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CAN I PUT THIS IN MY TANK?


howard

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Hi all, i was fishing the other day and happened to catch an eel, i beleive its a long fin eel, i managed to bring it home with me and put it in a 2ft tank, i was wondering if i was able to put it in my fresh water tank, im confused as to wether he is a marine or fresh water fish???

Ps- caught in georges river and he is 60cm

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im like 99% sure it will be fine as it was caught in freshwater and if its longfin then definitely ok

The Georges river is a salt water river which is flushed out a couple of times a day by the changing tides.

The short answer is NO.

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If he is still alive now then chances are it will be fine. However next time research before bringing something home and chucking it in an environment which may kill it. Note though, that eels will get out of anything and everything unless it has very heavy lids on the tank, they are predatory so will kill anything that they can eat and absolutely stink if the water isn't filter well.

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Getting out, and stinking the water isnt a concern to me as i did have saratogas in my tank i have lids, and i have a couple canisters running in the tank, but like you guys said georges river is a salt water river so that is what confuses me,

Ps im not 100% sure of what type of eel it is,

Right now its sitting in a 4ft tank which i filled up half way from water from georges river, its feeding off prawns and has a filter running, i only posted this up to find out wether i can put it in my main 6x2x2 tank or to take it back next time i go fishing and release it.

Im still abit confused as im getting mixed answers..

So sorry guys if i could have a little more help it would be great..

Im not one to tortue fish, i take great care of all my fish as im doing with this eel thats why im going to the length of finding out wether it would be suitable for it or not..

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Depending on the type of eel theyll live in both salt and fresh water....

As adults they live mostly in fresh water, then migrate down to the lower reaches of rivers to the ocean where they breed, the small eels (Ive forgotten the correct name) then live in the ocean for up to 7 years (I think). When adults they migrate back up the rivers to fresh water where they live until its time to migarte back to the ocean to breed again

One of the zoos I worked at had some land locked eels in a pond...they were MASSIVE (more than a meter long and thicker than a mans arm) and would eat ducklings that swam on the pond.

FROM THE WEB

Reproduction

Short finned eels have an interesting life-cycle. The mature adults migrate from fresh water to the sea in order to spawn after which it is believed they die. Where they actually spawn is uncertain but is believed to be in the South Coral Sea off the coast of North Queensland. Mature females about a metre in length have been found to contain more than 3 million eggs.

The eel larvae, known as leptocephali because of their leaf like flat shape, are carried south by the East Australian Current from their spawning grounds until they reach the continental shelf. At around this time they metamorphose into the normal tubular eel shape although devoid of any pigment and so are known as glass eels.

When the glass eels begin to migrate into fresh water they may be anywhere from one to three years old. Migration begins in the autumn in Northern regions reaching Western Victoria by mid spring. Whilst in the estuarine waters the glass eels quickly develop into fully pigment elvers and adjust to fresh water.

Subsequent migrations from the estuaries into fresh water involve both elvers and glass eels and may happen after, during or before the main migration from the sea. These migrations are know as "eel fares" from which the term "elver" is derived. Generally these occur at night and may involve as many as four different age classes.

The upstream migration continues well into the upper reaches of the river systems and elvers and glass eels (and adults) can overcome even large obstructions such as dams and waterfalls by the simple expedient of traveling overland in damp conditions, with a motion much like snakes.

Eels can live for a long time and females may reach the age of 35 years before feeling the urge to begin the cycle all over again. Males may live for 25 years. However females as young as 10 and males as young 6 may begin the downstream migration to breed.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/200.../06/2044390.htm

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can you post up a pick its more than likely a long or short fined eel they will be fine in fresh or salt they are actually a great addition to a tank once they are used to there enviroment they will come out and feed from your hands will normally only eat small fish ive never had a problem with any eels cheers

shannon

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i would suggest that you begin to climatise it to the water you are using in the tank you wish to transfer it to just by adding water to it im sure your 4 ft is not full so just add water till full over a few weeks treat it with some meds lots of oxygen heat the water to your tanks temp

then if it survives this process transfer it

or you might just decide to start a new tank with the eel as the main featured fish ?

good luck and congrats on the catch :)

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i would suggest that you begin to climatise it to the water you are using in the tank you wish to transfer it to just by adding water to it im sure your 4 ft is not full so just add water till full over a few weeks treat it with some meds lots of oxygen heat the water to your tanks temp

then if it survives this process transfer it

or you might just decide to start a new tank with the eel as the main featured fish ?

good luck and congrats on the catch :)

Well, to be honest i did do what you just mentioned, i did it on sunday and added it in by midnight, its settles in well, no signs of un happyness. all is good.

Thanks everybody for responding. Hopefully i would be able to help you in another way.

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i would suggest that you begin to climatise it to the water you are using in the tank you wish to transfer it to just by adding water to it im sure your 4 ft is not full so just add water till full over a few weeks treat it with some meds lots of oxygen heat the water to your tanks temp

then if it survives this process transfer it

or you might just decide to start a new tank with the eel as the main featured fish ?

good luck and congrats on the catch :)

Well, to be honest i did do what you just mentioned, i did it on sunday and added it in by midnight, its settles in well, no signs of un happyness. all is good.

Thanks everybody for responding. Hopefully i would be able to help you in another way.

Incredible.

I would love to see this.

Have you managed any pics yet?

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i would suggest that you begin to climatise it to the water you are using in the tank you wish to transfer it to just by adding water to it im sure your 4 ft is not full so just add water till full over a few weeks treat it with some meds lots of oxygen heat the water to your tanks temp

then if it survives this process transfer it

or you might just decide to start a new tank with the eel as the main featured fish ?

good luck and congrats on the catch :)

Well, to be honest i did do what you just mentioned, i did it on sunday and added it in by midnight, its settles in well, no signs of un happyness. all is good.

Thanks everybody for responding. Hopefully i would be able to help you in another way.

Incredible.

I would love to see this.

Have you managed any pics yet?

Thanks mate!

Always wanted an eel, haha.

Picture :

IPB Image

Keep in mind its 2ft long

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Wow looks awesome in the tank, can anyone ID it correctly?

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definately long fin eel anguilla reinhardtii pretty sure its ilegal to wild catch fish for profit too unless your a legal collector cheers

shannon

Ok then its not for sale, thanks for the alert shannon.

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I would leave it in the tank you have it in. They will not live for long in a heated tank, 25/26 dec. Your taking it from 10dec or less to 20+ dec, But will cleanup any fish you pull with it.Mr Native is right your not meant to keep them but then we are not supposed to keep a lot of fish in OZ.

I had seahorses 20+ years ago & believe it or not they breed in the 4fter not in Aus,, Had lots of trouble with keeping fry alive.100+ only 4 lived to grow up.

I had an eel in a 4 fter years ago along with some mono angels that lived as well. Not as big as yours (35cm) at first but lived for 18 mths before i released it back as they grow fast.Just about Doubled its size. Yes they live in salt/brackish or fresh. I did the same as you with the water from where it came from and slowly over months got it over to the fresh.They eat a lot, love live prawn and need lots water changes.

Good luck

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sorry mate it is 100% legal to keep and take from the wild as it is above the legal size limit its just ilegal to make profit from wild caught fish unless you are a legal collector also surviving in warmer water is fine ive had long and shortfin eels in warm water for over 10 years no problems at all they are a very attractive addition to any native tanks i sell all sorts of native fish wild caught and farm bred all from legal catchers and farmers only a warning as ive had dpi here looking at my fish after someone told them i was ilegally catching them myself but all reciepts proved them wrong thanks

shannon

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But legal catchers we are not? in this case.

I meant you cant just go to a river, outlet or lake and take whatever.

So what is the legal size of these eels you can keep,etc. But the catcher/keeper take under size fish.

Sure you can keep any fish over legal size.

What temp to you mean by warmer? This Eel is coming from the river and now to 25deg in 2 days if I read correctly.Bit hard on the fish i think.

From having had one i know they dont like 25+ temp but you may have been able to keep them above this.

As bbish84 says what about parrasite's from only 2 days & no treatment, what fish are in the 6 fter would be intresting as well.

They grow fast in lenght then just get fatter and fatter.

I found summer a problem.

Tks

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shortfin eels size limit is 30cms longfin eels size limit 58cms as with parasites even in external parasite infected waters i have never personally seen any anchor worms or gill flukes in eels internaly i wouldnt know i would treat them anyway before introducing them into a tank as with temperature mine are kept anywhere between 25d in winter and up to atleast 30 in summer longfin eels are found all the way up to the cape water temp up there is atleast 27d all year round some of the shallow dams on a mates property where there is quiet a few longfins easily reaches 30d in summer as with transfer from the different water temps over 2 days i wouldnt think it would be that bad thats my opinion anyway if i were you i would hang on to him for a while just add a couple of nice natives with him not to small once he is used to your tank you will enjoy him good talking point with friends too

shannon

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