Help With a Gift I got- and some algea Please.

[Yo_Loach]

Hello. I recently got a christmas gift from a friend, which included two chinese algea eaters, and a zig zag eel. I really love all three, However, I'm concerned about my tank size not being suitable for the eel. Currently it's a 12 gallon, and I could not accuratly find the growing size for the eel. Some sites said it grew max 6" others said max 5' which is scary. If my tank is to small, what size should it live in?

On another note, My Mopani wood is growing a grasslike algea that sways, I took out the would and gave it a good scrubbing in luke warm water, but after 2 days it seemed to grow back, Although, I did not have any algea eaters in the tank, will my new chinese algea eaters take care of it?
:troll: <-grass on wood. heh.

One more question. One of my plants is stringing up on the leaves, It still looks healthy and doesnt really bother me or the fish, just wondeirng about the status.

P.S. If you made it this far thanks for reading my long post, and sorry if the questions asked have been answered before. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone on these forums! Thanks!

 

[OrionGirl]

You'll need to do a bit of research on the eel. There are a few different animals offered under this common name, but most will only hit 12-18 inches. A 40 gallon tank would be the minimum I would keep one in.

The algae eaters may eat the hair algae,or may not--depends. But, either way, they too will outgrow your current setup. I'd suspect that part of the reason you have so much algae is the number of fish that tank--very much overstocked, especially at adult sizes.

 

[Yo_Loach]

Thank you, I will most likely be getting a larger tank setup, hopefully a 50 gallon, what do they cost around $150? I'm starting to think this gift was a curse heheh.

 

[Yo_Loach]

Also, the Eel I have is also known as a Tire Track Eel. That's the one I have.

 

[OrionGirl]

There are more than one species that are called a tire track eel--it's a common name that doesn't really identify the species. A 50 would work for the fish you have now--adding any would be a risk, IMO.

Shop around--you might be able to pick up a used tank for less than that, and some stores do good sales, especially after the holidays. If you can go bigger, that would be better!

I started with a 15 FW. Now have a 40, 2 55, a 20, a 10 SW, and 2 120 SW tanks. Yes, it can be addictive.

 

[Yo_Loach]

HAh I'm addicted and havent even started, Frankly, research is useless, I researched well over 50 sites and as for growth Ive found maximums from 2 cm to 30' OMG I Hope To All that's Holy It's nto a 30 footer! hahah. on average the length i found was to be 10'' which is good.

A New note, Will it harm the other fish in my tank?!? All the sites listed that's it's a great community fish, but they eat bloodworms OR live feeder fish.

This is super hard to figure out. I wish this little Eel could talk to me.

 

[Yo_Loach]

Also, the new tank depends mostly on space, I have to find a good place in my house for a new tank.

 

[richardiv87]

Just to let you know, tire tracks are great fish (yes, they're actually fish, not eels), but are very suseptable to infection, especially intestinal paracites, and you cannot see it until its too late. Very friendly, and can even be trained to take food from your hand. Make sure you get a solid hood for the tank though, as they're known as being a little suicidal at time. Great fun. Make sure they have places to hide also, else you'll be wondering where they went (love to dig) for weeks at a time. I had mine in a 55 gal.