# My Fire Eel



## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Well I just couldn't resist the temptation of getting one of these guys finally. Thanks Grant for the great price on a great fish :bigsmile: So he's about 4.5-5" or so & has beautiful coloring to it. I have him/her (we'll call it a him since sexing can be difficult) in my 33gal planted tank for now. When the time comes will go to a 75g project to be started very soon, with a nice soft sandy bottom, till he gets big enough to need a 5'-6' tank. He's taken to the tank just great and isn't nearly as shy as I thought 
it'd be. Pretty cute at this size shame they get so big , a couple of these at 6" max would be cool in a community tank. He seems quite curious as he likes sneaking around the tank, yet they like to hide out most of the time. His favorite place is in the middle of a clump of Java Fern, really cute to see his little head poked out looking around lol. Very fun fish to observe. Hoping to get it feeding from my fingers in due time too  Thought I'd share some pictures and vids as he/she grows. Kinda be like a journal for Lee the Fire Eel lol


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## Sliver (Apr 19, 2011)

i'm jealous...


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

OOOOooo...an early xmas present for self. Nice pick up John. 
Fire eel eh...


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Sliver said:


> i'm jealous...


lol Bruce, sorry man not trying to rub it in.....or am I ? lol jk 
Wish you weren't so far out so you could get one too, they still have several last I checked. They are awesome & a great starter size. I'm already thinking about having 2 lol


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

jobber604 said:


> OOOOooo...an early xmas present for self. Nice pick up John.
> Fire eel eh...


lol Ming thanks bud. I just couldn't wait. Haven't even told the g/f yet lol. Waiting to see how how long it takes her to notice the awesome gift she got me that I was nice enough to pay for lol he might be 12" before that happens. I have been wanting one of these for a long time & I'm getting a 75 g soon which I am putting him, my leopard ctenopoma (getting a 1-2 more as well) , my redtailed and rainbow sharks, & possibly 3 clown loaches into until it's time to upgrade again lol I figure they'll get me up to a 120 by next fall/winter. Hoping I can get the 75looking close to the pic below when it's done


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

That's an very nice biotope tank. Definitely has co2 running in it. I need my vals to grow like in that picture. All these giant 100+ tanks. Biting my tongue. Not going to say it . Some new HD videos of my tank soon.


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

awesome pics john! what other fish are in that tank with the eel, i've always wanted to get one of those but figured it wouldn't go too well with my stock. 

if you get your 75 to look like that one in the picture, then i'm going to need you to come over to my place and help me on my tank!


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Nice fish, John. And beautiful tank, that 75G. I'm not sure it would require Co2 though. I see lots of low-light plants there (val, Java moss, Java fern). I don't know anything about these carpet plants though, so maybe I'm totally wrong. 

Anyway, I agree with monkE, if you can get it to look like that, you might be able to open a business.


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## jay_leask (Apr 22, 2010)

you will be surprised how quickly it will take food from your hands. i have 2 of them, they are the best.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

jobber604 said:


> That's an very nice biotope tank. Definitely has co2 running in it. I need my vals to grow like in that picture. All these giant 100+ tanks. Biting my tongue. Not going to say it . Some new HD videos of my tank soon.


lol Ming I know what ya mean, you don't even have to say it. I fell in love with that tank when I seen it. Told myself I'd have something similar no matter what it takes. Looking forward to some new vids soon buddy!



monkE said:


> awesome pics john! what other fish are in that tank with the eel, i've always wanted to get one of those but figured it wouldn't go too well with my stock.
> if you get your 75 to look like that one in the picture, then i'm going to need you to come over to my place and help me on my tank!


Thanks Mike! It's in my http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/tank-journals-16/my-33-gal-set-up-14399/#post122727 to grow out a bit for now. mostly tetras in there, a GBR and a small pair of the electric blue balloon rams & my Leopard Ctenopoma. They all seem to get along fine, tho the Ctenopoma is giving the Tetras hungry eyes as he's slowly getting big enough to eat them lol I will be happy if I can even come close to that tank in the pic. The wood gonna be a challenge, but I am determined lol



crazy72 said:


> Nice fish, John. And beautiful tank, that 75G. I'm not sure it would require Co2 though. I see lots of low-light plants there (val, Java moss, Java fern). I don't know anything about these carpet plants though, so maybe I'm totally wrong.
> 
> Anyway, I agree with monkE, if you can get it to look like that, you might be able to open a business.


Thanks Franck! not sure what size he tank is in that pic, I think it's bigger than 75g but not sure. I have to agree with you about maybe getting by w/o CO2. I noticed alot of low-light plants as well is what makes me believe I can pull this off fairly easily. I am not so much worried about the carpet plants but I am sure I will make something work for them hopefully. If I can come close to that I will be pretty impressed myself lol My experience is nothing compared to some of the tanks I have seen on here alone. But I am sure with help from this great community I will exceed my expectations.



jay_leask said:


> you will be surprised how quickly it will take food from your hands. i have 2 of them, they are the best.


that's what I heard Jay. I am looking forward to it. He's pretty friendly and definitely one of my favorite fish. I love looking for him and all the sudden seeing his head pop out somewhere unexpectedly lol very adorable at this size. I seen your gar/fire eel vid earlier....loved it! Going to go comment on it now as a matter of a fact :bigsmile:


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## budahrox (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice John!!
Love eels.
Cheers!!


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## jlam86 (Dec 7, 2010)

Nice John! I picked up one last week too but she always hides. All I ever see is her head popping out of her hiding space lol


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

budahrox said:


> Nice John!!
> Love eels.
> Cheers!!


Thanks Don , becoming quite the fan myself atleast of these guys :bigsmile:



jlam86 said:


> Nice John! I picked up one last week too but she always hides. All I ever see is her head popping out of her hiding space lol


Thanks Justin! Mine has it's moments of hiding too. Most recently found it's way into the outflow of my HOB filter lol likes to hang out under the bio-wheel for some odd reason. Luckily it can't get any farther up in it. Have to chase him out several times a day lol wish I could get a pic of him peeking out thru the outflow. Going to have to put some mesh or a screen in there. I have to say I find it rather cute when they have their head poked out looking around. Have a vid of that as a matter of fact plus some new pix. So fast it's hard to get a good pic lol


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

So a few days ago I was looking around the tank for Lee. Figured he was in his favorite place, in the HOB filter output under the bio-wheel so I checked there and nope not there. At that point I had a bad feeling he managed to squeeze his way into the filter. I took the cartridge out and sure enough, he was in there lol & probably happy to get out at that point. Unfortunately he managed to hurt himself and has a small cut on his side. Doesn't seem to be bothering him or getting worse. But to be safe I am doing small daily w/c's and added a little salt in hopes he will be fine. Might have to change his name to scar now lol Anyway, thought I'd post a couple new pix and a vid's of him in a happy moment looking for bloodworms. You'll also see in the vid I had to make a special screen on the filter output to keep him out of there. Other than that he's a great as always and now eats from my fingers, better vid coming soon. Excuse the dirtiness, just did a thorough tank cleaning and some stuff settled here and there.


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