The Skeletor Eel arrived safely from Live Aquaria. Excellent packing job, bagged 7 bags thick with warmers and packing peanuts to keep the Eel warm.
Acclimated like they told me and now he is in the tank. Already found a couple of places where he likes to hide, none of the resident fishes have bothered him so far.
Once he starts to get out more, I’ll try to take pics.
He is about 12-13" in length and about as thick as a thumb. Beautiful markings, dark brown color with yellowish/creme spots.
PICS!!!
I dont remember if you have said wether or not you have owned eels before, but if you havent put that tank on lockdown!! With an eel that size it will find a way out of the tiniest opening.
I put custom glass canopies on my 265g to prepare for my eel. My son picked out a tiny snowflake about the size of your eel. I thought my tank was eel proof, i was wrong, he got out. The only thing i can imagine is that he must have went over the lip of the overflow becuase it doesnt reach the same height as the recessed trim of the tank where the glass canopies sit. There must have only been about 1/4-3/8" between the top of the overflow and the bottom of the canopy but thats all it took.
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:2, topic:2297”]
PICS!!!
I dont remember if you have said wether or not you have owned eels before, but if you havent put that tank on lockdown!! With an eel that size it will find a way out of the tiniest opening.
I put custom glass canopies on my 265g to prepare for my eel. My son picked out a tiny snowflake about the size of your eel. I thought my tank was eel proof, i was wrong, he got out. The only thing i can imagine is that he must have went over the lip of the overflow becuase it doesnt reach the same height as the recessed trim of the tank where the glass canopies sit. There must have only been about 1/4-3/8" between the top of the overflow and the bottom of the canopy but thats all it took.[/quote]
I’ll try to get you pics later but right now he is hiding in the back of the tank. Thanks for the advice regarding tight lids, I did cover the tank tightly and even covered the overflow box so he cannot escape there. I hope I have it all covered, 1/4" is not much…
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:2, topic:2297”]
PICS!!!
I dont remember if you have said wether or not you have owned eels before, but if you havent put that tank on lockdown!! With an eel that size it will find a way out of the tiniest opening.
I put custom glass canopies on my 265g to prepare for my eel. My son picked out a tiny snowflake about the size of your eel. I thought my tank was eel proof, i was wrong, he got out. The only thing i can imagine is that he must have went over the lip of the overflow becuase it doesnt reach the same height as the recessed trim of the tank where the glass canopies sit. There must have only been about 1/4-3/8" between the top of the overflow and the bottom of the canopy but thats all it took.[/quote]
Here is a picture when he came out to sniff food. He ate 2 pieces of squid.
Awsome. I’m jealous.
looks fing sweet…
very cool!!
nice eel!!!
Kewl…I’ve never considered an eel, but they are so awesome looking.
What are their down sides? Messy and poopy? Eat your favored fish? I can’t imagine them messing with corals.
[quote=“IanH, post:9, topic:2297”]
Kewl…I’ve never considered an eel, but they are so awesome looking.
What are their down sides? Messy and poopy? Eat your favored fish? I can’t imagine them messing with corals.[/quote]
IMO I think most of them are very hardy except of course the Ribbon eel, you also don’t want to pick one that gets huge. No matter what size, they are a messy critter putting a huge bioload on your tank. And they will eat whatever it fits in their mouth. Don’t know about corals since I have never had corals in my tanks.
They are fun to feed but most of the time, they are hiding in their favorite hole.
Won’t mess with corals, but they may also keep you from messing from corals. They have very poor eye sight so either:
A. They will see your finger and think it is a small fish… or
B. Won’t see you coming until you are right on top of it and you’ll scare the crap out of them sending them jumping out of the tank.
Also as far as keeping eels in a reef tank… well they are escape artist. I once had a small snow flake eel jump out of the water through a whole in some egg create that was as high up off the water as he was long. A very tight glass lid is pretty much the only way to go which could cut down on %60 of the PAR getting to your corals. That and I know people that have had to keep bricks and other heavy items on top of the glass keeping them in. One of several obstacles that have to be considered.
Most eels will swallow any fish that fits in their mouths and many of the popular ones are built to crush and digest inverts.(so clean up crews are not easy to come by) My snow flake also once bit the head off a pretty large Flame angelfish when it was pretty small. So even fish that are larger then their mouths may become food if they are hungry
enough.
Just my thoughts and experience.
Doable, but more of an obstacle then most reefers would be willing to go through.
agree with all of the above and will add one thing. bigger eels can also be tough because they can topple rockwork and corals with their less than gracefull movements.
Yeah forgot about that part. Rescaping is going to be an on going battle if you don’t lock down your rock work or just give up. My eel used to be a digger too when he was in a tank with a sand bed. He would have burried a lot of coral and ticked off a lot of others.
Golden Moray arrived today. He is awesome, eating already and no issues with the Skeletor eel.
Here is a pic of the tank that they are in plus pics of the eels.
One more pic of them together (face to face) with no problem.
Another beautiful animal. I hope they get along together.
Have the lid really tight? No escape holes right?
[quote=“Gordonious, post:16, topic:2297”]
Another beautiful animal. I hope they get along together.
Have the lid really tight? No escape holes right? [/quote]
The Skeletor looked hungry so when I fed him, the two eels got into a tug of war so I fed the Golden Moray right afterwards. He ate 2 silversides hours after the shipping ordeal.
I have the lid totally sealed off and I even blocked off the overflow by cutting a sponge and laying it on top and having the lid sit on it.
So far so good, I did notice that the Golden eel has a slight crooked mouth, is that normal?
Very nice!
I had originally planned on having an eel in my 265g but it placed so many limits on my stocking list that i more than likely wont get one. However, if i do, the Golden Dwarf is one of my favs and is on a very shot list.
Im not sure what you have planned for your tank, but keep in mind that the GDM is a piscivore and will aggressively eat fish. The only reason its really on the short-list of “well mannered” eels is because of its small size, not its dietary habits. I dont know much about the Skeletor, i dont think many people do, but ive heard that there can be a difference between the eating habbits of “crustacean” morays in the Gymnomuraena and Echidna familys. Gymnomuraena have true molar-like teeth and will almost never eat live fish. Echidna, on the other hand, like the snowflake have teeth that will become less molar-like as they mature and are more likely to feast on fish as they get larger. I cant find the article where i read this off the top of my head, but its worth keeping in mind when selecting tankmates. I know there was a huge spread with many different articals realting to morays in the CORAL issue before last.
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:18, topic:2297”]
Very nice!
I had originally planned on having an eel in my 265g but it placed so many limits on my stocking list that i more than likely wont get one. However, if i do, the Golden Dwarf is one of my favs and is on a very shot list.
Im not sure what you have planned for your tank, but keep in mind that the GDM is a piscivore and will aggressively eat fish. The only reason its really on the short-list of “well mannered” eels is because of its small size, not its dietary habits. I dont know much about the Skeletor, i dont think many people do, but ive heard that there can be a difference between the eating habbits of “crustacean” morays in the Gymnomuraena and Echidna familys. Gymnomuraena have true molar-like teeth and will almost never eat live fish. Echidna, on the other hand, like the snowflake have teeth that will become less molar-like as they mature and are more likely to feast on fish as they get larger. I cant find the article where i read this off the top of my head, but its worth keeping in mind when selecting tankmates. I know there was a huge spread with many different articals realting to morays in the CORAL issue before last.[/quote]
I actually have that Coral issue, just bought it and haven’t read it yet.
Don’t plan on putting any fish with my eels except for some 5 or so Damsels in case they get hungry and need something to eat…
I would be very impressed to see a moray that could take out a damsel >LOL<
Ill give you a thought i had. The Japanese Dragon Moray happens to be my all time favorite and was the sole reason i bought my 265g. I decided for a species only tank instead for several reasons, but one thing i thought was interesting is potential tankmates for large, agressive eels like the dragon. Ive read from mutiple sources that these eels are very unlikely to take out small reef fish if they are well fed. It would be like us hunting for mice for food instead of deer. If we are hungry enough, we might do it, otherwise were going to save our energy for larger prey. It may be quite possible to keep a piscivorous eel with peaceful reef fish like cardinals, blennies, chromis, etc with little issue. Anything larger, or stupid enough to posture defensively, will likely become expensive lunch.