DaveO Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Newest member of the family. He is good friends with the Cocama Otos. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 WHOA! How friggin cool is that?! What do they eat? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans-Fish Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Now that is one fat and sassy eel! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 On 6/8/2023 at 2:45 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: WHOA! How friggin cool is that?! What do they eat? He eats frozen brine shrimp, blood worms, VibraBites, Bug Bites, and his very favorite, all the neocaradina shrimp in the tank. On 6/8/2023 at 2:47 PM, Dans-Fish said: Now that is one fat and sassy eel! Yes he is. Definitely my most favorite fish ever. Thank you. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 That's awesome! Both the eel and the otos! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted June 9, 2023 Author Share Posted June 9, 2023 Here's a couple more shots. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 So it turns out this thing is actually a pig. He never stops wanting to eat, and that fat belly shows it. He has already cleaned out all my shrimp. I do add more from other tanks as I can, because it's his favorite treat. Now all of a sudden he has figured out that those snails are gourmet food. There are almost none of those left either. He has wasted no time growing to full size for this species. He was four inches when I got him, now he is a bit over seven inches. Here's a few pics of a great pet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Pig or no gorgeous creature. Is this one of the “dwarf” varieties? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/17/2023 at 10:55 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said: Pig or no gorgeous creature. Is this one of the “dwarf” varieties? Yes, it's a dwarf variety. Seven inches is supposed to be as large as they get. As quickly as this guy reached that size though, I wonder. If it gets substantially larger than this I will report on it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mynameisnobody Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 @DaveO any updates on the dwarf red tail eel? I’ve been eyeing these for months, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Has it grown any larger? How is he with tankmates that don’t fit in its mouth? How often does it hide? Hope all is going well with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 On 9/22/2023 at 9:57 AM, mynameisnobody said: @DaveO any updates on the dwarf red tail eel? I’ve been eyeing these for months, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Has it grown any larger? How is he with tankmates that don’t fit in its mouth? How often does it hide? Hope all is going well with it. I don't have any good recent photos to share, but I did get a good measure on him just a few days ago. He is 8" long and nice and plump. As Dan would say "fat and sassy". Jonny said that this is about what they expected for growth. I do believe the eel is done with his growth spurt now as I have not noticed any growth for a while. I keep him in a 40 breeder with a dozen orange Bolivian tetras, four zebra otos, five orange Venezuelan corys, four large amano shrimp and lots of neo shrimp and snails. I think that's all. He is 100% peaceful with all the fishes, but is definitely a death threat to all neo shrimp and snails. He is good with plants, but will occasionally break a stem here and there because he swims in and around them alot. As far as hiding goes, I would say he is in the back where you don't see him alot of the time. He is also right out front where you do see him alot. He definitely is not afraid of people. He will eat out of your hand if you want. This can be good or bad. When your arm is in there he might try to grab it. I think he thinks my arm is a big juicy worm or something. It doesn't hurt at all but is startling at first. Once I was trimming plants and as I started to close the scissors he shoved his nose right in there. Thankfully I didn't snip the scizzor closed. If you have the tank for one or many of these eels, I would highly recommend them. They are super fun. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted October 20, 2023 Author Share Posted October 20, 2023 Here's my eel two weeks ago to the day. His normal happy self. On the following Monday I did a water change and nearly killed him. I dont know what went wrong. I always gas off the water for at least 24 hour with dechlorinated water. I use an airstone and a heater in a clean garbage can and let the water gas off. The only change from normal for this tanks parameters was slightly higher ph (6.8 to 7.0) and higher kh (80 ppm to 100 ppm). I was guessing the water utility district added something, but who knows. All I know is almost immediately his whole behavior changed. He now hides 100% of the time and eats very little. Needless to say, I'm very worried. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted November 22, 2023 Author Share Posted November 22, 2023 It's been six weeks since the poison water change. It's been kind of touch and go getting this guy back to good health. At first he refused to eat at all, but with coaxing I was able to get him to eat a little at a time. He would go days at a time without eating and still would hide 100% of the time. There was a couple of times I got him to eat a few VibraBites and he would seem to reel in pain, then he'd dive into the back of the tank and dissappear...for days. It has been like this for weeks until just recently. Over the last week or two he has finally shown a bit of an appetite and actually ate a decent amount on a few occasions. He still hides all the time and is never visible. However, yesterday I was in his room making a racket and I noticed him in the front corner watching me. Here's a picture. Maybe there's hope yet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 I think this will be the last update on the eel. He does seem to have healed and looks healthy now. I rarely see him though. The most significant change I see in him is his burrowing in the sand. In fact he is mostly subterranean now. Just his eyeballs and snout sticking out of the sand. This behavior is definitely destructive, uprooting plants and tipping over wood or rocks in the tank. He used to be so much fun. Now not so much. All in all I am not too fond of this creature anymore. Maybe I'll rehome him. Bummer. Here's his latest photo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwcarlson Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Is it possible the burrowing comes as some sort of sexual maturity occurs? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 I have wondered if he needs to have a bigger tank with more dwarf redtails for companions. Right now he is in a 40b, and truthfully it seems cramped for him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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