I just saw the COOLEST EEL EVER! wow

[illuminum]

It was a Dragon Viper Moray Eel. I saw it at a my local fish store in Los Angeles. I asked them about is and they said it was the first they had come across in 2-3 years. They said it was really rare. They bought three, but there's only one left. I couldn't get my eyes of that thing. I would do anything to have a SW tank with one of those in there. Oh yeah, it was on sale for $1000 !!! I've never seen an aquatic animal cost that much.

Pics and info here http://www.meandmephoto.com/Underwater/Hawaii/Pages/Eels/HDragon.html

 

[reefrunner69]

One of our members, stresco, has one I don't think he paid that for it though.

 

[Hara]

i have never heard to it referred to as a dragon viper moray....I just thought they were hawaiian dragon morays...
That is about the price I have seen them advertised for..and more.

 

[WarOrks15]

drfosterand smith had one fish on the diver den for sale for 1599. i do not remember what it was but it must have been rare

 

[illuminum]

What did he do, catch it? Barter?

 

[stresco]

I have one

The name is Hawiian Dragon Moray, for the record.

Very Kool Fish!

I fell in love with the animal when i saw i picture of one in a Marine Fish Magazine a few years ago, and swore to own one some day. I never kept fish before im my life, so when i walked into my LFS and saw 2 of them swimming around, i made a quick decision and snapped him up, along with a tank, filter, lights, LR, sand and a whole bunch of other stuff the store owner told me i "had to have" .

Anywho, I have had him for a year, he has more than doubled in size, and we Call Him Bruce.

Here is a link to some of my pics.

http://www.myaquaria.com/gallery/ackman

 

[dralarms]

Wow, What did you pay for yours?

 

[stresco]

I payed 500 for him, he was about 8-10 long when i got him, so he was real tiny, but now he is about 2 feet long and fat.

 

[illuminum]

Stresco, you are my hero. lol.

That thing is absolutely beautiful! Do you have any problems or difficulties keeping him in a reeftank? Isn't he a big polluter, eat your inverts, and knock over your corals? What kind of a setup do you have?

 

[Sati]

Holy crap, he scares me just looking at pics! I can't believe you got him when you had never kept fish before. lol, way to go!

 

[fishfreek]

Maybe stresco could elaborate on his tank setup, like size, filtration, cleaning procedures, etc.

 

[Cesspool]

wow, dat fish is RAW!!!!

 

[illuminum]

I love the way eels breathe. They look scary just breathing!

 

[stresco]

Dang Aaron, way to put me on the spot! :?

Ok, don’t laugh, and understand, that I know my tank is small but I live in an upper floor apartment with weak floors.

55Gal, Predrilled All Glass Aquarium
10Gal, Americal Wet\Dry Trickle Filter
10Gal, Refugium
CPR In-Sump Skimmer
2x 175Watt, 20k, Coral Life Metal Halides
16 LED, Moonlight Strip
Mag 7 Return Pump
2x Power Heads
2x 150Watt Heaters
55Watt Plant-Light over fuge
140+ Pounds of LR divided between the tank, filter and fuge
3+ Inches of Southdown in the tank, and in the fuge
3 different kinds of Macro Algae growing in fuge (Don’t ask me what kind)
Colony of Yellow Polyps
4 Ricordia Yumas
2 Pulsing Xenias
Colony of Green Button Polyps
Mushroom Polyps
5 Elephant Ears (Momma and babbies)
Candy Cane
Frogspawn
Alveopora
Maze Brain
Chili Coral
Green Star Polyps
Colt Coral
Fox Coral
Sqamosa Clam
Hawaiian Feather Duster
Blue Linkia Star
Serpent Sea Star (Found him in my overflow wall, after being missing for
6 months)
Chiton (Hitchhiker on LR)
12+ Lettuce Nudibranches (Must have been hitchhikers on something,
they just started popping up)
Harliquen Tusk Fish (Tyson)
Purple Tang (Prince)
Hawaiian Dragon Eel (Bruce)

I think that is everything.

Tyson is a thief, he likes to steal food from Bruce and the frogspawn. Bruce usually takes a bite out of him to get even. Tyson likes to snack on the smaller hermits when he gets a chance. Prince is actually a Tang that likes meaty foods. He will eat the pieces of shrimp that Bruce leaves behind. Bruce is the King. He is the reason I got the tank in the first place. He actually doesn’t knock as much over as you may think. I have more trouble with the Chiton bulldozing my corals, but he gives off a huge bio-load.

As far as feeding, I feed the fish and corals about every 2-3 days. I mix it up between blender mush, flake, frozen and pellet food. I feed Bruce raw shrimp twice a week (that’s all he likes). Although I have never seen him do it, I'm sure that he snags inverts every now and then.

I clean the glass daily with a magnet scraper. I have to top off the tank with about a gallon of RO\DI water every night. I do 15Gal water changes every week. I clean the skimmer, and pumps once a month. I dose the tank with B-Ionic twice a week. And I dose, Iodine, Trace Elements, and Strontium twice a month. That’s about it. HTH

 

[Hara]

Bravo! Well done! I personally, think you have done wonders with your tank and the inhabitants......especially with the "all in one" start that you got. Not many people could have/ would have had the dedicatation to pull it off.

 

[Cunch]

Damn that is one cool looking fish.... Must admit, never was really a big fan of Eels, but that one is cool as hell... Making me re-think of starting up my reef tank and putting him in one of those! 8O

 

[stresco]

Bravo! Well done! I personally, think you have done wonders with your tank and the inhabitants......especially with the "all in one" start that you got. Not many people could have/ would have had the dedicatation to pull it off.

Thanks for the praise HARA, but I owe my success to you and all the knowledgeable reef keepers here on AA. I can never say thank you enough.