Small eel?

rwilliams254 said:

I have a new 46 gallon (tall) FW tank. I'm still thinking about what to do with it. I've wanted an eel for a while...but I didn't get one when I had my 125g... kinda regretting it. However, I was wondering if there's a small type of eel that would be good for a 45 gal tank. Something that gets less than a foot long....shorter?

If there is, I'll research more about it. However, I thought I'd turn to the experts first.

Thanks

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I am no expert, but I think spiny eels stay "small" and are truly freshwater.

Here is an example of a small spiny eel:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=6mYaTLeECcPflge42uiXCw&ved=0CB4Q9QEwAA

Make sure you do not get a tire track or fire eel, because those get much larger.

google peacock eel and zig zag eel
they are two of the smaller species of spiney eel
in aquariums they dont normaly reach full size but you need to be carefull
they will probably max out between 8 and 18 inches sooo ya i dont know these guys exact tank size requirements but you need to keep in mind that whatever you find on the web is more of a verry loose guideline than a rule
and make shure you understock to guive them a little growing room
is the tank set up already?
do you have any fish?

Khuli loach its not an "eel" but looks like one

WOW! The zig zag eel eel can get up to 35" long.

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Zigzag eels are often mixed up with tiretrack eels. Tire track eels are the ones that get to be 3 feet. Zigzag eels are much smaller. Only about 10" or so.

I've been wanting an eel for ages. I find the Tanganyikan eels are pretty neat. There are some species that stay smaller. Mastacembelus tanganicae is one of the smallest species. They only get about 8".

thats the thing
in the wild most spiney eels get 2 0r 3ft long but in aquaria they tend to stunt dramatically
how dramatically varies from fish to fish so if you find a tank of peacocks in a lfs one eel in the tank may end up 8" while another easley reaches 15"
all you can do is guive them some extra room and hope they dont turn into tankbusters

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/Eels/HalfBandedSpinyEel.php

Macrognathus circumcinctus is the scientific name for the zigzag eel. You'll notice the top of that page also has it listed as a zigzag eel.

Here's another good link
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170778