# marine fish: eels



## basketcase (Mar 30, 2006)

does anyone on the list keep marine eels? in particular morays...

I've been interested in morays for a long time now, but the complications of a marine setup have held me back. 

if anyone could provide a little bit of advice in regards to husbandry and the like it'd be very much appreciated. and maybe some piccies of your marine setup too!


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## MrBredli (Mar 30, 2006)

I saw these things called Black (or Blue?) Ribbon Eels at the local aquarium the other week... OMG! I want one! ... i mean i want a pair! .. Simply awesome, i'll see if i can find some pics..


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## MrBredli (Mar 30, 2006)

View video's here.. http://www.oceanfootage.com/stockfo...CKIE=1392b5e24308499e9c5594b59a70ecad462aca16

Here's a couple of pics..











Apparently they come in all sorts of vibrant colours, and they change through each colour form as they age, and i think they also change sexes as they grow. Fascinating creatures..


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## MrBredli (Mar 30, 2006)

I've read that they have like a 99% mortaity rate, but at $150ea, you can offord to buy a new one every 2-4 weeks  I reckon they're awesome.


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## dpeica (Mar 30, 2006)

Ribbon eels seem to enjoy dying. 
Very difficult to maintain.


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## skunk (Mar 30, 2006)

*eels*

apparently ribbon eels dont last too long in captivity.
a good site with alot of good info on eels (everything marine in general) is www.wetwebmedia.com

get a snowflake eel i reakon ! pretty hardy things. & eat like no tommorw too ! i had one in with a volitans litonfish. big mistake ! the eel got so bold it would snatch food right outa the lions mouth. ended up having to get rid of it as the lion wasnt getting enough food. however it was also due to the fact that my tank wasnt very big which made feeding hard.


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## Fuscus (Mar 30, 2006)

I caught a little _Gymnothorax favagineus_ way back in the early 80s. he was only about 15 cm and finger wide. Kept him for a while then sold him. Last I saw of him he was over 2 meters and living in a resturants display aquarium. 
No, he wasn't on the menu.

Morays generally make good pets and are also easly tamed underwater. Its also horrible to see them underwater after they have been hooked. The often tangle then choke themselves on the fishing line

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/morays.htm

oh - and they will leave an aquarium given the chance - so tight lids


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## Gerry (Mar 30, 2006)

yep what everyone said about ribbon eels. they're not recommended for anyone but the most experienced keepers. And as theyre all wild caught, its best to leave em where they are.

husbandry for eels are pretty simple. a nice chunky filter with skimmer as theyre messy buggers. lots of hidey holes. thats about it.. and as fuscus said, tight lids..

heres a pic of my bad boy. actually sold him about a year and a half ago as i was trying to get out of aquariums.











they get fairly tame but as theyre quite blind and needle sharp teeth, you have to be fairly careful with em.
you can hand feed etc tho.. 

couldnt recommend them highly enough


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## Fuscus (Mar 30, 2006)

dpeica said:


> Ribbon eels seem to enjoy dying.
> Very difficult to maintain.


Proberly due to the fact that most are collected using chemicals to stun them, normally Sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide. Fish collected this way normally look better than net caught animals but die of kidney failure in a few months 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-01/sp/index.php

When we caught eels of Cairns ( as a licensed collector ) we would walk out on to the reef at exceptional low tides and catch them as they hunted in the shallow pools.
Boy - does the bite hurt.


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## basketcase (Mar 30, 2006)

skunk: have/do you keep snowflakes? they caught my eye just recently, how much do juvies go for?


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## Wrasse (Mar 30, 2006)

I/we kept ribbon eels for many years when living in WA. They had a tendency to find the smallest crack in the lids and get out. But after being peeled from the floor and popped back into the tank, surprisingly, they survived, every time! My ex took the tanks with him when we split up and I don't know how much longer they survived for.

More recently, in Brisbane, I had:

Tony, he is a Zebra Moray. Great tank critter.  Became very friendly and loved to eat!! He was given to a friend with a much bigger tank and sadly, surprisingly, the combination didn't work.










I also had Hass Garden Eels. They are the tiny ones that hide in the sand and pop their heads out to feed. Three died very quickly under the care of my housemate, but when he left and sold the salt water tank, I took over the remaining eel, I popped him into a much smaller tank and he lived for a further 6 months.

I don't have an image of him online, but here is a pic I found through google.




http://www.blurty.com/users/dawnut

I won't keep eels, or any other salt water critter for that matter, again. They die well before thier time is due. Tanks seem to be, predominately, a death sentence.


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## Gerry (Mar 30, 2006)

never seen those hass garden eels before wrasse.. crazy looking things


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## cris (Mar 30, 2006)

Hi everyone this is my first post  

You could always just settle for a longfined eel they would actually be hard to kill rather than keep alive. Since they go into the ocean i guess they are sort of marine.
Apart from there ability to escape there are very easy to look after and make good pets.
Would i be right in thinking eels are smarter than snakes?
They are very tame and interactive and are one of my favorite fishes comming equal second with many others behind the frog fish(can you buy these anywhere?).
mmm frog fish are cool  

Very nice marine setups you guys have  

cheers
cris


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## skunk (Mar 30, 2006)

*eels*

basketcase, i did keep one in the past. like everyonee says, make sure u have NO gaps anywhere !! (mine actually swam up into the hang on back filter! thankfully the blades didnt chop him up) 

im not sure what the prices are like in sydney, but i paid $40 for mine as a juvie.

gerry, what species was your eel ? awesome lookin monster !!!


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## Gerry (Mar 30, 2006)

leopard moray.. I miss that bugger


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## herptrader (Mar 30, 2006)

I think yo9u will find that they need to be kept on their own as they will eat any other fish in the tank.

A friend of mine used to keep one and made the mistake of putting in it his marine tanks when it was smalll... it soon grew however... feeding on the other fish.


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## Wrasse (Mar 30, 2006)

Tony never bothered any of the other fish. I don't doubt he could have, however, he was way too well fed to bother. 

Gerry, the Hass eels are so cute. Very shy though.


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## Gerry (Mar 30, 2006)

yeah they look shy wrasse. I used to have freshies that used to do the same thing. not sure what theyre called but they used to sit under the gravel with just their heads sticking out. 

same thing with them too.. one jumped out and had pretty much dried solid. I threw him back in and within a day or 2 was back to normal. fantastic creatures


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