How to decide between fire eels?

[F3l1ss]

I rescued 2 fire eels from someone that was keeping them on multicoloured gravel in a half-filled 90L with only a small hollow bell to hide in.

They're now in my 90L which I had spare at the time. This is temporary while I'm sorting out transporting the 200L I have stored at my parents. They're on sand, with several places to hide, plants etc and they appear to me to be happier -in that they often come out in the evening and swim around while we're watching, and even approach our hands when we pop in some bloodworms.

I am after advice on whether it will be possible to maintain 2 fire eels together, or whether it's best for them to be split them up? I have come across mixed advice... usually based on the personalities of the fish themselves.

Unfortunately, I have noticed a bit of aggression as one of them is maybe an inch bigger than the other, usually around feeding time but who knows what happens while I'm not watching. Would this aggression lessen once I get them in to the 200L with more places to hide etc? The 200L is temporary (for a bit longer than the 90L) while we're in our rented accommodation this year.

If I do have to sell a fire eel on, how on earth do I decide which one? They both have different characters and I've never had to move a fish on before. How do I find a decent home where it'd be well kept?

Thanks for your help!

 

[dempseyreed]

We have 2 fire eels together in a 240 gallon tank. The smaller eel has a pvc pipe the larger eel can't fit into. We have some aggression at feeding time but nothing too bad. They have been growing up in a 75 gal tank for about a year before we upgraded to the 240. One of them is quite a bit larger than the other now. It's working for us but we are prepared to move the smaller eel if we ever need to. We change the pvc pipes as they grow. The larger eel swims around more then the smaller one and has more personality. We hand feed them daily and generally can hand feed them side by side.
Here's pics of Craig and Smokey.

 

[Fat Homer]

Hi F3l1ss, let me make sure i didn't make a mistake here, but are you are keeping 2 fire eels in a 90L (Approx 25G) Tank? and plan on upgrading them by placing them into a 200L (Approx 50G) tank???

If that is the case, i would say skip the 200L tank and aim for something more in the 750L (200G) - 1200L (300G) range depending if you plan on keeping both or just one, since these guys will potentially grow to over 3' in length and get really thick!!!

Here is a video of 40" Monster for reference...

 

[F3l1ss]

Thanks for the reply dempseyreed. It seems like it is possible and can work, but potentially one of the eels will be limited in it's behaviour. Need to think on that.

One of ours seems to spend most of its time exploring the floor, and the other seems more of a climber -this is the one that is getting picked on a bit.

Thanks also fat homer. You're right the current situation isn't ideal in the 90L (I'm in the UK, so conversion to US gallons is ~24). I'm working with what we immediately had to hand.

I am planning on keeping at least one of the eels and know I need to upscale the size of tank considerably. Especially as they do most of their fast growing in the first 2-3 years as I understand? I haven't been able to find anything definitive though and always appreciate input. At the moment they are both between 6-7 inches long, bigger one is almost pushing an inch wide. I have no idea how old they are, can any one help with this?

As for going for a bigger tank immediately instead of the 200L... I don't own my house and can't go exploring what is under the floor to see if it would take a massive tank. We are looking to buy somewhere later this year, which would change all that. Also in all honesty it's been quite a thing for my OH to take on board, having a monster fish, and he's not ready for it yet...

 

[Fat Homer]

Hi F3l1ss,

At 6-7 inches i would guess they are still quite young, and at that age they tend to grow quite quickly if fed on meaty items such as market prawns...

I would also advise you watch out for the one that likes hanging at the top, especially if you have any openings from the tank top... Since these guys are knowm escape artists...

Infact thats how i lost my old 24"+ fire eel, jumped out of a small hole i didnt think he could get through and was dried up dead by morning...

 

[Fatlungy]

My fire eel makes my 300 gallon look small! She eats more than any fish I've ever had, went from 12 inches to over 30 inches in a year and a half and is as thick as my arm.

 

[F3l1ss]

At the moment we've been feeding them mainly frozen bloodworms, which is what they were used to, about a cube between them a day. Also small bits of market prawn maybe couple times a week. I've also just received some live blackworms in the post, as thought might be more interesting for them to try live food. One of them is starting to hand feed, the other one is a bit more timid.

My OH made the tank lid. It's perspex with a wooden frame. When you say yours jumped out a small hole, how small? As there's a 3/mm gap along the side of our lid where the perspex has a slight curl.

I'm on another fish forum, with people mainly based in the UK, so I will put the feelers out to see if anyone is interested in and has facilities for a fire eel. Still not sure which one we'd keep out of the two...

Fatlungy, do you have an pics? What and how often were you feeding your girl? From what I've read online they seem to grow as fast as you feed them. Makes sense if they were in the wild, they can quickly capitalize on a food source and lower the risk of themselves being eaten.

 

[Fat Homer]

That gap was around 3cm, but my eel was quite thick and managed to squeeze through...

So really use your best judgement, although a 3mm gap i doubt you will have problems with unless they literally knock it off and get out...

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I currently have two fire eels similar in size to yours. They are about 5-6" but both are very similar in size. They often swim about and hide together in the same places. I am currently keeping them in my 29 gallon tank while I am setting up my 220. I have seen videos on YouTube of people keeping multiple adults successfully but I have also heard many times that they do not do well with each other. I am hoping that they will end up doing well if I raise them together from a young age but if they don't end up getting along when they are older then I will get rid of one of them...or get another tank (my wife will probably divorce me, lol). I have heard that they are far less aggressive than tire track eels though.

 

[Fatlungy]

She only ate earthworms for awhile, she eats shrimp, tilapia, any kind of shellfish and silversides I stuff pellets in whatever I can.