Anyone ever keep a Fire Eel?

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PaulVerrall
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Has anyone ever kept one? That look really scary buy really interesting too!
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Gingerlove05
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@F3l1ss :D
Wicked looking fish, get to some size too :)
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black ghost
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I had one many years ago. I wouldn’t have another, now that they’re known to reach 5-6 foot long.
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Gingerlove05
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black ghost wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 21:25 pm I had one many years ago. I wouldn’t have another, now that they’re known to reach 5-6 foot long.
Wow! I thought they only got to around 3.5ft max 😳
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PaulVerrall
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Blimey, 6ft?!
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black ghost
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There are (or were) some 6 footers in a public aquarium somewhere...
Redpanda
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I was just going to say. How come so many fish are literally monsters in the aquarium hobby. How many people are actually keeping full sizes plecos and other gigantic fish? Is there a huge market for them?
Just curious 🙈😂
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black ghost
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Redpanda wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 23:11 pm I was just going to say. How come so many fish are literally monsters in the aquarium hobby. How many people are actually keeping full sizes plecos and other gigantic fish? Is there a huge market for them?
Just curious 🙈😂
Yes there’s a huge market for a lot of them, because they have been ‘staples’ for many years. Historically the fact that some fish grow to huge sizes has been totally ignored by the aquarium trade. Money still matters much more than fish livelihoods for most suppliers. The sad thing is hardly any of them ever reach full size.
I could go on for another hour but it would be in rant mode...
Last edited by black ghost on Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Stephen
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@F3l1ss has a very nice eel.
Fire eel (Mastacembelus erythrotaenia) I believe grow to about 1 metre (according to Seriously Fish, Fishbase and other sites) probably less in captivity.
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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Mastacembelus erythrotaenia. Years ago I seem to recall Brighton Aquarium having some very large individuals in with Pacu's and freshwater Rays.

Maybe you could consider a Spiny Eel (Macrognathus panaculus) at 18" inches it's tad more manageable. :]

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Like with all eels and I'm sure @black ghost would agree a good cover over the aquarium is needed as their great escape artists. :dodgy2:
WARNING - DO NOT BREED, FEED OR PET THE PUDDLE! :dodgy2:
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