All spiny eels of the currently 24 species of the genus Macrognathus are recommended aquarium fish. They remain relatively small (10-15 cm, only very rarely larger specimens are reported) by spiny eel standards and are peaceful to fish that are not suitable for food. In addition, most are still pretty colored.
Perhaps the prettiest is Macrognathus zebrinus from Burma. It inhabits the basins of big rivers Irrawaddy, Sittang and Salween. In addition, the species is also found in Nepal and allegedly also in Indonesia, but is imported from Burma or as bred ones. The largest specimen documented so far measured about 17 cm, but this is the exception. Our current imports with their length of 10-12 cm are already sexually differentiated, the females are clearly fuller and somewhat paler colored.
For the care of spiny eels, a substrate consisting at least in part of sand is important, because the animals like to burry themselves in. The feeding can be done with all kinds of frost and live food, as long as it is adapted to the body size of the fish. Acclimatized specimens also often accept granules. The aquarium for spiny eels must be covered absolutely escape-proof, and also the openings of filters must be secured against an intrusion of the fish, otherwise it can come to fatal accidents.
For our customers: the animals have code 425343 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
