My son wants an eel so I have a few questions...

ant

ant

Member
Do they sell eels small enough for a 30gal? If yes, can they live with two clowns, a six-line, gobi and three shrimp, along with snails and crabs of course?
I'm not going right out to buy one. I have tons of questions first.
Thanks everyone. Ant.
 
ryan115

ryan115

Member
as far as i know most if not all eels will outgrow your tank. I looked at a snowflake but they get too big. Also it changes from eel to eel but if it is not always full there is a good chance it will go after those shrimp and smaller fish
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Typically an Eel will either eat fish or crustaceans or both.
Have you considered an Engineer Goby? They're not Eels but they look similar to an eel when they mature.
They will make a mess of any sand in the tank though.
 
S

sykomagnet

Guest
No way would i keep an eel with any fish.
They did in my LFS. And i was watching it when it just grabbed a yellow tail blue damsel and ripped it to shreds... The LFS didnt seem to care much though...
But i was like :scared:
 
bret61081

bret61081

Member
I have my eel in my 55G with a cleaner shrimp, 2 pepermint shrimp, royal gamma, manderine, pygmy angel slpeeper goby and a midas blenny with no problems. The goby and eel even share the same rock sometimes. Mine is a white ghost eel(white ribbon eel). Its a cool little fish and the max size is just under 2' and about as thick as a sharpie marker. according to another web page the min size tank is a 30G...Cool little guy...never touched any of my fish or inverts. Everyone is prolly sick of the pics of my little guy but here they are again! :happyfish

 
ant

ant

Member
Thanks for all of the posts. That's the info I needed. I'm leaning away from getting one but my son keeps asking so now I have some info to give him.
Bang Guy-I will look up the enginere goby to see what they look like. Can he live with the other goby I have? That's a good thought.
Bret-I really liked the pictures. Thanks for sharing. I'm really fond of all the creatures in my tank so I'd hate to get something that might eat them. It sounds like your little guy does well with everyone.
Great info. Gotta love this site!

Ant.
 
darth tang

darth tang

Active Member
Engineer goby's are docile. I have a 9 inch engineer in with my seahorse and have never had a problem. The do tend to bury themselves under rock and I don't see him often, but when I do, he is snaking out just like the eels do and swims just the same. A very low maintenance fish in my opinion. My lived through 2 ich wipeouts in the beginning of my fish keeping career.
 
troyw806

troyw806

Member
Hey Ant, good idea asking questions before you buy anything. Eel opinions differ. I have a brand new snowflake eel that is about 4-5 inches long. I keep him in a tank with 2 damsels a yellow tang, diamond goby, lm blenny, 3 bl hermit crabs, and a cleaner wrasse. I've only had him for a little over a week but he has never bothered any of the other fish, or even acted interested. He may be to young to eat them. Once he out grows the tank he's in I'll probably get him his own. :joy:
 
ant

ant

Member
Darth Tang-thanks for that info. I'm definitely looking into the gobi. Maybe I can fake my son out. I love low maintenance...if there's such a thing in SW.

Troy-that sounds pretty cool. How big is your tank? How big will the eel get? Good luck!
Ant.
 
ant

ant

Member
Teresa, thanks for the pics. I think that would work. Now it's okay to have that and a watchman together? Just want to make sure.
I love this site. Always so helpful.

Ant.
 
ryan115

ryan115

Member
gobies have been known to act aggresivly towards other gobies, though the engineer is a very easy going and docile, as are some of the watchman. It would be another case where you would have to either find some success stories or try and see.
 
ant

ant

Member
Hey everyone thanks for all the suggestions. We bought an enginere gobi today and my son loves him.
Really looks like an eel to him so it worked perfectly. He's fun to watch too. He acclimated very easily and ate right away. Thanks a bunch!
Ant.
 
teresaq1

teresaq1

Member
very cool. what are you feeding. Mine loves shrimp pellets. he sticks his head out and watches for me to come to the tank, as if asking for a few pellets.
 
ant

ant

Member
Last night I fed frozen shrimp but I mostly feed flake. Boring I know but it's easy and they feast over it like anything else so I figure they like it too. The pistol shrimp dug all new holes after the LR move so the eng goby found a lovely rock to reside under and now we don't see him very much
.
 
ant

ant

Member
I have a pair of false percs, a six line, watchman gobi/pistol shrimp, pepermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp, snails, crabs, xenias, brown polyps, green star polyps and now the eng gobi. Why?
 
ant

ant

Member
Whew! I thought you were going to tell me my fish couldn't live together or something like that. Glad to help.
 
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