what eel to buy?? please help!

[morayeel]

I am looking to buy a moray eel, probably a snowflake sense i am new to the hobby but was looking at the viper morays and the blue ribbon eel. Would i be able to have a reef tank with any of these choices? I've skimmed through the forum and truely respect any info i could be givin, thanks alot!

 

[dlight692000]

i dont know anything about vipers but i do know that ribbon eels are very hard to get eating and never last long i would go with a wolf eel, zebro eel or the snowflake but you must know how they need a hole free enviroment

 

[morayeel]

thanks a lot, i think the snowflake is going to be the one, what do you mean by a hole free enviroment?

 

[morayeel]

first off, thanks CheLives! after reading all the posts i cant belive how nice everyone is. I was looking at getting a 55gal tank set up, thats really all i know for now, i still need to see what filters or god knows whatever i'll need, i just thought i'd decide what was going to put into the tank before anything else, if you could guide me to what good filter systems etc. i would need i'd be very greatfull, thanks again!

 

[lionfish]

LionFish says......
Well, lets see here. 55 gallon. Well, my initial response is to get a snowflake eel in a 55 gallon. While the others need larger tanks beside the chainlink eel. Avoid a reef environment in less you plan to not get any inverts as eels enjoy them for snacks. You can put them in with corals but I believe eels like a somewhat darker atmosphere than a couple hundred watts. Avoid Ribbon eels as they are the hardest of almost all fish in the world to take care of. They are extremely picky eaters and are always cranky so they try to eat everything else. They have the lowest life expectancy of almost all eels. Not a good choice plus they need a 90 gallon or higher. All eels are escape artists so get a canopy for your tank. Those suckers can find just about any hole to escape through so be cautious in getting a top. Hope this helps.

 

[clowntrigga]

And make sure that u have every sing le lil crack covered because i had a snowflake and i thought i had every angle covered than i found him on my carpet the other day, so needless to say if u like ur snowflake dont forget one spot!

 

[morayeel]

ok so a snowflake it is! Thanks a lot, the reason i mentioned coral/reef is because i wanted the tank to be colorful, any other sugestions on decorations that wouldnt make the tank look "bland"?

 

[pufferlover]

Sort of after the fact since you posted your decision I vote to for the snowflake.