels can never go fresh.
 
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