EEL in a Reef Tank

[clibby]

Hello all!
Does any one have any experience with an eel in their reef tank? My nephews think an eel would just be the greatest thing ever.
Is this just a bad idea period?

What are the risks?
Below are a couple pics.
Fish: Yellow Tang, 2 LG Perculas, Royal Gramma, Arrow crab,
Your thoughts please!

 

[shrimpi]

dont have any eels myself.
but, I do know that they need places to hide and territori-tize

They may also eat any small inverts/fish, just for fun.

 

[reefer545]

It is possible, but don't plan on having any fish for long. Even the smallest eel will go after anything it can fit in its mouth. Not a good idea due to feedings and the clean up crew may not be very well welcomed either. It would look SWEET though.

 

[reefreak29]

i would be more woried about the live rock , they live to burrow and its possible that the live rock could tumble over

 

[prk543]

I would be worried that in a reef tank the eel would swim into an anemone. From what I understand eels don't have great eye sight and since anemones move all around the tank, the eel might not know it's there.
As reeffreak said, if your live rock isn't secure the eel could eventually knock it down. If you wanted to do it, you could set up a bunch of tunnels in your rock using PVC pipe which would prevent some of the burrowing. Also depending on the personality of the eel and how well you keep it fed, it could end up picking off your fish and more than likely any shrimp you have would be dinner. I haven't had any trouble with my eel picking off any of my hermits or snails, but I try to feed it every time it shows signs of being hungry.
-prk543

 

[blizz75]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
i would be more woried about the live rock , they live to burrow and its possible that the live rock could tumble over
i made a really cool rock display,. about a minute and a half later all the rocks were on the ground when i first put my eel in the tank.
Further more, those fish, all but the tang, will more than likely be eaten
the polution from excretion as well as dropped food stuck between rocks tends to rot and add pollution that you do not want in a reef
most if not all of the larger inverts will be eaten
and lastly from the pictures, that tank looks to be way to small, is it a 40g??

 

[seattle]

Blizz,you can always check his profile

And the profile says it is a 75-gal.

 

[bkvreef]

I'm not the most experienced of eel keepers (only had my sfe for several months). But besides the waste I have not had any problem with it affecting any of my other fish or inverts. (horse shoe crabs, coral beauty, percs, koran angel, and sailfin tang).
The shrimp I would worry about though.
The eel has never knocked any of my rocks over.
If that is a concern you could always try a pvc tube in the sand for it to live. There are several threads on here about the blue ribbon and shows it in these if that is of interest.

 

[blizz75]

that i did not think of, a snowflake eel could last a good while in your tank if you purchased it at 8" or so. I also noticed that when i had my snowflake he did not bother any inverts but did eat all the damsels. But still when it grows to 2 feet, i think that you will start to run into problems.
bkvreef, what size is your eel?

 

[reefstar22]

I have a snowflake eel in my reef. - He is about 9 inchs long but about as thick as a papermate pen. - His mouth is also the size of the pens tip. - He eats shrimp pellets. - Hes a sweet add to my reef. - Also have a fuzzy dwarf lion fish. - He doesn't seem to bother my small 6 line wrase or my shrimp (which are rather large) - He eats ghost shrimp and small guppies.
As for having an aggressive reef know that what they can fit into there mouth, they will most definitely eat! - I completely forgot that I had a couple firefish when I bought my lion, with in seconds of adding him ... GULP! other than that I haven't had any issues.
Aggressive reef's are very cool, and they're arn't many of them. - So just remember if you do buy aggressive fish, you have to becareful what you mix with them.
Also beaware that eels/lions aggressive fish that eat meat are going to produce a higher waste load as well.
I have a 125 gallon display with a 100 gallon sump, plus 17 feet of 3inch pvc plumbing and a 30 gallon refugium. - I can handle the load. - I also have larger corals that are incrusted in my rock, so they dont tend to fall when the eel moves around.
Best wishes!
~Chris

 

[juniorzc123]

I have had a snowflake eel in my 75 gal reef for 2 years and it is yet to eat anything... i bought it about 6 inches long and now its about 14 inches... i keep snails, crabs, stars, along with a blue tang, fridmandi, lawnmower blenny and 1.5" maroon clown(could easily be eaten by eel)... and have yet to expierience any problems. The main thing is to keep it well fed..

 

[bkvreef]

Originally Posted by blizz75
that i did not think of, a snowflake eel could last a good while in your tank if you purchased it at 8" or so. I also noticed that when i had my snowflake he did not bother any inverts but did eat all the damsels. But still when it grows to 2 feet, i think that you will start to run into problems.
bkvreef, what size is your eel?
Maybe 12"
I know he's still young but (remember I have limited experience), he has never bothered any of my other fish. He ALWAYS will gently take the food of the feeding stick.
But like I said he's still young.