Euopean eels as pets?

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EmrePekdeniz;4668097; said:
Probably. I've read that the European and American species are quite similar. So, do you keep the American eel in a separate tank, or is it compatible with other eels? How old and how large is it? Is it aggressive/territorial? I'd appreciate the info.
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From what I've read, the only difference I've heard between the two species is the number of vertebrae.

The only thing I keep with my eel currently is ghost shrimp. I have not housed him with anything else. I do not know the exact age, but I bought him in January of this year and he's about 17 inches, probably a little biggernow since I last measured him in February. He's in the yellow phase of the American eel life cycle, so he can be anywhere from 5 to 20 years old. He's pretty shy and doesn't mind when the ghost shrimp are climbing over his head.

However, I did have goldfish in his tank with him before I knew the disadvantages of them as food. At first, it seemed that the eel didn't mind the goldfish at all. Then one day, his appetite showed up, and the fish vanished :)
 
EmrePekdeniz;4669210; said:
Ah.. the ghost shrimp is there as feeders, I assume? Otherwise that'd be a very shy eel. Your experience is kinda encouraging, maybe they don't get much aggressive before reaching a certain size.
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The shrimp were kind of like an experimental feeder I'd say. He ate some it seems, but not all(either the shrimp move too quickly or a 17 inch fish does not really care for such a tiny little shrimp).

From what I'm reading, once the American eel is past the elver stage they tend to be solitary.
 
hello mate, i can't speak for the american eel, but the european probably like the tropical water your arowana likes.

good luck with it though!
oh and everyone in europe is comercially raping european eel populations, any we catch we return to the water unharmed. but comercial fishermen take hundreds of tons a year. until that changes they will always be in trouble. but your specimen wouldn't cause a problem.

all the best mate, and post lots of pics if you do it.

G
 
I keep Anguilla sp. eels (likely farmed japanese or american eels), I had about 60+ at one point, I'm down to 12 now due to territorial issues. They don't tolerate other bottom dwellers in their caves, etc. and they like to nip at other fish in the tank at nighttime. They're awesome fish but choose tankmates wisely. Mine are all living in tropical temperatures except for 4 which are living with large creek chub/fallfish.
 
Xiao;4684831; said:
I keep Anguilla sp. eels (likely farmed japanese or american eels), I had about 60+ at one point, I'm down to 12 now due to territorial issues. They don't tolerate other bottom dwellers in their caves, etc. and they like to nip at other fish in the tank at nighttime. They're awesome fish but choose tankmates wisely. Mine are all living in tropical temperatures except for 4 which are living with large creek chub/fallfish.
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So they can tolerate tropical water conditions after all. I'm inclined to get a few small specimens and see how they'll fit.
 
EmrePekdeniz;4686871; said:
So they can tolerate tropical water conditions after all. I'm inclined to get a few small specimens and see how they'll fit.
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The way I see it, they spend years inland in streams and lakes which (here in southern Ontario, Canada at least) reach upwards of 23 degrees celsius on average and sometimes higher during peak sunlight hours, not to mention they're distributed quite a ways south of here down into Mississippi and the more subtropical states. They should do fine in tropical temperatures if the climate over there is anything like that here in southern Canada/northern USA.
 
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