Well hello all, i'm new to the forums, thought i should introduce myself etc etc 
I'm a happy new fishaholic from the UK (Bournemouth), about two months ago, after much reading and researching, got my first tank together, a 30g coral-blue lit badboy!
I started the tank off with 5 leopard danios and some kind of tetra (i bought five leopards, i think the tetra must have been caught in the net), which seemed to get on and schoal with the danio's perfectly. Unfortunately one of them died within a week - i think it was some kind of bladder disease by the way it was acting. Regardless, the other five survived. water levels all good.
So i went ahead and added two clown loach and a baby pleco (about 2" all in at the mo i reckon), which sorted out my snail problem overnight. All gravy so far!
Two weeks ago, another of the original danio's just disappeared. Never figured out what happened - i spent hours looking for it but to no avail. Could one of the other fish have eaten it?!! All seemed a bit rapid - was there one morning, gone by the time i'd got back from work in the afternoon.... hmmph! Down to three danios and the random tetra...
Today, i finally got out and bought something i've always wanted, and have had in mind for this tank right from the beginning. Possibly a mistake, but all good nonetheless! Along with a sole red tail shark, i got a juvenile (about 6" at the mo) tire track eel. He is just, quite simply, the bees knees. A fish has NEVER given me the chills to watch like this one does - just the way he swims, his quite blatant intelligence (well, in comparison with the other fish anyway), and the fact that i can hand feed him. Fantastic!!!
Once i'd gotten him into the tank he headed straight for the dark corners, as they do. He's claimed a part of the tank as his cave, and just sits with his head floating in the current. Incredible looking thing. Scary though.
Within THIRTY MINUTES of him being in the tank, the little tetra disappeared. just gone. lol - i can't quite believe the eel got him, he was too big to fit in the thing's mouth. The red tail shark is off in his own world and keeps himself to himself, happily exploring every surface in the tank, and the clown loaches are being typical clown loaches, and generally dancing all over the tank. But i can't find the little tetra anywhere... and the 3 remaining danio's have left me with a little quandry. I know there should be at least 5 or 6 danios to be happy - but if i get any more, they're going to be small enough for the eel to have away. However, the eel's content on making life hell for the remaining bunch - just gliding through the tank and snapping at them effortlessly. The 3 stooges (the danio's) are quite blatantly stressed out, staying right at the top of the tank and schoaling extremely close together, almost rubbing bodies sometimes - i've never seen them like this. They're going nuts, trying to jump out of the water every five minutes!
Do you think the eel will eventually give up and leave them in peace? They're quite blatantly too big for it to munch on... wondering if it's just part of the settling-in and establishing territory process... or have i made a horrible mistake putting them together?! And by the way, before you say it, i know the eel (and the pleco) are going to need a bigger tank in the not-so-distant future. I've got a 350g (that's UK gallons, 420 US gallons) lined up for when i move into my new house in a few months. I want this tire track to grow to his full 3 feet
-j.
I'm a happy new fishaholic from the UK (Bournemouth), about two months ago, after much reading and researching, got my first tank together, a 30g coral-blue lit badboy!
I started the tank off with 5 leopard danios and some kind of tetra (i bought five leopards, i think the tetra must have been caught in the net), which seemed to get on and schoal with the danio's perfectly. Unfortunately one of them died within a week - i think it was some kind of bladder disease by the way it was acting. Regardless, the other five survived. water levels all good.
So i went ahead and added two clown loach and a baby pleco (about 2" all in at the mo i reckon), which sorted out my snail problem overnight. All gravy so far!
Two weeks ago, another of the original danio's just disappeared. Never figured out what happened - i spent hours looking for it but to no avail. Could one of the other fish have eaten it?!! All seemed a bit rapid - was there one morning, gone by the time i'd got back from work in the afternoon.... hmmph! Down to three danios and the random tetra...
Today, i finally got out and bought something i've always wanted, and have had in mind for this tank right from the beginning. Possibly a mistake, but all good nonetheless! Along with a sole red tail shark, i got a juvenile (about 6" at the mo) tire track eel. He is just, quite simply, the bees knees. A fish has NEVER given me the chills to watch like this one does - just the way he swims, his quite blatant intelligence (well, in comparison with the other fish anyway), and the fact that i can hand feed him. Fantastic!!!
Once i'd gotten him into the tank he headed straight for the dark corners, as they do. He's claimed a part of the tank as his cave, and just sits with his head floating in the current. Incredible looking thing. Scary though.
Within THIRTY MINUTES of him being in the tank, the little tetra disappeared. just gone. lol - i can't quite believe the eel got him, he was too big to fit in the thing's mouth. The red tail shark is off in his own world and keeps himself to himself, happily exploring every surface in the tank, and the clown loaches are being typical clown loaches, and generally dancing all over the tank. But i can't find the little tetra anywhere... and the 3 remaining danio's have left me with a little quandry. I know there should be at least 5 or 6 danios to be happy - but if i get any more, they're going to be small enough for the eel to have away. However, the eel's content on making life hell for the remaining bunch - just gliding through the tank and snapping at them effortlessly. The 3 stooges (the danio's) are quite blatantly stressed out, staying right at the top of the tank and schoaling extremely close together, almost rubbing bodies sometimes - i've never seen them like this. They're going nuts, trying to jump out of the water every five minutes!
Do you think the eel will eventually give up and leave them in peace? They're quite blatantly too big for it to munch on... wondering if it's just part of the settling-in and establishing territory process... or have i made a horrible mistake putting them together?! And by the way, before you say it, i know the eel (and the pleco) are going to need a bigger tank in the not-so-distant future. I've got a 350g (that's UK gallons, 420 US gallons) lined up for when i move into my new house in a few months. I want this tire track to grow to his full 3 feet
-j.
