7 Best Tire Track Eel Tank Mates – FishLab

Hoping to discover the greatest neighbors for your tire track eel? Don’t worry; we have a list of the best tire track eel tank mates coming right up!

The best tire track eel tank mates are fish that can handle the same temperature, hardness, and habitat of a tank and its water. However, they also need to eat a different diet rather than competing for the same food as the tire track eel.

In this article we’ll go over our list of the best tire track eel tank mates. We’ll delve into what makes each of these candidates a possible good fit for your tank. We will also remind you of the things you will want to consider when picking out a tank mate for the tire track eel. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Tire Track Eel Tank Mates – What You Need to Know

Below, we will check out all of the important things to remember to maintain a healthy life for your tire track eel, as well as how this applies to their potential tank mates.

Temperament

The tire track eel is a beautiful creature to look at, but if you watch for a while, you will quickly notice that it does not stay in sight for long. Typically, the tire track eel is very non-aggressive and downright shy. It will be pretty submissive, hiding from any fish that spooks it.

What you need to do is find tank mates that won’t have fun picking on the tire track eel, or get aggressive and try to fight the eel. Instead, find laid-back, or simply peaceful tank mates.

Size

Tire track eels can actually reach some of the longest lengths in the eel family! In the aquarium, however, they are usually known to reach 20 inches. They may be shy, but this is a pretty lengthy animal and needs lots of space.

Because of its submissive nature, you will not usually have to worry about the tire track eel snacking on fish that are smaller than itself. However, that does not mean you shouldn’t take size into consideration when setting up a community tank.

Competition

Tire track eels are omnivorous. They tend to eat everything from veggies to insects to meat. However, they are notoriously hard to feed because of their shyness. Fish that eat a similar diet can snag too much of the tire track eel’s food as it journeys down from the surface, and the tire track eel is not likely to compete for this food.

The best plan is to find tank mates who eat at a different time or simply don’t eat very much in order to make sure there are plenty of leftovers for the tire track eel.

Parameters & Tank Setup

Tire track eels need a tank with water that is 75 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. With this warm water, it will be happy and healthy. Make sure any tank mates have the same needs! Additionally, your tire track eel will not feel safe without lots and lots of nooks and crannies to hide in.

Create these with logs, caves, branches, sea grass, and other plant life.

Best Tire Track Eel Tank Mates

1. Kuhli Loach

2. Honey Gourami

3. Betta Fish

4. Dwarf Gourami

5. Pearl Gourami

6. Clown Loach

7. Dwarf Chain Loach

Let’s take a closer look at each of these fine fish to see what makes them good for the tire track eel.

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1. Kuhli Loach

• Scientific Name: Pangio kuhlii
• Adult Size: 4 inches
• Compatible With: Tire Track Eels
• Care Level: Easy
• Origin: Indonesia

If you were to somehow convince a kuhli loach to lay flat on it’s side, you would see what looked like a very long, very thin fish. However, kuhli loaches in motion usually move and look more like eels or serpents than they do fish!

That said, the kuhli loach is a joy to have in the tank for all of the 14 years it usually survives. They have very tiny but cute whiskers, are typically a pale orange or yellow color with long, drippy-looking black spots that could almost be stripes.

Kuhli loaches are great for most tanks because they are not only easy to take care of, but get along very well with other fish. They will be on the bottom of the tank, but as long as your tire track eel feels it has enough room to hide if it gets too shy to share space, the kuhli loach is a good pick for a tank mate.

Pros of keeping with Tire Track Eel:

• No aggression
• Cleans up bottom of the tank

Cons of keeping with Tire Track Eel :

• Occupies the same zone as tire track eel

2. Honey Gourami

• Scientific Name: Trichogaster chuna
• Adult Size: 3 inches
• Compatible With: Tire Track Eels
• Care Level: Easy
• Origin: Bangladesh, India

The honey gourami will light up your aquarium with its beautiful sunny coloring. It is generally shaped like an arrowhead, and what it lacks in size it makes up for with lemon-yellow or gold colors.

Honey gouramis are easy to keep with many fish because they simply enjoy swimming around peacefully, causing harm to nobody. They may accidentally spook the skittish tire track eels, but they will never intentionally charge or harm their tank mates.

Pros of keeping with Tire Track Eel:

• No aggression
• No food competition

Cons of keeping with Tire Track Eel :

• None

3. Betta Fish

• Scientific Name: Betta splendens
• Adult Size: 3 inches
• Compatible With: Tire Track Eels
• Care Level: Medium Difficulty
• Origin: Thailand, Cambodia

If you are looking for a fish that can come in just about any color and wow you with dazzling fins, the betta fish is a good choice. This fish has the other name Siamese Fighting Fish, so you may have heard of its aggressive reputation.

Don’t let this make you believe the Betta fish won’t be a good tank mate for the tire track eel. Bettas are mostly aggressive with others of their own species. Without any of these in the tank, they are simply curious and absolutely gorgeous fish.

Pros of keeping with Tire Track Eel:

• No aggression with fish that are not Bettas
• No food competition

Cons of keeping with Tire Track Eel :

• None

4. Dwarf Gourami

• Scientific Name: Trichogaster Ialius
• Adult Size: 2 inches
• Compatible With: Tire Track Eels
• Care Level: Easy
• Origin: West Bengal, India, Assam, Bangladesh

Dwarf gouramis come in color variations such as powder-blue gouramis, flame gouramis, sunset gouramis, and simply red gouramis. Dwarf gouramis are peaceful tank mates for tire track eels.

A dwarf gourami can live for up to 6 years, and in all that time, it will be pleasing to look at. The fish is largely shaped like an arrowhead, and though small, it is impactful in color. It also has two long, iconic whiskers trailing from it’s chin!

Pros of keeping with Tire Track Eel:

• No aggression
• No food competition

Cons of keeping with Tire Track Eel :

• None

5. Pearl Gourami

• Scientific Name: Trichopodus leerii
• Adult Size: 4 inches
• Compatible With: Tire Track Eels
• Care Level: Easy
• Origin: Sumatra, Malaysia, Borneo, Thailand

Pearl gouramis are another type of fish that go by many names. You may find them in aquariums under the labels: “Lace gourami, leeri gourami, diamond gourami, and mosaic gourami.”

Regardless of what name you find them under, you will know this peaceful fish by it’s beautiful appearance. The fish is typically a sunny color, but this is covered in a fine spattering of white spots that trail all the way out to the edge of the fish’s tail fins. This gives the fish the appearance of being covered in tiny pearls or lace!

Pros of keeping with Tire Track Eel:

• No aggression
• No food competition

Cons of keeping with Tire Track Eel :

• None

6. Clown Loach

• Scientific Name: Botia macracantha
• Adult Size: 12 inches
• Compatible With: Tire Track Eels
• Care Level: Medium difficulty
• Origin: Indonesia

The clown loach is an incredibly peaceful tank mate option for the tire track eel. It enjoys moving along the bottom of the tank, using it’s tiny whiskers to find detritus to eat. Though the tire track eel may not be friendly with the clown loach, neither will hurt the other.

A clown loach has a long, aerodynamic body for a loach. It is a sunny gold or yellow in color with hints of orange and red, particularly around the fins. This is segmented by jet black stripes, one of which often goes over the darkly-colored eye.

Pros of keeping with Tire Track Eel:

• No aggression
• No food competition

Cons of keeping with Tire Track Eel :

• Occupies the same zone of the tank

7. Dwarf Chain Loach

• Scientific Name: Abastaia Sidthimunki
• Adult Size: 2 inches
• Compatible With: Tire Track Eels
• Care Level: Easy
• Origin: Thailand, Northern India

This pretty little loach is another type that you might find labeled under different names at the local pet store. For example, the dwarf chain loach has also been called the “chimpunk loach, ladderback loach, mouse loach, monkey botia, pygmy loach, sid the monkey, and skunk loach.”

All of these names are fun, but “dwarf chain loach” really describes the smallness and the color pattern of this fish. These loaches are a silvery gold in color on the belly, saddled by dark brown, black, and gold stripes.

These stripes are overlain with a chain of spots that look almost rose-gold. Between the beauty of this tiny fish and their laid-back personalities, there is no reason to worry that the tire track eel may have any trouble with chained loaches as tank mates.

Pros of keeping with Tire Track Eel:

• No food competition
• No aggression

Cons of keeping with Tire Track Eel :

• Occupies the same zone of the tank

In Conclusion

To sum it all up, the best tire track eel tank mates are fish that can handle the same water parameters as the eel itself, but will not out-compete the eel for food. Additionally, temperament is particularly important when it comes to tire track eels. These eels are shy, so friendly fish or fish that keep to themselves are your best bet for successful tank mates!

The main thing to remember when keeping tire track eels with other fish is that although tire track eels may respond to all fish by hiding or shrinking away when they are approached, this does not mean those fish are bad tank mates. The tire track loach just needs time to get used to its neighbors! Happy tank mate hunting!