Fire Eels are ideal eels to keep with rays. They're the largest available freshwater eels and since you need a huge tank for to keep a ray, you'll have room for this monster fish too.
The only other thing you'll need to consider with the eel is the tank cover. Eels are escape artists and you must keep a tight lid on their tank. When my eel was 12" long he managed to crawl into my boi-wheel filter! He was at least an inch thick at that time and he made his way through a 1/2" gap between the lid and the front of the filter. Then, he crawled OVER the bio-wheel and past the filter pad, all this while the filter cover was on and the wheel was turning. At first I thought he'd jumped out and was on the floor - he crammed himself into the filter area next to the filter pad. I took it as a sign that my water quality needed to be better - since the fish was trying to escape the water. After that I upped the water changes and he hasn't tried to escape since.
Most freshwater eels are nocturnal, so you need to give them a hiding place during the day to keep them happy. A cave the length of their body is ideal, even if it's something as simple as a piece of pvc. I recommend anchoring the pvc to something sturdy like a rock, or securing it to the side of the tank with a suction cup. This way your rays won't blow the pipe (with eel in it) all over the tank as they search for food.
Ask your LFS if they can get you a fire eel, most wholesalers carry them. The biggest problem with fire eels is that they're all wild caught. If you get a big one, it means it's an older fish from the river/steam/lake and chances are you'll have a hell of a time getting him/her to eat pellets or frozen food. These eels are caught from the lake using hooks and bait, it's not uncommon to see tiny hooks still attached to the fish's mouth when they reach the wholesalers. In my experience, fire eels will only accept live foods. I had a young fire eel once that would pass up frozen bloodworms - she only wanted live ghost shrimp, which eventually killed her. Get your fish off of feeder foods as soon as possible. This eel contracted a disease from infected ghost shrimp. I didn't have the chance to offer her live earthworms (red wigglers).
My second fire eel I bought when she was a foot long. She'll only eat live worms since she was much older when she was captured from her native habitat. I won't feed her anything except canadian nightcrawlers and earthworms. Her worms are available all year-round from the bait fridge at my local Wal-Mart in the sporting goods section. I can get a tub of 2 dozen nightcrawlers for about $2.50. The earthworms (called trout worms/red wigglers) are 30 for about $2. Her food is cheap, nutritious, and available all year round.
The only other thing you'll need to consider with the eel is the tank cover. Eels are escape artists and you must keep a tight lid on their tank. When my eel was 12" long he managed to crawl into my boi-wheel filter! He was at least an inch thick at that time and he made his way through a 1/2" gap between the lid and the front of the filter. Then, he crawled OVER the bio-wheel and past the filter pad, all this while the filter cover was on and the wheel was turning. At first I thought he'd jumped out and was on the floor - he crammed himself into the filter area next to the filter pad. I took it as a sign that my water quality needed to be better - since the fish was trying to escape the water. After that I upped the water changes and he hasn't tried to escape since.
Most freshwater eels are nocturnal, so you need to give them a hiding place during the day to keep them happy. A cave the length of their body is ideal, even if it's something as simple as a piece of pvc. I recommend anchoring the pvc to something sturdy like a rock, or securing it to the side of the tank with a suction cup. This way your rays won't blow the pipe (with eel in it) all over the tank as they search for food.
Ask your LFS if they can get you a fire eel, most wholesalers carry them. The biggest problem with fire eels is that they're all wild caught. If you get a big one, it means it's an older fish from the river/steam/lake and chances are you'll have a hell of a time getting him/her to eat pellets or frozen food. These eels are caught from the lake using hooks and bait, it's not uncommon to see tiny hooks still attached to the fish's mouth when they reach the wholesalers. In my experience, fire eels will only accept live foods. I had a young fire eel once that would pass up frozen bloodworms - she only wanted live ghost shrimp, which eventually killed her. Get your fish off of feeder foods as soon as possible. This eel contracted a disease from infected ghost shrimp. I didn't have the chance to offer her live earthworms (red wigglers).
My second fire eel I bought when she was a foot long. She'll only eat live worms since she was much older when she was captured from her native habitat. I won't feed her anything except canadian nightcrawlers and earthworms. Her worms are available all year-round from the bait fridge at my local Wal-Mart in the sporting goods section. I can get a tub of 2 dozen nightcrawlers for about $2.50. The earthworms (called trout worms/red wigglers) are 30 for about $2. Her food is cheap, nutritious, and available all year round.
