Eels

#1
I just bought a 37 gallon tank -taller than width or depth- and have bought a few cheap fish to make my girlfriend happy. I've had it for a week, so I know that any serious aquarist who happens to read this is shaking his/her head at me. Once I take the proper measures to ensure that my tank is healthy and cycled, I'd like to have some more interesting fish. I'd love to have cichlids(sp) but that would require me to start over -which I'm not entirely opposed to doing. The fish I like best are the ones that come out of our local streams, but since I'm going to school for work in the Illinois DNR, I could stand not to have that ticket on my record. To the point: I'd like to know about spiny, zig-zag, tire track, and fire eels. I'm leaning toward zigs because I've heard that they attain a much smaller adult size than the others. One day I'd like to have a much bigger tank and give the larger ones a try, but I need info first. I've read things on the net and what I get is vague. I'd like more information if anyone has any. Sorry! That was pretty windy!