Golden Dwarf Moray Eel (Gymnothorax melatremus)
 

My new eel...."he's" only about 7-8" long...just got him from J&L on Friday. Good thing they double bagged him...many holes in the bag from him biting it! Seems to have settled in and as of today is eating.....
First pic to give some perspective to his small size;
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...rfMorayEel.jpg

Closeup to show detail and his blue eyes;
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...fMorayEel2.jpg

Awesome hes eating for you. Good job Sarah!

I was hoping someone on here was the one who snagged him and would post pictures. :) I was soooooo tempted but just not a good time for a big purchase like that. But thank you thank you for sharing "him" with us (his photos at least). More more more more!

Hey Tony...it was a big purchase but worth it! I'm really glad that I got him. He is still very very shy but getting better. He ate well today so I think things should work out....just getting him comfortable has been tough...we re-arranged the tank the day after we got him to catch an angel that was giving us grief...and surprisingly he toughed it out .... I'll take more as he becomes more agreeable to us...and the camera!

Which tank do you have him in? Did you arrange the rock special to creates caves and what not, or did you get lucky in that there were already caves like the one he's in?

Can't wait to see more. :) That's awesome, hope he does really well for you!

I have him in my 120g that has changed ALOT over the last year.

I lost my Scribbled Angel still have NO idea why, as no other fish was looking "off" or anything and 2 hours prior the angel was eating..then dead. So after that we replaced the glass as it was BADLY scratched and very well used, (we had a new 120g in the garage waiting for the day we got brave) did a swap out of the tanks in a 24 hour period...so rescaped the tank.....then had purchased a Lemon Peel Angel from a fellow reefer that just turned out to be a terror to a few fish and now we realize the extent of it's nastiness as the tank is much calmer....but to catch it we had to take out some rock, rip apart things....(all of which the eel had been in the tank for less than 24 hours but the angel was becoming a really really big concern) then it gave us an even better chance to change the rock to make more caves for the fish and give the eel some dark spots.

Right now he is living in a hole in one of the rocks..it has a hole that reaches from one side to the other so he has 2 places to come out of....and at least I can target feed him easily where he has chosen!

Great purchase, a facinating animal. These are awesome eels that stay small, and at that size it is pretty much full grown.

i am going to asume that these are not reef safe????????

On the contrary actually!

Well, technically, anything that fits into a moray's mouth is food. But the golden drawf moray is about 12" max size and said to have the body diameter similar to that of a pen ... so basically all but the smallest of the small are fairly safe with this eel.

In fact they say a 20g nano tank would make an ideal home for one of these! :)

imo i dont think any eel should go into anyhting less than a 50 including these guys. but at any rate, yeah these guys are "reef safe" in the sense that they dont really bother corals and their body size is thin enough that they probably wouldnt topple the rockwork like some bigger eels; they are also the kind of eel that preys more on inverts and generally leaves most fish alone. but anyways, yours is a beautiful critter for sure. Hope you have a lid on his tank.

Hey Tony! thanks for the quick answer on that^^...in my tank I don't have any inverts other than a clean up crew (not many left after the coris wrasse finished them up) and a starfish. His tank mates are a pair of Gold Stripe Maroon Clowns, a Copperband Butterfly and a Coris Wrasse (5"). That's it...and I don't "plan" on much more.

Hey Justin....he's in a 120g with lots of caves, rock etc. and one heck of a good skimmer! I do have a lid on the tank as I read as much information about them prior to the purchase. I think I may beef it up a bit more this weekend though just to be sure.

Justin you may well be correct. I'm only spouting off bits and pieces that I've read. I think it might have been wetwebmedia.com where I read the bit about a 20g, but it was something to the effect that the larger the tank with more and more rockwork increases the likelihood of you never seeing them because they can hide so well.

I have wanted to get a n eel but i fear for all my inverts. fire, cleaner,camelback shrimp, porcelin and emerald crabs.

I most likely wouldn't have one with all those inverts...and I would, as Justin recommended have it in a larger tank...rather than a small tank.

Tony, I read the same thing about keeping them in a nano but don't think I would chance it.....some feel you will lose them in a large tank and never see your eel again...but I can see mine all the time...I do think they like to see what is on the outside or what comes up to their tank so place themselves somewhere where they can see you .. thus you can see them.

Yeah, that makes sense ... I would think most reef tanks aren't really all THAT large anyhow that you would "lose" them in there.

So .. um .. more pics yet? :lol:

ha ha ha....not yet....will try tomorrow. :biggrin:

Nice Eel, get a really tight well fit lid. Our 1st used salt tank purchase came with a snowflake. He didn't learn his lesson and one trip too many outside the confines of his home landed him in the dogs mouth :cry:.
Kim.

Eat cleanup crew?
 

Would this eel eat all hermits and snails? How about a full grown fire shrimp and black cucumber? Was thinking of getting one sometime in the future but was never sure what you would do for a cleanup crew. Was also thinking about a ghost eel...

He doesn't seem concerned about the cleanup crew....he is SMALL though. This is the smallest, as far as I know, of the eel family that is brought in for aquariums...correct me if I am wrong....I don't know that he could manage a full size cleaner shrimp or the like, nor do I think they have any interest in a cucumbers....it's not something I worried about and I don't think it's something you need to be worried about.

Here it is at feeding time...put in a couple of clams for the CBB and wrasse and to see what the eel would do....turns out he was pretty interested!!!!! Not shy AT ALL! I have seen him in the rockwork "swimming" a little when the halides go out....

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ckingagain.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...lysnacking.jpg

:cool: I love it, thanks for the pics!!

Thanks Tony! I am hoping to get more of him out in the open a bit...or me feeding him. I quite enjoy him!

Thanks for the pics love that little guy. almosst reason enough for me to get a bigger tank.

Very cool little guy. I am very intereset in acquiring one, can you answer some of these questions.
Did you have any problems getting it to eat from the start?
What has it been eating?
How does it behave towards larger and smaller tankmates?
When is it active? day or night? Thanks.

I got him on a Friday..he was showing interest in the mixed frozen food I use the next day-Saturday I was home and able to observe him for quite awhile...he ate fresh oyster within the first few days ( from the local seafood shop, opened and cut into "bite size" strips), he also had a complete tank make-over happen to him the day after he arrived so I could get my Lemon Peel out of the tank as it was nasty....and he never seemed to get stressed...and now will eat, clam, oyster, shrimp and possibly any other meaty foods I give him...he is not overly active during the day unless I pop a fresh clam in there....he will come out for a taste (or to drag the entire clam back to his den...it doesn't fit :lol:) he is almost always sticking his head out of his den so is easy to see if you know what you're looking for after the MH goes out, while it is on he is a bit more shy. He shows no aggression to any fish....these eels are soooo small....he lives with a pair of GSM Clowns, a Copperband butterfly and a Coris Wrasse...plus a clean up crew. He doesn't bother anyone. I do have the tank well covered with egg crate as they are supposed to be jumpers.

The only other thing I would add is that if you have it shipped ... say from J&L to you...have them bag him 3-4 times....when I got mine he was very very well bagged...but was constantly biting the bag and putting holes in it!!! AMAZING to see what those teeth can do! I would recommend them if you are interested in eels....they are very pretty, small and easy to maintain as long as you can get them eating. Good luck! Let me know if you get one!

Sounds like feeding this little guy is not going to be much of an issue. The other big concern I have is the type of fish housed with it. I currently have mulitple tangs, angels, wrasses, and basslets, wonder if those are a thread?

From the reading I did, and discussion on other boards with owners of these eels...."smaller" fish are ok....they are reported to be kept with fairy wrasses and such...but if it can fit in the eels mouth I wouldn't take the chance. My only concern with large fast fish would be making the eel uncomfortable. I know mine will shy away from the clowns if they make a move....but he will try to stand up to them and the CBB if it means getting a snack from a fresh clam....

Any new pics? How's the little guy doing?

... I found me one. My pictures are terrible in comparison, but he's been really shy. And quite the little Houdini too I might add.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/P9120005.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/P9120004.jpg

WOW Tony, yours is beautiful!!!! Nice and dark yellow compared to mine. Mine is doing very very well....came out for a "tour" of his tank today...did a lap, looked around (I think he was checking out the Harlequin Tusk I just added) then went back to his home. He eats from tongs, or just comes out and helps himself to fresh clam or oyster....but is very visible at all times...unless a stranger comes up to the tank he hides, then slowly comes back out. Will take some pics tomorrow.....forgot about this thread...thanks!

He might be about the same in colour, the yellow looks more pronounced in the picture because he's in a dark spot in the tank so the exposure might be a bit saturated.

Boy let me tell you I got in trouble over this one. But he's so incredibly gorgeous, my wife fell in love with him instantly too. "You're right. He's beautiful. Don't think you're not still in trouble!"

He did work his way into the sump last night. So I got some gutter guard over the eggcrate now. I'm totally freaked about him maybe fitting though the eggcrate tank cover so for now I've got cargo batting (I think that's what it's called) over the top of the tank until I can figure out a more workable long term solution.

How often does yours eat? I've had him since Friday now, hasn't eaten anything yet. I've tried mysis, krill and some kind of "sand eel" (some kind of frozen fish slightly smaller than silverside - long and narrow). I'll try some clam meat tomorrow maybe since yours seems to like that!

Mine eats every few days probably...but not target fed every few days..only if he manages to steal some clam or oyster from the CBB....otherwise I make sure that he gets his own every 5-7 days.....I have heard that overfeeding eels can be a big problem...I figure if I target him every 5-7d...he will MAKE SURE that he steals some clam meat from the CBB, wrasse and clowns if he is truly hungry!

OOOH I haven't lost mine *yet* to the overflows, or the eggcrate on top...but I check daily still and probably always will.....you just never know.

They are soooo very cool. Our son, who is 4, loves to see him and will let us know whenever the eel is "looking at him". It's a cool creature!

I have two of these in my display. Truely fascinating animals and great for a reef. In time they will warm up to feeding by hand, both mine eat of forceps.

What do you feed yours Dave? And how often?

Generally I target feed them -2x's a week. At this time I feed them frozen prawns (leftowner from when I had my crosshatch triggers). You will be suprised how large a piece of food they will eat!

Nice addition Tony!

I love the look of eels, and think its very cool that some people are keeping them in reef environments. I think we need some photos of yours Dave!

We're waiting!!! :mrgreen::mrgreen:

Day 4 with mine - still not eating. :( Should I be worried? The wholesaler said it was eating krill, so I went and bought this enormous sheet of krill. Of course it won't touch them - and nobody else including the anemones will touch the krill either.

How long before I really panic?

So far I've tried mysis, sand eels, krill, NLS finicky fish, Michika's food - no interest.

I thought about silversides but they were enormous - absolutely enormous - which is why I opted for the smaller, more slender sand eels. Maybe this was a mistake? Maybe I should go get silversides? ... I'm just frustrated because I have a freezer full of foods that none of my fish will eat ..

What do I do? Maybe stop feeding him altogether for a few days? Let him get real good and hungry? Try a half clam?

There's nobody in the tank in with him. So not a case of hazing or bullying...

Nothing I owned in 10 years touched krill Tony. I think if they ate it in the store they were insanely hungry. I don't think four days is that long for an eel, he may be hunting smaller foods in your tank.

Did you try the raw prawns yet?

Does *anything* eat krill? Man, what's up with this. I guess if I ever decide to keep a baleen whale then I can feed it this stuff. :(

Haven't tried prawn yet. Will tomorrow. Thought I might pick up a mixed bag of seafood tomorrow and see how it goes. You know the kind that has squid,octopus, etc. Maybe an oyster and clam .. My butterfly could use a treat anyhow, loves oysters and mussels and it's been a while since I bought some last.

My poor tank is totally going to crash with all this uneaten food floating around though. Maybe I'll just back off for a few days.

Mine ate clam and oyster really quickly...very fresh, not frozen.....worked well for me!