eel with egg sac??????

fishwidow

New Member
Hi my husband is the tank guy he's just not an internet person so I thought I would sign up and try to get 411 for him on this subject. We have 2 green congor eels sp? they have been quite happy in their 50 gallon tank living with a few other friends I can't tell exactly who they are. But I will try, 1 angelfish 1 red crab and a brittle starfish. <Yes we have been keeping an eye on the crab to make sure he doesn't harm the star> Back to the eels; one is lights green and the other is darker green with black this morning I noticed the darker eel toting around what looks like a large egg sac. Could this be and if so does anyone have info that might help us on what we should do. I appreciate any help offered ty.
 

takia

Member
Welcome to the board!! You may want to post your question in the Agressive Forum, or do a search for this with the search feature at the top of every page. I am not sure what the eel has, but from what I have read breeding in the captivity of a home aquarium is rare. I wish you luck, and again, welcome!!
 

shels

Member
I can not help you on the saltwater end, but I have a freshwater tank set up and have rubber eels. My mother had 2 and thought that one was getting all the food and the other was starving so I took the fat one. Well 3 months later she had 7 baby eels. I called around and looked on the net and all I found out was that they are endangered and do not breed in capitivity (SP). Well she had another set along with one of her daughters having a set. (The one my mom had moved in a year later, she took her tank down) Now I am the proun owner of l think 14 rubber eels. Crazy!!! Good luck and welcome to the board!
 

reefeel

Member
From what I have read Marine Eels don't have an egg sack. Instead the release all of their gametes into the water colomn. There has been no recorded eels being born in captivity due to their strange larval stage.
 

fishwidow

New Member
We have only had this eel, four to five weeks now. So after reading ,what I could find, I quickly realized that it must have been purchased this way. I also heard that they are spread through the tank however, this isn't the case with this one. I will take apicture and post it if that might help. I have also been having trouble identifying what type of eel she is. Ty for any help
 

fishwidow

New Member
Okay here is a pic of the eel and it eggs that are clumped together to resemble a sack. I've read a lot of sites today and everything i've read says no egg sack. Heres the pic I can take another in the day time. We hope to learn more about this subject. Is there recomended reading out there? Somewhere to get more info. I still appreciate the help. Ty BTW She seems to keep wrapping her body around it and lightly flinging it around the water.
 

thesamm

Member
i know for a fact that is a wolf eel cause i have one and i am pretty sure those are eggs.... unless some weird disease then i would say thats a egg sac
 

gasguzzler

Active Member
Those are definately eggs. A wolf eel isnt a "true" eel. It reproduces just like a fish, breathes like a fish, has scales like a fish, but looks kind of like an eel. Try to keep those eggs away from the angel!!!
 

fishwidow

New Member
Thanks for the info! So the Angel might be the first to give us problems. I've observed a lot of attention by the Angel to these eggs. We actually began to wonder if they had been hers. I was reading a lot of information that lead us to wonder how it could be an eels babies if they were all together like this one is. lol The info on wolve eels and how they aren't true eels really helps. I will keep a post on what develops with them. We are considering putting in a plexi glass divider to give her and the eggs a safe area. We noticed she likes to keep shells around her now. I'm wondering if this is a type of nesting. Again I don't know a lot. I'm just a fish widow. Who loves everything in the tank. :D Did I really type that. Again thanks everyone.
 

gasguzzler

Active Member
Buy a cheap tank divider and give the wolf some room at the end of the tank. It will relieve a lot of stress on the animal. How has it been eating the last few weeks?
 

fmarini

Member
it is a green wolf eel Congrogadus Subducens, and infact its a fish - Green wolf eels are psuedochromis family member.i.e., a dottyback actually.
As an FYI-Conger eels bury themselves bottom end in the sand and stick up like a flower stem.
irregardless, you have an egg sac and these fish are known to breed in the home aquarium. males are green and females tend to be brownish.
The nest is a mass of usually 100 to 200 eggs that are about 5 mm in diameter. The individual eggs are covered with bumps and stick to each other. The incubation time is 14 days after which a fry that is around 10mm long will emerge.
After this you need to have phyto-enriched rotifers as first foods, followed by brine shrimp nauplii as gorwout foods.
I found the eggs masses to be quite susceptable to fungal infections
do a google search and you should find a ew online articles on how to
frank
 

fishwidow

New Member
We had the scientific name from the lfs and when I did searches it would take me to the dotty back or infornation on a fish. I was getting so frustrated, It's great to have the help from some knowlegable people. Thank you everyone!!!! We will seperate her from the rest of the tank asap. She has been eating and seems to be content with the tank as long as no one walks close by. I will do a search on google again and read all the info I can on her. I do have a quick question: After she has the babies should she stay in the samearea with them?
Thanks FMarini for the information. It helps knowing it so we can get everything we need to help the babies.
 
Top