Electric Eel's

[Osiris]

I am considering purchasing one of these, mainly for studying, the electric pulses it generates and such. Anyone have experience with these?

[flamingo]

My general thought on that: NO.

[trashion]

http://aquariumfish.net/catalog_page...ctric_eels.htm

there's a page about them...but, damn...8 feet? be sure you know what you're getting into.

[Scuba Kid]

I'd have to agree with Dylan. I'd say stay away from electric eels.

[redpaulhus]

If you're looking to study electric fishes, why not work with a more manageable sized fish, and one that uses electicity for 'radar' rather than for 'phasers' ? ie one of the Mormyrid 's ("elephant nosed fishes") etc ?

http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/b...tric_fish.html

[Osiris]

Believe the electric eel does use his electricity for radar as well from some digging up i did.

They do get big but take forever to get that length, and is 8ft though in the wild or aquarium? we know majority of species kept in tanks dont get nearly as big as they do in the wild.

Yes am aware of the size they get.

[GoodMike]

marty, you have children first of all, so i would not reccommend this fish to you because what if one of them gets shocked? 2nd how do you plan to study the electric abilities? they arent as cool as you would imagine, a local store here has one, and it just sits there waiting to be fed. he has never seen it use its electric ability, and there is another fish in the tank that is doing fine. the specimens i have seen come in large already, in the 3-6 foot range, but if you really want that, go for it. but im telling you that you wont like it in the long run, i know you that well

[fishbguy]

Have you seen that show on Discovery Channel, or Animal Planet about this guy that goes into the Amazon looking for electric eels? Yeah, well, he got shocked, badly. And we all know kids, if something looks wierd, ugly, or just plain stupid, they want to touch it. And if an electric eel can knock a full grown man out, I have no doubts that it will kill small children.

[GoodMike]

wont kill, there are 2 factors into how electricity kills, voltage and amperage. amps are what kill if i remember right, electric eels only produce voltage. will give you quite the shock, but the risk is falling over, grabbing the tank, and tipping it

[fishbguy]

Okay, my bad.

But I forgot to add in my post, there are many other electric fish that you can study.

-Knife Fish
-Mormyrids(elephant noses, baby whales, baby dolphins)
-Electric Cats

I'm sure there are a few others, but I don't remember them atm. They also get much smaller than 8 feet

[Baby_Baby]

Originally Posted by Osiris

I am considering purchasing one of these, mainly for studying,

YOU STUDY!?!?!?!?!??!

[Osiris]

Originally Posted by Baby_Baby

YOU STUDY!?!?!?!?!??!

Of course I did, how do you think i ace'd french

[Baby_Baby]

Originally Posted by Osiris

how do you think i ace'd french

Hit on the teacher?

[TheOldSalt]

600 volts, DC, is a lot of juice. The amperage is plenty high enough to hurt you, as intended. These guys hunt with this current, after all. A large specimen can easily take out a horse, so I'm sure a man would be no problem.
These fish go blind as they age, and then use their electrofields as replacement eyes. This makes them very prone to zapping you when they get the slightest bit nervous, as they crank up the juice to get a better "view" when they detect something nearby them.

I wouldn't want to have to work on that tank, or worse, move the eel to another one. Big morays are enough of a pain.

I didn't think the import of this fish was even allowed anymore, but I guess anything can get through with the right paperwork.

Here's a good analogy for Volts & Amps:

volts- speed of water through a hose
amps- diameter of the hose

Each factor allows for more or less water (electricty) to flow within a specified timeframe.
A really big electric eel ( which is really a knifefish, not an eel ) equates to a big fat hose indeed.

[bass man]

A friend of mine from Alabama had one that was around 4 feet and managed to convince me to hand feed him. All I remember is sticking my hand in, an immense amount of pain, then my buddy picking me up off of the ground... I would not want to be cleaning the tank and him feel threatened. stay away from them dude.

[Chrispy]

you are all so optimistic. i would say if he was looking to get one he has atleast done a little research.

[mistynou]

even the small one can give you a good jolt . when the eel is motionless it is electrically inert but the minutes it starts to move it emits short directionfinding impulses.they like live food and apparently can be tamed but with care .some people think fish are boring and stupid but we know that our fish reconise us .i know this because i have many fish that if some one comes and look at them they go and try to hide but not with me.of course im the one that feeds them lol .

[fishstix]

I think that if you have a large enough tank then you should go for it. Any pet can be dangerous to kids, but this one in particular will be trapped behind glass. The kids would have to actively persue the eel; If the tank is tightly sealed, which it will have to be to keep the thing from killing itself, then the only thing that could happen is some kind of freak accident. From what research i've done on electric eels i think it would be really neat to study one first hand.

[trashion]

Bad idea. How would you clean the tank, do waterchanges, etc without reaching into the tank at all? Not to mention they need BIG tanks.

[Scuba Kid]

Look at the date on the thread. I don't think Marty is even considering this anymore.