"inherited" tank

[kcleahy]

Hi, I am sorta a newbie and was recommended this site by a relative. Anyway, my husband and I kinda inherited this 125 gal tank with all the fish about a month ago. A friend of ours gave it to us cause he was mad and got tired of moving the big thing and was getting ready to move for the third time anyways...he wouldn't take money for it and now it is in our living room. He already had it set up. It has 140 lb. live rock, 2 panther groupers, 1 stars and stripes puffer and 3 moray eels, 1 all-green, 1 that I think is a hawaiin spotted leopard, but not for sure and a snowflake. Everyone is doing just wonderful. All I am wondering is should anymore fish go in this aquarium or not. And should I be getting a bunch of live shrimp for these eels? Our friend has always fed them the de-thawed cooked shrimp about once a week and feeder goldfish once a week. Since I have been reading on these fish, puffers have to eat at least once a day, so he gets cubes of brine shrimp that he loves. plus eats on the cooked shrimp we throw in there once or twice a week. Should I be doing anything different. The groupers and him and sometimes the eels just act like they are starving to death on the off days. I want to make their home as happy as can be. Any help would be much needed. Thanks. P.S. the groupers are the only ones that seem to feed when the feeder fish go in. Is this normal. Puffer won't touch them. He'll look, but not touch. The eels haven't really been quick enough. They do get them when they're dead or dying and collected up by the filter, though.

 

[thangbom]

i dont think it's good to feed them cooked shrimp.. it should be frozen shrimped that is then thawd out in water ( this make the shrimp easier to digest) the puffer is too slow imo to catch feeder fish.. so some choped up shrimp will do him good.. as for the ells.. they are like scavengers.. they eat what hit the bottom of the tank.. so try to get food to them by placing it at the bottom??.....

 

[kcleahy]

Thanks for the info. The shrimp is frozen and dethawed in water before I give it to them and it does sink to the bottom and the eels find it. What I was wondering is should I buy any live shrimp or any inverts at all for this aquarium or would they just simply be ate up quickly. I know I read some things on the puffer needing to file down the teeth with scallops or something??? Just curious. Thanks again for the help.

 

[konrade]

Feed them all silversides, krill, anything meaty, including crustaceans. No live foods. None of those fish are picky eaters. Brine shrimp aren't good either.... they are like eating candy bars all the time.. no nutritional value, or at least hardly any.

 

[thangbom]

U Perdy Much Cant Have Any Inverts Or Crustations With Your Tank.. Ohh And I Forgot To Tell U That Afther U Peel The Shrimp.. And 'if' U Chope Them Up Perdy Good.. A Good Tip For That Is To Freeze Them Afther U Peel Them That Way They Are More Solid To Chop..

 

[kcleahy]

Thank you Thang and Konrade, I really do appreciate all the help. It was much needed and much appreciated!!

 

[petjunkie]

What exactly do you mean by an all-green moray. The only all-green eels I can think of would the a green wolf eel or a green moray that will get to be around 8 feet. Hopefully that's not what's in your tank.

 

[kcleahy]

Petjunkie, all I can say is he is all green and about 20 in. in length right now. I've seen a pic of the green wolf and I don't think that is what he is. The guy that gave him to us says that he is actually blue but the green color is like algae and stuff that he has on him, but I beg to differ. He also said that this guy is hard to come by and they don't even sell him, but I am thinking well then how did you get him? I will try and post some pics if I can get camera to work. Now you have me wondering. ha ha :happyfish

 

[ophiura]

It is probably a green moray which is blue but has a yellow slime coat. ALGAE??? Wow, he didn't know a lot about fish, I am afraid.
That eel is going to get HUGE. Be sure to keep a good cover on the tank...it is not fun to find a dried up eel on the floor and they can escape.
No live foods are necessary. As mentioned, meaty foods such as shrimp, krill, clam, silversides, squid etc are good. Use a feeding stick to target feed the eels. The brine shrimp cubes are not particularly good for the puffer (nor, IMO, does it need to be fed every day). Brine shrimp are nutritionally very poor, and you have to basically feed it frozen or it will just break up. Feeding it frozen isn't a good idea.
Invest in a good diversity of frozen meaty foods and you should be OK. But, IMO, you have no room for additional fish. The panther groupers will also get quite large....

 

[merredeth]

Originally Posted by ThaNgBom
as for the ells.. they are like scavengers.. they eat what hit the bottom of the tank.. so try to get food to them by placing it at the bottom??.....
Actually, I hand feed my eel on many occassions and he takes it right from me. The person who gave him to me was the one that started that game. For the longest time refused to eat anything on the bottom of the tank. If it wasn't in my fingers - he wouldn't eat it.
Denise M.

 

[thangbom]

heh.. i know what u mean.. i have a agressive tank and i can hand feed all my fish.. but i wont do it too much.. dont want him stuck on that rutine.. or game .. ( imagin if u had to go on vaca.. u cant just trush any 1 to stick there hand in your tank to feed your fish... i mean.. i always rinse my ARM befor i stick my HAND in my tank... (i just like to keep things a little safe when u have over $500 in livestock...

 

[merredeth]

Originally Posted by ThaNgBom
heh.. i know what u mean.. i have a agressive tank and i can hand feed all my fish.. but i wont do it too much.. dont want him stuck on that rutine.. or game .. ( imagin if u had to go on vaca.. u cant just trush any 1 to stick there hand in your tank to feed your fish... i mean.. i always rinse my ARM befor i stick my HAND in my tank... (i just like to keep things a little safe when u have over $500 in livestock...
When I first got the eel he wouldn't eat out of my hand and I had to have the previous owner come over and feed him as he wouldn't even eat from the bottom of the tank either. I'd wash my hands, I'd lose my wedding rings, no nail polish and everything to try to get him to eat. Nothing would work.
He must have finally realized I was going to be the ONLY food source and I wasn't there to harm him or something.
I am thinking about adding a shark to the tank since the eel is the only one in the tank. What do you think? Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Denise M.