mysticgal22
Member
I am looking at getting a eel. But there is one that I am looking for, the Muraenidea, its blue yellow and green. Has anyone had experience with this one? Any good advise I should know of? Thanks!!
eels...
- Thread starter mysticgal22
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polarpooch
Active Member
That's a family of morays. Blue, yellow and green sounds like a fimbriated moray to me.
Do you have a pic? What size tank are you planning? There are several different sizes of morays, some work in smaller tanks, some need large homes.
If you are gettings eels, you must check out Reef Fishes, Vol. One. It has photos, tank size, care level, hardiness, etc...great for quick research on morays.
I have three morays: a tesselata (gets huge), a blackedge or ocellated moray (gets fat, but stays around 2-2.5 feet) and a ghost moray (about 30" and thin as a magic marker).
On the whole, most morays are great tank pets...they are very hardy, can tolerate a lot of water and lighting conditions and very interesting to watch.
Please provide a few more details, and I'd be able to be more specific, as will the rest of us on this board.
Do you have a pic? What size tank are you planning? There are several different sizes of morays, some work in smaller tanks, some need large homes.
If you are gettings eels, you must check out Reef Fishes, Vol. One. It has photos, tank size, care level, hardiness, etc...great for quick research on morays.
I have three morays: a tesselata (gets huge), a blackedge or ocellated moray (gets fat, but stays around 2-2.5 feet) and a ghost moray (about 30" and thin as a magic marker).
On the whole, most morays are great tank pets...they are very hardy, can tolerate a lot of water and lighting conditions and very interesting to watch.
Please provide a few more details, and I'd be able to be more specific, as will the rest of us on this board.
mysticgal22
Member
there was one that I really liked at the fish store here, a blue ribbon eel or other wise known as a Rhinomuraenia Ambionensis. Have you had any experience with this one? Habbits? Warings? thanks
polarpooch
Active Member
Blue Ribbons are beautiful, but a bad risk. They frequently never eat in captivity and slowly starve to death. I would avoid it as a "new eel keeper".
I kept one for a little less than 6 months...he did eventually start to eat, though never that much, and onlywith much coaxing. He eventually escaped my tank. Very sad. It was tough going taking care of that eel. Moreover, I've been told by more than a few people I was lucky at all to get him to eat in the first place.
Good starter eels, depending on your tank size:
Snowflake
Blackedge (beware the rock moving)
Chainlink eel
Golden moray
Zebra moray (finicky eaters, though)
Good rule of thumb: Never put fish in with morays, unless you want to lose them.
Avoid green morays, unless you have a large tank for ONLY the green. Same pretty much goes for tesselatas.
This is but one person's opinion, though. There are a lot of eel keepers on this site....how about some of you other guys helping out here!
I kept one for a little less than 6 months...he did eventually start to eat, though never that much, and onlywith much coaxing. He eventually escaped my tank. Very sad. It was tough going taking care of that eel. Moreover, I've been told by more than a few people I was lucky at all to get him to eat in the first place.
Good starter eels, depending on your tank size:
Snowflake
Blackedge (beware the rock moving)
Chainlink eel
Golden moray
Zebra moray (finicky eaters, though)
Good rule of thumb: Never put fish in with morays, unless you want to lose them.
Avoid green morays, unless you have a large tank for ONLY the green. Same pretty much goes for tesselatas.
This is but one person's opinion, though. There are a lot of eel keepers on this site....how about some of you other guys helping out here!
snakes'n'fish
Member
Polar has a very good choice of eels there. Though I would stay away for the zebra's. They can be a real challenge to get to eat. I personally have a fimbriated. They are a very tough moray. But they are also very aggressive, they average out to be around 33 inches long but get very heavy bodied. Min. tank size I would say a 75. Mine has eaten about $150 dollors worth of fish, so take care what you add with one. Mine is also not afraid of the hand, and their bite is very painfull !! 
If I was to suggest a good first eel I would go with a chainlink or a snow flake. They tend to be a more passive species and ussally do not prey on the fish of the tank. They are good looking morays, that in my experience take readily to being fed from a skewer. BUT there are always exceptions to these rules, some one on the board here has a snow flake that has started to eat there fish, so beware.
I also agree with polar on the green and tessalata moray's. They get huge and will need a very large tank. As for the ribbon eels, I personaly would not chance it. Very few seem to survive shipping and even less ever start to eat. Stick with the more common moray's, get some experience and then move to the real challenging ones.
HTH
-Brian
Here is a pic of my fimbriated, what I call him most of the time is not very nice and contains a couple of four letter words, but his nick name is Jaws. He may be mean, but I like him. This is an old pic.
If I was to suggest a good first eel I would go with a chainlink or a snow flake. They tend to be a more passive species and ussally do not prey on the fish of the tank. They are good looking morays, that in my experience take readily to being fed from a skewer. BUT there are always exceptions to these rules, some one on the board here has a snow flake that has started to eat there fish, so beware.
I also agree with polar on the green and tessalata moray's. They get huge and will need a very large tank. As for the ribbon eels, I personaly would not chance it. Very few seem to survive shipping and even less ever start to eat. Stick with the more common moray's, get some experience and then move to the real challenging ones.
HTH
-Brian
Here is a pic of my fimbriated, what I call him most of the time is not very nice and contains a couple of four letter words, but his nick name is Jaws. He may be mean, but I like him. This is an old pic.
harlequin
Member
I think the best eel by far to start off with if you want to collect eels is a snowflake eel. Common and cheap, its a good starter eel to see if you really want to keep the other eels. They require alot more work then just standard fish. Most of them you have to target feed, use a stick not your fingers(they have bad eyesight). They can escape through the smallest hole incuding your skimmer pipe and overflow and small ones like baby snowflakes and dwarf goldens can go through eggcrate. I personally have eggcrate covered in screen, duct-taped to the only opening of my canopy in the back and the back of my overflow is screen and taped down. Keep your snowflake for awhile, wait and see if the novelty wears off, meanwhile do research on other eels you might want in the future. This way you wont be out alot of cash if you find after awhile you are getting tired of upkeep and just want regular "throw-some-flake-in-the-water-and-go" reef fish.
polarpooch
Active Member
Harlequin wrote:
I think the best eel by far to start off with if you want to collect eels is a snowflake eel. Common and cheap, its a good starter eel to see if you really want to keep the other eels.
I completely agree. Besides, they are very beautiful! Their size is easy to manage in a medium sized tank. They max out at about 28" and get about as thick as a broom handle. They readily take food.
Food for eels by the way will run you much higher than regular fish food. Eels take meaty foods like chopped fresh shrimp, silversides, krill, fresh tuna, etc. It's good to have a stock of stuff in your freezer for them. I'd also say get a good protein skimmer for a fair sized eel like a snowflake. All eels are pretty messy eaters and your tank will be filthy without meticulous maintenance and a skimmer.
I think the best eel by far to start off with if you want to collect eels is a snowflake eel. Common and cheap, its a good starter eel to see if you really want to keep the other eels.
I completely agree. Besides, they are very beautiful! Their size is easy to manage in a medium sized tank. They max out at about 28" and get about as thick as a broom handle. They readily take food.
Food for eels by the way will run you much higher than regular fish food. Eels take meaty foods like chopped fresh shrimp, silversides, krill, fresh tuna, etc. It's good to have a stock of stuff in your freezer for them. I'd also say get a good protein skimmer for a fair sized eel like a snowflake. All eels are pretty messy eaters and your tank will be filthy without meticulous maintenance and a skimmer.