I really want to put a moray in my reef. Does anyone know of any that are safer than others?
Snowflake is supposed to be OK. I had one once…it ate everything I fed it, including the best shrimp money could buy…Blood, Skunk, CBS, Peppermint. I don’t know how it would’ve done with the fish, since as soon as I saw all my shrimp were missing and in his belly, I didn’t give it a chance at any more of my livestock.
Do you care about shrimp, and small fish? I’d imagine any eel would eat them. A big eel would look great in that new giant tank though. Maybe one thats been in captivity for a while, trained to be hand fed? if you can find someone selling one…
I had a small snowflake years ago who never hurt anyone, but no eel will stay small for long in aa 750g display
All morays are coral safe. As far as I know, none are invert safe. There are smaller ones like the golden dwarf that can be kept in pretty small tanks, but they will eat inverts. However I have seen cleaner shrimp work their way into an eels mouth only to pop out a gill later, pretty cool. If you have a larger tank, a zebra eel is safe with smaller fish, but will eat inverts, still a docile eel. My brazilian dragon moray is supposed to be an invert eating eel, not fish, but I am pretty sure he is to blame for several missing small fish, he leaves my corals alone though, well he knocks them over a lot.
Here is my eel in my old tank:
I have a custom 180g now that he is in that I am making a predator reef. Stocking it with lots of corals and fish like a lionfish, miniatus grouper, australian harlequin tusk, bluethroat trigger and a tang, perhaps a genicanthus angel as well. So morays are possible in reefs, just has to be the right setup.
Yeah John Im thinking a moray would look awesome! Im not to concerned about shrimp to much. Id like some cleaners, and hopefully if I keep the eel fed enough he wont eat them. I dont have many real small fish. My smallest one is a manderin. Ive got some tangs And the 750 comes with some tangs and a mated pair of pearly jawfish. But I know when I had my 180 I could bend a lot of rules. So with a 750 I should be able damn near break some! I hope :
: And for the most part Im brain storming on what to do with this tank. Its all gonna be a very slow process!
And Im leaning towards a Golden head moray…
In a tank that big, i agree with you, diff rules …that things a small ocean :
:
A huge cave with a moray popping out would be incredible, and with all that room the others could choose to venture near that area if they’re brave, not because they’re crammed in a tank…
Man, the possibilities are endless with this tank… I can’t wait to see it
[quote=“DamnPepShrimp, post:4, topic:4966”]
All morays are coral safe. As far as I know, none are invert safe. There are smaller ones like the golden dwarf that can be kept in pretty small tanks, but they will eat inverts. However I have seen cleaner shrimp work their way into an eels mouth only to pop out a gill later, pretty cool. If you have a larger tank, a zebra eel is safe with smaller fish, but will eat inverts, still a docile eel. My brazilian dragon moray is supposed to be an invert eating eel, not fish, but I am pretty sure he is to blame for several missing small fish, he leaves my corals alone though, well he knocks them over a lot.
Here is my eel in my old tank:
I have a custom 180g now that he is in that I am making a predator reef. Stocking it with lots of corals and fish like a lionfish, miniatus grouper, australian harlequin tusk, bluethroat trigger and a tang, perhaps a genicanthus angel as well. So morays are possible in reefs, just has to be the right setup.[/quote]
Wow! I love all the predators also! how long have you had that eel? its bad ass.
do you have any more videos if it?
May not have to wait long!! Im trying to put my crew together to pick it up Sunday!!! YahoO
Here’s one from Lambo boy that he trying to get rid of. Not sure he still have it.
http://delreefclub.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28&topic=5445.0
Thats a pretty eel but im still in the planning stages. No matter how i do it im gonna build to caves in my rock scape! ;D
[quote=“saltcreep, post:8, topic:4966”]
Wow! I love all the predators also! how long have you had that eel? its bad (lolli-pop).
do you have any more videos if it?[/quote]
Thanks, I’ve had the eel for about 4 years now? Maybe longer? Can’t remember, he has become part of the family though! I have a couple more videos of the tank, few pics, some a little bloody from when the eel got a little over excited during feeding time lol.
Salty,
If you mean G. fimbriatus as a golden head moray, that would not be a good choice. Your jawfish and mandarin would probably be gone within a week. Those eels are fish eating eels, anything that eel thinks it can fit into its mouth, it will. My eel has peeble teeth therefore eats inverts but still managed to make a few little fish disappear. I can only imagine a fish eating eel of his size would do. I have known certain large fish eating eels to eat huge 18" snappers, 12" lionfish, 12" clown triggers etc. So be careful, do lots of research before deciding which eel.
Yeah, Ive been reading more and more about it. Its a display tank in my shop and im still deciding on what i wanna do. Im thinking about getting rid of my softies and doing all sps, except for my leather coral that touches both sides of my 125. That beast is my favorite! ;D Ive never had anything bigger than a 180 and i bent lots of rules with that. So Im trying to plan it all ahead so i dont have to keep changing it around.
Do all Moray Eels have two pairs of jaws and teeth like the big ones?
Where the big outer jaws and teeth grab and bite off your finger, and then the inner “Ailien” like jaws come up from the back of the throat and drag the tastey morsal(ie your finger) down it’s gullet?
[quote=“saltcreep, post:3, topic:4966”]
Maybe one thats been in captivity for a while, trained to be hand fed? [/quote]
WOAH! Careful now. Hand feeding eels is a bad idea. How exactly do you train them? Get them to love and respect you so they will fight through there blindness and see your hand versus the food out of love? Hand feeding eels is not wise in my opinion.
If you plan to keep both corals and an eel do you plan to use glass lids, LEDs, and a chiller? Eels escape so you shouldn’t leave an inch for them to escape(or a mm if you plan to keep a young one or smallers species) Most reef lighting puts off a ton of heat which can be trapped in with glass lids. You need to use much brighter lighting then you would use without glass lids as they’ll block upwards of 30-40% of the light(guess, but some numbers are out there somewhere if you look around) The light could be blocked even more if salt creep or dust settles on the glass, so add another maintenance chore of cleaning the glass frequently.
SPS often like low nitrates and phosphates and eels eat dead fish or large dead shrimp every couple of days. Sure a very small percentage of those dead fish you are putting in the tank end up building the body of the eel, but the majority of it rots away in the tank. So with SPS you wouldn’t want to start a cycle by throwing a couple of table shrimp in the tank, but with an eel you’ll be doing just that…
Many people like to keep small fish in reef tanks (like mandarins). Scrap that idea if you want an eel that eats fish. Many people like to keep “clean up crews†to help keep a reef tank clean. Scrap that idea if you go with an eel that eats inverts. So far they have yet to find an eel that eats algae, so you’ll got some choices to make.
The larger the body of water the slower the swings in chemistry, but matter cannot be created nor destroyed and many other “rules” still exist. When your phosphates go high in a massive tank and you want to pull them out it is not necessarily an easy or inexpensive task.
Just some random thoughts I wanted to share. It’s late at night.
Those are some very good points! Thanks for the insight. And I’ve hand fed a 6ft green moray before. And I was also bitten buy him! I worked at fishman aquarium on Kirkwood highway and the moray there was awesome! But one day I wasn’t paying attention and he got my thumb. Didn’t take it off but I bled quite a bit!
There typically isn’t just a puncture wound with a moray bite. Teeth shaped backwards designed to pull food in and keep it from going out means your going to rip your flesh as you pull away.
I’m very careful with my moray. He has a 65 gallon on his own which I’m just now considering to add a bit of color to.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:15, topic:4966”]
[quote=“saltcreep, post:3, topic:4966”]
Maybe one thats been in captivity for a while, trained to be hand fed? [/quote]
WOAH! Careful now. Hand feeding eels is a bad idea. How exactly do you train them? Get them to love and respect you so they will fight through there blindness and see your hand versus the food out of love? Hand feeding eels is not wise in my opinion. [/quote]
aaaahhhhhh… the voice of reason ::
I can’t feel half my fingers anyway. I’m gonna feed his eel when i go visit >LOCO<
Sweet!
[quote=“saltcreep, post:18, topic:4966”]
[quote=“Gordonious, post:15, topic:4966”]
[quote=“saltcreep, post:3, topic:4966”]
Maybe one thats been in captivity for a while, trained to be hand fed? [/quote]
WOAH! Careful now. Hand feeding eels is a bad idea. How exactly do you train them? Get them to love and respect you so they will fight through there blindness and see your hand versus the food out of love? Hand feeding eels is not wise in my opinion. [/quote]
aaaahhhhhh… the voice of reason ::
I can’t feel half my fingers anyway. I’m gonna feed his eel when i go visit >LOCO<[/quote]
john, does that mean you can only feel about 5 fingers or only have feeling in half of each finger? that’s my question.