M Dayi will need approx the same size as a Fire or TT... I'll post pics after I pop out my kid lol... I have one atm thats 20"+ and less then 1 yr old... no way is she done growing.. But I also have one thats 1/2 that size..
55 or less look at - peacocks, zig zags, either of the 2 common Lake Tang species ( plagosi, elpisifer. sp?), yellow tail.
55+ - fires, tire track ( 2 main subspecies, patterned belly or solid belly patterned maxes out approx 24" solid belly 36"+) Black spotted Leopard eel aka M Dayi ( imo not enough info to give a accurate size on these fish as a "general" guide. I personally own one on the larger side of what's suggested to be their max size ad it's still a juvi. and there have been reports of imported adults 24")
Fire eels are ime the least aggressive spiney of the larger species you see most commonly. But tires seem to take ot prepared foods the easiest. M dayi ime has similar needs/personality to the TT's I would bracket these fish as semi-aggressive.
I kept my fire's and now my m dayi's In a 75. They need a larger tank asap.. I am moving them to a 300 stock tank soon as the baby bills get paid off.
75/55 would work approx 1 yr. starting with a YOY fish ( ie a baby) as with all spiney eels they will often refuse prepared foods, and must be fed live or frozen to survive. Contrary to alot of peoples belief fish can and will starve with food in the tank if it isn't acceptable to the fish to eat. I suggest live black worms for juvies ( it is far more nutritiouse then frozen bloodworms but may be harder to find, and abit of work to maintain. but imo well worth it) frozen krill, shrimp ( pref FW) and peices of fish shaved or diced up small enough to be easily eaten often work as well.. once my spineys hit 12" they start getting nightcrawlers cut into 3rds instead of the blackworms. And this is also the size I start introduceing pellets into my mix of foods, often soaking them in worm guts of shrimpy water prior. I"ve had hit and miss results with pellets.. sometimes they will eat them w/out issue.. and sometimes they will refuse them for weeks and eat only worms or krill. I personally don't believe in starveing my fish to eat what they want... but others do. imo you can't go wrong with either approach. I simply do not wish to chance stunting my fish at such a young age, as it seems most spiney's particularly the larger species take a few years to fully mature, the peacocks I've heard will start breeding generally after their first year. The problem is there seems to be very little actual scientific documentation on spiney eels in general, and alot of it is hear say, or personal experiances from owners.
