The Electric Eel (Electrophorus electricus) is a fish without scales. The species is capable of causing a charge of more than 500 volts.
Below, check out a complete Electric Eel care guide. Learn about water parameters, food and feeding, appearance, behavior, tank mates, reproduction and aquarium setup.
Electric Eel – Complete Care Guide
Technical Details
Name: Electric Eel;
Scientific Name: Electrophorus electricus (Linnaeus, 1766);
Family: Gymnotidae;
Species Origin: South America (Amazon and Orinoco river basins);
Length: Up to 98 inches;
Life Span: 15 years;
Care Level: Difficult;
Water Parameters
pH: 6.0 – 8.5;
Water Hardness: Between 1 – 12;
Temperature: Must be kept between 23 – 28°C;
Distribution / Habitat
The Electric Eel was described by Linnaeus in 1766. The species is quite common in most of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, and isn’t considered an animal at risk of extinction.
In nature, the Electric Eel prefers to inhabit calm and muddy waters of streams, natural pools and swamps with low levels of oxygen. It can live in such environments as it has a vascularized respiratory organ in the oral cavity. However, it needs to surface every ten minutes or so to breathe.
The Electric Eel is a nocturnal species that likes heavily shaded areas. He has very poor eyesight, but can orient himself in murky waters by emitting a 10-volt charge to navigate. In addition, it also uses this charge as a radar to find prey.
The youngest fish of the species feed on invertebrates, but when adults, they prefer to eat fish, amphibians, birds and small mammals that venture into the water.
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Description
The Electric Eel is a fish without scales. It lacks dorsal, ventral and caudal fins. In addition, its anal fin is elongated and the pectorals are quite small.
The fish’s body is elongated and cylindrical, with a flattened head and mouth equipped with a row of sharp, conical teeth.
The Electric Eel color is a dark grayish green, but with a yellowish ventral part. It can reach up to 98 inches in length and weigh around 20 kg. In a fish tank, it doesn’t usually exceed 59 inches.
A unique feature of Electric Eel is that it obtains almost 80% of its oxygen by swallowing atmospheric air. The species has a vascularized respiratory organ in the oral cavity. Therefore, he spends most of his time at the bottom of tanks and rises to the surface every ten minutes to breathe.
The Charge of Electric Fish
With a charge of more than 500 volts, the Electric Eel is capable of killing even a horse. According to several studies carried out by INPA (National Institute of Research in the Amazon), this fish is capable of producing up to 1500 volts.
The Electric Eel can be compared to a battery, since the front part of its body has a positive charge, while the tip of its tail has a negative charge. Therefore, if a person takes his head and the end of the body at the same time, the charge will have the power to “fry” the victim in a matter of seconds.
Generally, the risk of contact with the Electric Eel is greater on the surface, as it needs atmospheric air, as much as terrestrial animals, to breathe.
In nature, they use electricity to stun and kill their prey, as well as to communicate with other fish, and it’s also believed that they can use it to find and choose their mates.
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Foods and Feeding
Carnivore. The Electric Eel is a predator that eats any animal that is small enough to fit in its mouth. In the wild, this primarily includes fish, invertebrates, and small mammals.
Younger fish feed on worms and insect larvae, but larger specimens prefer to eat fish.
You’ll probably have to feed him live food at first, but then he’ll get used to frozen food and anything like that.
The Electric Eel becomes very tame and associates the owner with food, and they come to the surface to be fed every time the owner approaches the tank.
Note: Don’t attempt to feed these fish by hand. While it’s unlikely that you’ll get a electric charge, the possibility is still there!
Temperament / Behavior
The Electric eel isn’t considered an aggressive fish, but due to its method of capturing prey, I recommend that you keep it alone in the tank.
More than one specimen can be kept together, but this is a bit risky. Two young electric eels living together can often fight. They will position themselves in such a way that they will try to flap their tails and bite each other by discharging electricity.
Tank Mates
It’s not recommended to mix Electric Eel with other species of fish and invertebrates.
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Sexual Differences
Differentiating between male and female Electric Eel is a very difficult task. However, when they reach adulthood, females are usually larger than males.
Reproduction
There are no information about Electric Eel breeding in captivity.
The species has a unique reproductive behavior. During the dry season, the male builds a nest using saliva. Then, the female lays about 1,200 to 3,000 eggs in the nest, which are immediately fertilized.
The eggs are unprotected, therefore, subject to predation. As they hatch, the first fry have been known to eat many of the unhatched eggs.
Aquarium Setup
The fish tank for a single specimen of Electric Eel must have at least 200 gallons. If you want to keep it in groups, the recommended amount would be something around 2.000 gallons.
The Electric eel must be placed in a very large tank, because even when it’s still a small fish, its growth rate is fast and constant.
The water should be soft and slightly acidic, but this isn’t important. Her level should be about 6 inches from the top because these fish need to come to the surface to breathe.
The tank filtration must be powerful to deal with the high biological load generated by the Electric Eel. It’s recommended to keep a SUMP type filter.
Electric eels need dark tanks with plenty of hiding places. Lighting can be dim or subdued, and you can add logs, rocks, and any other types of heavy decorations to provide hiding places.
References
de Santana, C.D., W.G.R. Crampton, C.B. Dillman, R.G. Frederico, M.H. Sabaj, R. Covain, J. Ready, J. Zuanon, R.R. de Oliveira, R.N. Mendes-Júnior, D.A. Bastos, T.F. Teixeira, J. Mol, W. Ohara, N.C. de Castro, L.A. Peixoto et al., 2019. Unexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator. Nature Communications (2019)10:4000. [+authors; Nagamachi, C.; Sousa, L.; Montag, L.F.A.; Ribeiro, F.; Waddell, J.C.; Piorsky, N.M.; Vari, R.P.; Wosiacki, W.B. ] (Ref. 120918);
Dr. Rüdiger Riehl and Hans A. Baensch, Aquarium Atlas Vol. 1, Publisher Hans A. Baensch, 1991;
Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod, Dr. Warren E Burgess, Dr. Cliff W. Emmens, Neal Pronek, Jerry G. Walls, Ray Hunziker, Dr. Axelrod’s Mini-Atlas of Aquarium Fishes, Mini- Edition, T.F.H. Publications, Inc., 1987;
Electrophorus electricus, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species;
