Eel tankmates/setup assistance

[SBethH]

I've been into saltwater for almost one year now. I currently have a jeweled moray, snowflake eel, and a pink tailed trigger living together in a 125 gallon tank. The tank is an old, scratched acrylic pos with HOB filters, horrible home made lighting, and is really falling apart in every way. Tons of salt creep. I just sealed up a much, much nicer 150 gallon tank and am planning to move them into this.

I've got 100 lbs of live rock curing in the 150 right now. The tank is not drilled, and I am planning on using a HOB skimmer and a canister filter (probably just to provide frequently cleaned mechanical filtration). Think I can get away with this?

I also wanted to know what other fish I could put in the new setup once everything is up and running smoothly for a while. The pink tail trigger is very well mannered, and about 7 inches or so. The jeweled eel is about two feet, and I'm assuming he is a nice guy as well, since he gets along so well with my considerably smaller snowflake. The only times I ever get nervous are of course during feeding, when the jeweled eel becomes a little over zealous. I love wrasses and angels, but I'm open to just about anything that will work. There's just not much info on jeweled eels out there, so anyone's firsthand experiences would be much appreciated.

 

[puffballurchin]

When it comes to finding tank mates the number one problem is making sure they don't attack your eels tail. The snowflake is generally aggressive enough to defend itself (which usually means death to the attacker). If you really have your heart set on adding new fish make sure they are not small enough to be eaten. A nice addition would be a foxface. They display beautiful colours and they ignore eels. They also grow to a nice size and won't look like a nice meal . There are also some tangs that grow to fair sizes, but I would stay away from them due to ick. I do know that many aggressive eel owners will add cheap damsel (considering a few will be eaten) to their tanks to add colour. Considering the bioload on the tank you would need a nitrate reactor. Another addition would be a lionfish. You would have to get a russell lionfish as they grow to be about 12inchs. Do not get a volitans lionfish since they can grow to be 15inchs and will out grow your tank. I won't add more than 1 or 2 fish, because eels are very sensitive to nitrates.

 

[SBethH]

I had a foxface that I'm 99% sure died of fright/ stress after the addition of a ribbon eel (who is alive eating and healthy), but that's a whole different story in a whole different tank. Anyway I'd prefer to avoid poisonous fish anyway - I hated having to be constantly on the lookout.

Also when I bought my skimmer I was actually discouraged from buying a pricier one by an employee that said the eels wouldn't mind higher nitrates. I figure that anything will be better than the HOB filter setup they are currently living in (without a skimmer). their current setup was free and they had been living in it for two or three years with no live rock or powerheads or anything. Just two emperor 400s. I'm not saying it's healthy, just that they can only move up from here I would think.

 

[Hinds04]

How about a lion fish, I would def have one in that tank.

 

[SBethH]

Like I said, I'd rather not go the poisonous route. Plus for whatever reason I just don't find lion fish to be very appealing.

What about a bird wrasse? Would it go after the eels' tails?

 

[puffballurchin]

A grouper is large enough not to be a meal and the blue spotted grouper are very beautiful. They can be aggressive when it comes to food. I heard that bird wrasse have a good personality.

 

[rambler67]

I had a bird wrasse and a dragon wrasse with my snow flake eel without a problem plus you can get a nice puffer fish.