kevin from ky - 2008-03-26
Over the last few years I've had a couple of these guys. Only kept one at a time though, in my 55 gallon. They can be a pretty fun addition to your tank if your willing to give them the extra attention. The one I have now I named Louie. He's about 11-12 inches. I've fed him live food ever since I got him about a year ago. He was about 4 inch then. Diet mostly constists of Ghost shrimp, feeder guppies, Rosies, and small worms. He takes food right from my fingertips and his/her grip can be pretty shocking when your not expecting it. I mostly let him hunt. I only put 1 or 2 shrimp or feeder fish at a time to provide him hunting opportunities, rather than tossing a dozen shrimp or fish in and watching him gobble them up in a frenzy before they even know what hit 'em. Watching him strike out at prey from the darkened hole of his ancient tomb liar is pretty fierce. Unfortunately I've lost some of my smaller fish due to his diet (I think) but other than that he's pretty friendly. He gets along with just about everything even much bigger fish. I can hold him and bring him to the surface and he seems to know I'm around when close by. I love the guy and definately recommend to beginners or anyone for that matter

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drew - 2008-03-20
I just got a peacock eel (at least I think). It is either that or a zigzag eel. Everytime I look for it, it is always so hidden in my rocks or plants I couldn't find it. An hour ago I thought it was dead because I couldn't find it. I just decided like five minutes ago that I'm going to hand feed it.

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Luke - 2008-03-01
I've had a peacock eel for about 1 week now, no troubles at all. Mr.wiggles hasn't jumped out or hurt himself. He loves when I hand him live black worms and he will take frozen bloodworms ocssionally, also freeze dried tubifex worms. People who want this fish shouldn't keep it with robust tank mates and should have a rather large tank, maybe 20 gallons or more. These eels are very entertaining and will take food from your hand. It only took me 2 days for him to get used to hand feeding. You must have your heater on always, they like warm water. One more important thing, they like to jump so keep your tank covered, but Mr.wiggles has not wanted to jump yet.

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Dan - 2008-02-13
I got one, but it doesn't eat...

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Marc B. - 2008-02-03
I've just ended up with one of these by accident. All I was after was the plant that he was hiding in, well he'd managed to wedge himself in REALLY well to the plant. When I got home and was setting the plant I must have loosened it enough for him to want to move. I'm moderately disappointed that I have him now, my tank is FAR too small for this one and the size I believe he's going to end up.
So now I've got to figure out what to do with him, I figure I'll give the local aquarium store a ring and see if they will take him. I know this one can live comfortably in my tank for a time, but I'd really rather he go somewhere he can do well.
The tank he was mistakenly introduced to is a 10 gal planted I use for a small community tank. Currently it has 5 cherry barbs and 2 dwarf gouramis. No problems thus far, but I am worried. I'm going to give him a month or so to recover from being at walmart before I find him a new home.

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Spence - 2008-01-31
My last Eel jumped out of the tank and died after only a few months. He was a very happy Eel, I Fed him freeze dried blood worms. That was about ten years ago. I bought a new Peacock Eel a few days ago. I made sure he couldn't jump out this time, they are definitely escape artists. I am not sure if he is eating but he looks fine. I guess I will have to wait and see. I do however recommend blood Worms.

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Samantha T - 2008-01-27
I have bred zig zag eels, though it happened quite by accident. They had four sessions or so of babies within a month and a half period or so.
The female was rounder in the mid section but definately shorter then my male. They are very caring and were seen teaching their young to hunt blood worms in the substrate.
Some of the pieces of the puzzle to help them along was an Indian almond leaf added, and the blue light to make it seem like moonlight (the IAL was added to start conditioning my halfmoon betta male also in the tank). Also, I had gone against a lot of people's advice and had bought the second zig zag with too small a tank, the lack of space turned out to never be an issue, and the fry and parents thrived. Unfortunately my female died a few months ago (she was having some issues, almost looked like she was laboring and got something stuck, no other signs of injury or sickness, plus the tank was/is healthy). Her young and mate protected her body as I tried to remove it. They noticed her gone, as well as the fry as I had to start selling them off as they got bigger. The tank is only a 30 gallon... I thought I'd share my beginner's luck.

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Dani - 2008-01-20
Thank you for the info. I decided on a whim to buy an eel when I was picking up new fush for the tank and I haven't seen him since! He likes to hide and, boy is he good at it! It was nice to come online and find out that he's just doing what he's supposed to do! Thanks for all the info!

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Anonymous - 2008-01-13
You need to separate the eels and goldfish immediately. Goldfish and tropical fish (eels) should never live in the same tank
because of the ammonia the goldfish let off that will kill the eels. I hope this helps for future reference.

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Josh - 2007-12-21
Comment on site:
As the first result on Google, and with my experienced aquarium owner roommate's approval, I have to really appreciate you guys for the wealth of info. I just picked up two of these guys and am really glad that I now know even more about them.

Comment on eel:
The larger of the two was in the tank for about thirty seconds before burrowing. They seem to get along well and are a joy to observe. If you like serpent-y things, these guys are great.

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