Dwarf Redtail eel

[DaveO]

Newest member of the family. He is good friends with the Cocama Otos.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

 WHOA! How friggin cool is that?!

What do they eat?

[Dans-Fish]

Now that is one fat and sassy eel!

[DaveO]

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.

[redfish]

That's awesome!  Both the eel and the otos!

[DaveO]

Here's a couple more shots.

[DaveO]

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.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Pig or no gorgeous creature. Is this one of the “dwarf” varieties? 

[DaveO]

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.

[mynameisnobody]

@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. 

[DaveO]

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.

[DaveO]

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.

[DaveO]

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.

[DaveO]

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.

[jwcarlson]

Is it possible the burrowing comes as some sort of sexual maturity occurs?  

[DaveO]

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.

[DaveO]

I have a good update on my dwarf redtail eel now. This summer he has been significantly more active and interactive. He is much more like the eel I was so enthralled with in the beginning.  He definitely has regained his appetite and is strong and healthy looking.

I rescaped his tank with a dogwood tree log from my yard. It is hollow from one end to the other with four or five escape holes where branches used to be. He loves hiding in it and slithering through it. I made sure to make lots of pathways and cave type structure throughout the tank. I also removed most all of the plants that were rooted and used mostly Java Fern and Anubius instead. Now I don't have to worry about him uprooting the plants like before. I can say without a doubt that he loves his new tank. I added a bunch of dwarf barbs (pethia gelius) to give more movement in the tank, which has turned out nice. All in all, I would say things turned out great.

Edited September 6 by DaveO

[Ninjoma]

Thanks for sharing these updates on your eel. I'm getting one soon for my new 75g. 

[DaveO]

A couple of days ago.

[Shibbys-Shrimps]

Hi Newbie to the website He looks great btw and I’ve just ordered a Dwarf retail eel of my own from Dan, and with the little info about these little guys I’ve just about consumed every bit of knowledge I can but still need have a scary question “Do these guys escape from your aquarium without a lid?”

Edited September 8 by Shibbys-Shrimps

[DaveO]

It is my experience that while small, the baby eel will remain tight to cover on the bottom of the aquarium. However, after they grow up, which happens quickly, they will explore every nook and cranny at the surface. It is my opinion that a tightly fitted lid is absolutely required for these guys.

[DaveO]

Sadly, I must say farewell to my friend. He has struggled on and off ever since the waterchange ordeal a year ago. Some weeks were good and some weeks were bad. He could not win this last fight, and just now has died. Final photo.