Eels

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Cloudk

Cloudk

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 25, 2010
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Swimming in a mountain river
Alright. So, electric eels zap things, duh. But would anyone here keep one? Or do you already? I mean I think it'd be too much work, and with safety precautions up the wazoo. Amazonian fish in general are obviously popular. What's one more? People keep stingrays, and catfish, both have spines and can hurt A LOT. Don't forget everyone w/ teeth! Gator gar and such. So there's risk taking already. I'd imagine getting zapped by one would be like an electric fence. A pop of a weirdness, painful feeling. Or if it's really pi$$ed, touching a powerful electric fence. Anyways, i'd like to hear some opinions, or maybe experinces?
 
I think the main reasons people don't keep these (aside from the zaps) is availability, legality, and tank size (they get HUGE).
 
They're tough to catch, which make availability limited which makes them very expensive. Pet Solutions has them listed for sale but they are never in stock. A slight shock would be very painful, a full on shock by touching while its in water would probably throw you to the floor.
 
I've only seen one of these for sale in my area. It was pretty cool, but definitely a fish that needs it's own tank. It also grows very large and doesn't really do all that much.
 
seen them for sale over here on a few occasions for about USD $100 for a 2-3 footer, and on two of those occasions i almost bought one... except my 200G was already stocked...

As for the shock factor, i have read people who do keep them get those gloves vets use that go past your elbow for when they do any maintenance on their tanks to prevent getting shocked... although i'm sure they also have some pretty sharp teeth you'd have to watch out for...
 
I owned one for about a year then traded it for some rays. Check back in my threads to find some pics. He was about 24" when I traded him. Great eel. Actually here they are not that rare. Many have owned them in B.C. due to one LFS and a few others that have imported them. IMO I never felt the shock until my hand was almost against him. If you just stuck your hand in the tank no electric current could be felt unless I was really close to him. I kept him alone in a 100g tank which seemed even to big for him because even though they get big keep in mind that they are not that active. My guy mostly say around in one place all day and just went up for air every few minutes. At NIGHT though they are much more active. Very fun to watch then. All in all they are a "lazy" fish, even when it's feeding time. Like I said above mine was only active at night. I have owned these and lungfish before and the way they act and swim the very similair.
 
Nice eel Snow... and i must say i'm quite surprised to hear you don't get zapped unless close to the fish... what about if it actually wanted to zap you, would you still need to be really close or could it travel through the water?
 
Fat Homer;5085505; said:
Nice eel Snow... and i must say i'm quite surprised to hear you don't get zapped unless close to the fish... what about if it actually wanted to zap you, would you still need to be really close or could it travel through the water?
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hard to say. He never was on defence or anything like that. Even when I went to catch him to take him out I never was zapped. If I ever had an extra tank though I would love to get more but this time i would get 3 or so as I heard they like eachothers company as long as they are around the same size. Maybe next year...
 
I've seen them for sale on occasion. and the Shedd Aquarium has some beasts. THe bigger they get the more voltage they can supposidly put-out and thus the more dangerous. I've been tagged by cattle fences and horse fences enough times.. to not want one in my living room. But... To each his or her own I say. Not my cup of tea... I'de as soon get a SAL.. as Snow said I've heard they are very similar to lungfish in their habits. In general I'de be most worried about the bite, unless I was planning on ticking it off that day.
 
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