Changed species

Gerhard

Hi everyone.

I've started with oscars, after them eating every living thing in sight, I went to firemouths, until last Friday. I went into Fish World, and the first thing I saw was about 12 elephant noses, 5 rope fish, 5 butterfly fish and alot of green eels. There and then I decided to take back the fire mouth and start on these wonderful creatures.

I have a 150 L (33 galon) tank, and still deciding on what else to put in. Now I can add some natural plants which was impossible with the cichlids.
Any ideas on how to improve anything else in my tank is welcome.

Falina

You should probably ask one of the mods to move this to the ancient fish section.

First off, what have you got in the tank already?

If the green eel is a green moray, then I don't think it will do well in freshwater long term I'm afraid. I'm pretty sure there is no type of eel that will stay small enough for a 33g but being quite scared of eels (LOL) I've never looked into them much so can't say for sure.

The elephant noses will grow to about 10" so are far too big for a 33g also I'm afraid. They are also very timid and will need a lot of cover from bright lights. They're generally not a good fish to keep with any other bottom dwellers because of the electrical pulses they send out and are very sensitive to medications, so tend to be a very difficult fish for the inexperienced.

I know very little about rope and butterfly fish but what I do know is that the butterfly fish are excellent jumpers so you will need a good secure cover for your tank. They will however stay smallish (4") so could be a possibility.

The rope fish are also expected to grow to upwards of 12" so would not be suitable either I'm afraid.

Sorry to put a damper on your plans for your tank. I hope that you will find other suitable fish for your tank. If you need any suggestions, or have any other fish in mind that you need information on just ask. :)

Gerhard

Thanks for your reply, it is nice to have someone giving me advice. For now the fish are happy and look quite nice, i'll test them together and keep those that I like. My tank is an 8 sided tank and its lid is made of glass and closes the tank 100% on the top so nothing can come out.

I know the green eel that I do have is a freshwater eel, I did see the moray eel once and they are not the same.

Ciao.

tophat665

Octagonal 33 with a full glass top? That isn't one of those coffee table tanks, is it? If it is, Elephant Noses are entirely unsuited to it. They need quiet and dim lighting.

Frankly, elephant noses are unsuited to any but the most experienced of aquarists. If you are in that group, my apologies, but my gut tells me otherwise. They are finicky about food, substrate, lighting, water quality, medications, and tankmates, and can be territorial with each other. As Julie mentioned, they get up to 8 to 12" long, so you don't really have room.

Now, You may have room for a single ropefish. Won't be the happiest critter in the world, since a) it'll be a little cramped, and b) ropefish prefer to be in groups, but it can be done.

The only green eels I know of are morays, american and european fresh water eels, and congers. Morays and congers are saltwater. Freshwater eels can get up to 2 feet long (or at least that's the biggest I have ever caught) and are pretty savage predators. Are the snouts pointy, bottle shaped, or bullet shaped? Is the body more or less cylindrical, or is it flattened? If it's a spiny eel, then maybe, just maybe, depending on the species you might have room. I suspect it will spend all of it's time dug in to the substrate, but there is room for it.

You have room for maybe 2 African Butterfly Fish. Give them at least 2" of airspace so that they're not constantly bumping the cover. Grow some vals or onion plant up so that the leaves trail over the water surface and give them some cover.

Lupin