New 60 gallon Hex! Stocking Ideas?

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Celestevan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2010
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Texas
I have just acquired a new 60 gallon hex tank (equipment and all) from a family member and was hoping for stocking ideas! I currently have a Fire Eel that I have fallen in love with, and am now interested in possibly stocking this new tank with another type of eel of sorts. My question is which eels would be appropriate size-wise for this tank?? I am not very educated in types of eels or their tank requirements so any recommendations would be awesome. If an eel won't work, I'm definitely open to other stocking ideas!

Additional question- How much should my current Fire Eel be eating daily? He is approximately 5-6 inches in length.
 
I don't know much about eels, but i think a planted angel, and cory tank would look awesome
 
A fire eel can get up to 30".. and u could put a Peacock eel in your 60gal for life.. just not a fire eel.. :)
 
If your looking at other eels, not to keep w/ your fire. I would suggest a group of zig zags, or a peacock eel. zig zags stay small 6-8" so imo a small group should be fine. They are the least conspecific aggressive of the spiney eels ime. peacocks will get approx 10-12" and are just as ornery as fire eels.

at 5-6" my black leoprad eels ate 2 cubes of bloodworms a day 1 am and 1 pm. They have grown significantly on this feeding regime. your fire should be able to eat that amount more or less. at juvies feed small amounts often. Even at 20"+ my fire eels eat 1x a day. but may go a few days here or there without just fine. as babies I've noticed spineys will thin out fairly easily if not fed regularly ( this I witnessed with my tire track when he was a juvie )
 
I am aware that Fire Eels can reach over 30" in length :), which is why he is not going to be housed in the 60 hex. My Fire Eel is going into a 100 gallon i a couple weeks and may possibly be upgraded to a 150 within the year. If not then he will go in the 150 gallon in a little over a year. Are the Zig Zags and Peacocks as sociable as Fire Eels are towards the person feeding them? I've only had the Fire Eel a few weeks and he is already taking food out of my hand.

Also, I just found out today that this tank I might be getting had Ich about 1 month ago and is currently housing all the fish that survived. My family member who has the tank is going to re-home all the healthy fish, but now I'm somewhat reluctant to take it. What precautions would I have to take cleaning wise and is it even worth the risk?

JML- I love Corys, but I already have a tank with them and was hoping to go with something a little bit different.
 
Celestevan;4736169; said:


Also, I just found out today that this tank I might be getting had Ich about 1 month ago and is currently housing all the fish that survived. My family member who has the tank is going to re-home all the healthy fish, but now I'm somewhat reluctant to take it. What precautions would I have to take cleaning wise and is it even worth the risk?

JML- I love Corys, but I already have a tank with them and was hoping to go with something a little bit different.
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As long as you drain the tank you're fine, Ich has to have a host to survive, and can't survive out of water - honestly, if you just let it dry out completely for a few days and then rinse it out with tap water, any trace of the parasite will be dead/gone
 
What about the fish in it? Will they still be carriers of Ich even though they appear "cured" or are they okay once they are no longer showing the white spots? Also, does the same apply with the filter? I'll search the forum more for information on this, but I figured I'd at least post my question on this thread in case I don't find answers. :nilly:
 
Since it's only been 1 month and all spineys are very suseptible to Ick.. I would make sure the tank is completealy stripped down, I usually do not reccomend bleach to clean tanks but imo I would bleach it out well. let it dry for a day. then take fresh water and rinse it out very well. I would throw out any gravel or dec in the tank. and if you intend to use the filter remove any components you can and thoroughly scrub the fiter itself.

I would also be hesitant to introduce fish that have had ick. because yes they can carry it.

Ick has a 1 month life cycle. So if the fish have been fine for 1 month it may be a matter of days before another cycle could start. personally I wouldn't trust the time-frame.

If you haven't found more info yet. the diseases section has a good run-down on disease, and Lupin is extreamely knowledgeable in that area. I'm going from my own experainces "what I would do" in the situation. I may abit spooky about Ick but it can manifest and kill a spiney in days.
 
i would say, if you didnt have that eel a couple of rope fish would be nice they also feed from your hand and are very hardy for beginners. they are always active and curious. love too eat to! good luck with that tank tho:) also look up some birchirs
 
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