eel identification

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mmurry

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 22, 2012
51
0
6
salt lake city, utah
first off, I am working on getting a photo and I will post it asap... he is pretty shy.... I bought this eel from a local guy whom claimed it was a tire track eel... it is 13 inches and according the the previous owner it has doubled in size in the past year... problem is I dont think it is a tire track eel?? the the body and head basicly look like a tiretrack eel... but the markings are not tiretrack ish... .the fish is a light brownish color with dark black dots or spots up and down his body... fairly evenly spread out... honestly if you know what a brown trout looks like, this eel has markings that resemble a brown trout... got any ideas on his ID??? just curious...
thanks
Mike
 
Yep.. common name is the black leopard eel. fun guys.. same care/husbandry as TT's. That ones abit over 2yrs now and 24" give or take.
 
thanks so much for the advice / insight... he is pretty cool... couldnt id him from the photos i found on google searching for spiny eel... internet is also a little cloudy on potnetial growth?? hoping he gets big... I figure if he doubled in size 6inches to 13 inches in a year, it has to be a sign that he will get pretty big...
 
I would vary their diet fresh meaty foods bloodworms tilapia shrimp ect. U may also need to make efforts to ensure they get food. The other fish will scarf all the food. I hand feed certain fish. Including the big eel. Warmer temps in the tank will also speed up their metabolism.





QUOTE=MidWestMike;6449467]Any tips on making them grow faster, I bought two TT's. one starting packing size within a few months and the other has barely grown at all.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app[/QUOTE]
 
mmurry said:
thanks so much for the advice / insight... he is pretty cool... couldnt id him from the photos i found on google searching for spiny eel... internet is also a little cloudy on potnetial growth?? hoping he gets big... I figure if he doubled in size 6inches to 13 inches in a year, it has to be a sign that he will get pretty big...
Click to expand...

as far as I have been able to find mine is the largest in captivity atm ( at least grown from a juvi, and in private ownership) I would estimate she will get larger but she has slown down significantly in the past few monthes... and it wouldn't surprize me if there are more out there in the 2' range.

I always raise my spineys now with a pretty simple plan..

2"-12" (approx elvers to 1yr) all the live blackworrms they can eat.. I try to maintain food for them in this fashion by putting a large amount in 1x a week or so.
12"+ continue to feed blackworms but start offering earthworms cut into 1/4s and 1/2s as they grow/size. once readily taking food from my hand/coming out for it w/out fear. I offer other foods such as frozen krill/smelt/ect ( de-thawed of course)

I have never seen an eel raised strictly on bloodworms that kept up with growth of a live worm fed eel. They can also be notoriouse for refuseing prepared foods ( ie pellets) But some people have had success with them as well as w/ homemade gel concotions. They are not keen on new foods so getting them on as many different foods is key, particularly most never take to pellets ect so vitamin defficency is imo a very real worry with these fish. Some people have had success with larger eels stuffing pellets into fillets ect to get them those vits, also you can inject worms w/ liquid vits ect... But I found a diet roughly 50% nightcrawlers and supplimented w/ any and all meaty foods keeps these guys healthy. Some people swear by feeding raw shrimp but I personally do not like them and have seen many unexplained deaths corelating between feeding a diet high in shrimp ( imo if you can get it straight off the docks thats a different story, the preservatives often used in the grocery store are where I think the main issue lies)
 
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