which eel for 67 gal african cichlid tank?

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ksc133

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 16, 2008
35
1
38
singapore
hi folks

i was looking for the most suitable spiny eel for my 67 gal african cichlid tank

i have 17 african cichlids right now and 1 sydonotis catfish. most of my fishes are around 3-5 inch

Filter: OHF 1650L/hr
Wavemaker: 5000L/hr
ACDC air pump: 5L/Hr X 2 sponge filter

i always wanted to get a Odd ball spiny eel for my tank

which spiny eel will be best for me?

tire-track eel -- M.favus? 70cm
one strip eel - M.aral? 60cm

thanks
 
Mastacembelus ellipsifer
Caecomastacembelus plagiostomus

imo are your 2 best options.

Favus wil still get approx 24" fully grown
aral's aren't bad

both the species mentioned above are indiginouse to Lake Tang.
 
Hello monstermini,

thanks for advice

M.aral, yes this spiny eel looks good on paper
60cm the largest Macrognathus, so he don't get bully by the african cichilds. african cichilds are pretty aggressive.

my current PH is around 7.6 to 7.8
i am not sure if M.aral or M.favus can live in PH 7.8?

but i read on the forum that M.aral seldom grow beyond 1foot and they need brackish water.
how true is this?

Mastacembelus ellipsifer is cool but they cost $90 bucks for 8incher here.... way beyond my budget...

thanks and more advice

cheers
 
IMO, your tank isn't large enough for an adult M. favus (I wouldn't keep one in anything smaller than a 100g). For your setup, I would get either an M. ellipsifer, M. panacalus, M. liberiensis, or M. zebrinus.
 
hello

Thanks drgnfrc for advice

M.zebrinus looks good too... i will consider it.

anybody has experience with M.aral ?
 
PH changes shock unless at extreames don't seem to phase fish much your TDS are more important.. You'll get alot of deabts about this.. but to answer your question I have kept fire eels, M Dayi, tt eels ( armatus not fav) all in varying degress of higher PHs... I hoover around 8.0 atm myself with GH/KH off the charts and my eels are fine. I Would suggest drip acclimating any new eels though as most are wild caught and should be QTd w/out a doubt.

If your between favrus and aral.. I would w/outta doubt go w/ aral. I concur that Favrus will be to big long-term for your tank, but imo favrus personality would be better as they are a more aggressive or "stout" spiney. Aral may hide all the tim eon you if aggression gets to intense.

and as far as I am aware none of the spineys are true brackish fish, but FW. the idea thats pineys need salt or brackish is because in poor water quality they are extreamely prone to bacterial infections, so perfect water conditions shoudl be maintained at all times. IE 0 ammonia- 0 nitrite and nitrates 30ppm or less ime.
 
hi monsterminis

thank you for your great advice
i guess it would be M.aral for me provided if i can find 1 here local LFS...
how about M.zebrinus as a alternative if i cannot find any M.aral here?

thanks and cheers!
 
hi folks

just to update, i was not able to get any M.arals
only Fire eels and tire-track eels

i got myself 2 small tiretrack eels at 5inches long.

hope they grow bigger soon...

thanks
 
Not to be rude, but i hope you realize that tire track eels will grow to about 3' when fully mature (if i remember correctly) as will fire eels... so having 2 in your tank will definitely not work in the long run...
 
yes sir agreed

i will donate one of the tiretrack eels once they reach 12inches
i bought 2 eels because they are very hard to find here.... almost Rare!
i was skeptical of their survial rate in a african cichlids tank therefore i got 2 of them.
now they are still small at 5inches and happily feeding on frozen bloodworms in a bottle.

the yellow lab cichlid is aggressive towards the eels, i hope the tiretrack grows fast.. thanks!
 
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