Dwarf spineless eel

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a tiny, secretive, eel-like fish that is best kept in a quiet species tank, since for most of the time it is little more than a shape moving under the substrate. It is peaceful and harmless, burrowing in soft sand and litter and emerging at night to hunt very small prey, so it needs fine sand it can dig into and gentle, calm water. Keep it alone or only with equally small, placid fish that will not out-compete it, and avoid anything boisterous. Feed tiny live and frozen foods: micro worms, grindal worm, small frozen bloodworm, and other fine items delivered where it can find them. A tank of around 54 litres suits it.

In the wild

It lives in soft, weedy, slow-moving waters of the Brahmaputra lowlands in northeast India, among dense vegetation, silt, and litter in standing or gently flowing pools and paddies. Recreate that with a soft sand bed, plenty of leaf litter and fine plants, gentle flow, warm water of 20 to 26 degrees Celsius, and a soft, slightly acidic pH of 6.0 to 7.2.

Good to know

It belongs to the earthworm eel family, Chaudhuriidae, small, spineless relatives of the spiny eels, and reaches only about 7 cm. It is the sole member of its genus, Garo, and lives buried in soft ground much of the time. Its breeding in the aquarium is not documented.

Did you know

Its whole family is barely known. The earthworm eels are so small, burrowing, and rarely collected that turning one up in a shipment of other fish can amount to a local record, and this species is named for the Garo Hills where it was found.

Tank mates

Dwarf spineless eel is a peaceful, solitary species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• 

  Amiet's lyretail

  Fundulopanchax amieti

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Fallax killifish

  Fundulopanchax fallax

  Freshwater

  3.5 in (9 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Elongate moth catfish

  Hara horai

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Infrafasciatus killifish

  Epiplatys infrafasciatus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Redspotted panchax

  Epiplatys lamottei

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Pridi loach

  Schistura pridii

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

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  2.8 in (7 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
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  Pretty cory

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  Brochis seussi

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