Moray Eel

[sra4ever]

ok i have been reading some of the fourms here on this web site trying to find out stuff about moray eels. i am going to buy one as soon as my lps gets them in (they say they are about 10-12 in long when they get them). i was planning on getting a 29 gal tank, air fliter, heater, and some sort of cleaning fish. should i get more, if so which ones and will it make a diffrence.

i am not sure of what else i need. a forum i read said to get a home testing kit, and a gravle cleaner. which i dont know if that will be needed. i dont plan on haveing a alot of fish, 1 maybe 2 moray eels and a cleaner fish.
what should i feed it when i get it? how should i feed it? should i get more than one? if i get more than one will a 29 gal tank be big enough?

not sure what i am doing that is whay i came here.

any and all info will help thanks.

 

[malkore]

moving to SW section, as moray eels aren't fresh water species.

 

[tecwzrd]

It would help greatly if you were more specific in the exact eel you need info on.

Checkout fantasyreef.com eel database.

None of the true eels will do very well even as juveniles in a 29 gal. They can be very messy eaters and grow pretty quickly and keeping smaller fish & inverts is out the window as well.

The only one that would work in a tank that size Green Wolf Eel/Carpet Eel Blenny.

 

[StripesTheEel]

Theyre are many users here with eels, myself, Phyl, Hara. I dont think any of us would mind if you send us a PM. But all of us have eels in much larger systems. My smallest tank for my eel is 75gal.

 

[xkenneth]

My friend and I keep a moray and a snowflake in a 75. I wouldn't recommand anything smaller.

 

[i have crabs]

69g at smallest for 1 and mabey 1 fish big enough not to be eaten

 

[Marc118]

I had a snowflake in my tank...id did well, ate fine, lived healthy...

...then it jumped out of my tank when i was gone...

 

[xkenneth]

i was planning on getting a 29 gal tank

Like it was mentioned before, 29 is way too small. You can pick up a 75 gallon tank for about $115 without a stand.

air fliter

Do you mean a bubbler?

heater

Don't go cheap on the heater. I'm really not quite sure what temps a morays prefer.

and some sort of cleaning fish

Morays need to live in brackish water as they're younger and closer to saltwater as they age.
You'll need to get aquarium salt and keep your specific gravity around 1.08. With a brackish tank SG stability isn't something you need to worry about in my opinion, as the fish are used to constant change. As long as you stay within +/- .01 between water changes, you should be ok. Now the cool thing you can do here having a brackish tank and all is to get a really cool cleaner. If you can find them at local fish stores you can get some species of stingray that stay pretty small, with a diameter of 8 inches or less. You could also throw a puffer in there if you wanted. Some good species are the figure 8's and green spotted. Although the figure 8's might become lunch as the morays get bigger, but you shouldn't worry about the green spotted.

Or you could just skip the whole brackish thing and go complete saltwater, but brackish is cheaper and easier.

should i get more, if so which ones and will it make a diffrence.

Here is a good list of the equipment you need for a brackish tank, what is involved in setting one up, and what other sorts of fish are available in brackish water.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html

A forum i read said to get a home testing kit.

You'll probably need a basic testing kit. The Saltwater Master Test Kit should do it.

and a gravle cleaner.

Morays are pretty messy. You'll be needing one.

which i dont know if that will be needed. i dont plan on haveing a alot of fish, 1 maybe 2 moray eels and a cleaner fish.

I wouldn't but more than 2 Morays.

what should i feed it when i get it?

I don't believe Morays have a very good sense of smell, but I could be wrong. They don't seem to pick up on anything that doesn't move. You can buy feeder fish (Rosies or something) at your LFS for about a dollar for an amount of 12-20 feeders or something like that.

how should i feed it?

I would suggest putting about 15 feeders in per moray per week. They'll probably eat all of them within 24 hours, it's amazing to watch them eat. They poke their heads out of the rock, grab the fish with their mouth, and drag him back into their cave. One can only imagine the horror of the fish.

should i get more than one? if i get more than one will a 29 gal tank be big enough?

75+ and you should be ok for two morays and one or two other larger fish as long as you have a good filter system.
My friends current brackish setup has 1 Moray, 1 Snowflake, 6 Mono Sebae, and it used to have a green spotted but he killed over.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Ken

 

[Hara]

I don't believe Morays have a very good sense of smell, but I could be wrong. They don't seem to pick up on anything that doesn't move. You can buy feeder fish (Rosies or something) at your LFS for about a dollar for an amount of 12-20 feeders or something like that.

This is not recommended. Freshwater fish do not have the nutritional value that saltwater fish require. Eels have an excellent sense of smell, poor eyesite. You can feed them frozen shrimp from the local grocer, silversides, krill and many other available seafood items.

. i am going to buy one as soon as my lps gets them in (they say they are about 10-12 in long when they get them).

From what I am reading, you do not even have your tank set up yet. Your tank will need a month to cycle before adding any type of fish. A 29 gallon is WAY too small for any of the more common eels you will find at the LFS. Moray is also a pretty generic term as you have already read from tecwzrd's post to you. Please research this quite thoroughly before jumping in. The average equipment available at wal-mart or similar stores will not cut it for an eel tank.

 

[ferretttt]

Our snowflake eats freshly frozen shrimp right from the tons. We buy some fresh shrimp,bag it and put it in the freezer. Then,we take a few out for the week and feed with those when they are thawed. He/it loves em!