congo spiny eels?
- Thread starter YOGI BEAR
- Start date
I picked up two Mastacembelus morii eels just under a year ago. They are one of the African spiny eels that are indigenous to the Congo area. I have not been able to find a great deal of information on them, but from I have found they max out at about 44cm. That is a little longer than you 12" limit you were looking for. So far, mine do not appear like they will be real heavy bodied fish at all. They are about 4" long when I got mine, and are about 8" long now. They like to burrow in the substrate a fair bit, but they come up and eat from my hand come feeding time. If I am in the tank arranging plants or something, they tend to pop up and get in my way nipping at my fingers. Fun and handsome things! The are almost big enough to get transferred into my main Congo Biotope tank. Let us know what you decide to go with. Good Luck!
thanks for the reply just seen this now i too would really like to see pictures of the eels and also your main congo biotope if possible? they sound very interesting im just setting up my tank now so hopefully i will be able to get my hands on them or similar
Alright. I took a real quick photo tonight, and found a couple already taken...
They show how these eels can change their coloring depending on their mood. In a matter of just a couple of minutes too! It is really neat to watch.
Feeding time is of course when I see most of the changes going on. Photos of the Congo Biotope will be coming in the future. I am in the middle of rearranging thing in it, so it is a mess right now.
They show how these eels can change their coloring depending on their mood. In a matter of just a couple of minutes too! It is really neat to watch.
Feeding time is of course when I see most of the changes going on. Photos of the Congo Biotope will be coming in the future. I am in the middle of rearranging thing in it, so it is a mess right now.
Just a little note of interest...
Up until very recently I had to feed the eels a very limited diet of earthworms and bloodworms.
they simply would not eat anything else. Very recently one poked its head up toward my fingers as I was trying to feed the new P. delhezi a Hikari sinking carnivore pellet. Next thing I know one of the eels is eating several pellets a day. It took almost a week before the other eels finally got the clue to join in.
Being able to add this to the diet seems to have made a significant difference, as I am noticing both of the eels have noticeably grown over the past month. Much quicker than they were growing before.
Up until very recently I had to feed the eels a very limited diet of earthworms and bloodworms.
they simply would not eat anything else. Very recently one poked its head up toward my fingers as I was trying to feed the new P. delhezi a Hikari sinking carnivore pellet. Next thing I know one of the eels is eating several pellets a day. It took almost a week before the other eels finally got the clue to join in.
Being able to add this to the diet seems to have made a significant difference, as I am noticing both of the eels have noticeably grown over the past month. Much quicker than they were growing before.
They look fantastic I will be looking into getting one or similar in the future I can't wait to see your biotope and I had a similar thing with the elephantnose I just bought awhile ago would only take blood worm but since taking a pellet has just gone abit addicted to them haha, however the butterfly fish in the tank seems to have done the opposite going from pellets to the bloodworm mainly