PDA

View Full Version : Eels for Reeftank ?


Buccaneer
10-22-2004, 05:10 AM
Has anyone kept a eel in their reeftank.

What kind ?

How long did it live ?

What did it eat ? ( not your fish I hope :eek: )

any and all anecdotal info accepted :mrgreen:

albert_dao
10-22-2004, 06:27 AM
You could check out the White Ribbon Eel (Pseudechidna brummeri). They have a decent survival record in captivity and are relatively safe with fish too large to swallow. I can't say the same about crustaceans though. I had one that went through four peppermint shrimp. I had a lot of initial troubles getting it to eat anything but fatheads but perseverance paid off and by the end, I was able to get it onto large whole mysis prodded around in the sand with a stick. Sadly, I lost it to a large hairy crab. Crazy guy was over 4" across.

Hmmmm, this is actually kind of weird since the exact same thing happened at the store. Had a white ribbon eel for over a year only to lose it to a large swimming crab.

*queue the twilight zone music*

Other then that, most of the smaller morays (viper, melatremus, chestnut and herreir's eel) should be pretty safe assuming you don't keep small fish or crustaceans. You'll probably have a hard time finding them though.

Delphinus
10-22-2004, 01:52 PM
Other then that, most of the smaller morays (viper, melatremus, chestnut and herreir's eel) should be pretty safe assuming you don't keep small fish or crustaceans. You'll probably have a hard time finding them though.

Just one cautionary note about the melatremus, I think although the consensus is that they'll do fine in a reef, in a large tank, they might easily get lost never to seen again except in fleeting glimpses due to their shy nature. I think Scott Michael's recommendation is a small species tank.

(Just my $0.02...)

psuedo
10-24-2004, 05:48 AM
I have read that if you get a snowflake small enough they should do fine. ( until they grow up ) I have just put one in my tank. It was only 4-5 inches long. So far so good. Keeping my fingers crossed