▷ Belted Spiny Eel in the Aquarium | All information and details

Belt spine eel data sheet

German name:
belted spiny eel

Scientific name:
Macrognathus circumcinctus

Origin:
Asia

Size:
Body length up to about 16 cm

Aquarium

Length:
Length from 120 cm width and from 40 cm width

Contents:
from 240 liters

water values

Temperature:
22°-28° C

pH:
6 – 7

GH:
5° – 15° dH

Behave

Area:
lower to middle range

Lining:
Live food, frozen food

Behave:
peaceful

Number:
from 5 animals

Difficulty level:
normal

Belted spiny eels are purely freshwater fish. Their homeland is southeastern Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Indonesia, Mekong and the Chao Phraya Basin. There they live in small rivers.

attitude

belted spiny eels need a lot of space and should live in a spacious aquarium if kept appropriate to the species. The capacity is 250 l and 120 cm edge length upwards.

Macrognathus circumcinctus are peaceful contemporaries. you need contact with peers and belong in one group husbandry.

The right setup in the aquarium consists of a dense, island-like planting with eg Cryptocoryne, Hygrophila, Limnophila. In this way, free spaces are created swimming and digging. Digging is only successful if the substrate is fine sand. For this purpose, some dry leaves (beech, oak) should be laid out.

The fish are crepuscular and nocturnal, which is why bright light has to be covered by a blanket of floating plants. At the same time, one prevents close-meshed coverage at the pelvisthat they jump out of the aquarium!

Since eels like to hide and lie quietly on objects alone or in groups, they need retreat and loungers. Suitable are: large bamboo tubes, root cavities, flat rock and stone structures. It is important that all openings are large enough so that the fish can get in and out of the hiding place unhindered at any time. If the lying objects extend to a higher level of the tank, the animals get more space.

food

The belted spiny eel feeds carnivorous. In the aquarium it gets fleshy live food or frozen food, eg Artemia, krill, mosquito larvae and mysis. Experience has shown that he does not accept dry food.

Free-swimming juvenile eels can be fed artemia nauplii, microworms and grindal.

If the fish have gained confidence in humans, a hand feeding possible.

gender differences

The difference of Gender can be recognized by the fullness of the body. Females form a slight belly curve from the head down.

breeding and rearing

The offspring of Macrognathus circumcinctus in the aquarium is possible. The water must be very soft and the pair must be well supplied with live food. The female lays them on floating plants or roots.

After about a week, the larvae hatch and swim around freely. They develop very quickly. After four weeks they already measure a length of about 7 cm.

socialization

The socialization from the belted eel works well with peaceful and calm fish. Since they are carnivores and they differ from smaller fish up to 3 cm predatory behave, they should Roommate not too small be. They don’t even stop at small crabs, shrimps and fish spawn. Suitable fish are: calm barbel, thorn eyes and fighting fish (Betta picta).

With proper care, the animals have a life expectancy of about 10 years.