Costly Feeding Mistake

[Sterling07]

So I was feeding my fish this morning at the office and I didnt separate the feeding for my awesome Blue Spotted Grouper and Yellow Head Moray and the grouper moved in front of the eel right as he was going to eat the silverside...The eel latched onto the grouper and for about 30 seconds they struggled and the eel won...Now my dead grouper is in the back of the tank where I cannot reach him and he is too big for the eel to swallow....

Moral of the story is when you have predators in your tank try to feed them on opposite sides or eventually one will kill the other. Sad Morning

 

[namxas]

Yeowch...IME eels are bad that way tho, esp. considering their poor eyesight. Eels do that "knotting" behavior and pretty much rip chunks out of prey too large to swallow.

 

[jwm2k3]

I awoke one morning to find my 8 inch lionfish 1/2 way down my green moray's throat....i would have previously thought it would have been impossible due to the size of both the lion and the moray, but i witnessed it. Expensive lunch. Not too much later that green moray was released into the ft. Lauderdale intercoastal waterway.....

 

[ashtree68]

My lions all have separate feeding spots, my volitan is actually pretty good about not going to the other spots to try and steal food from the others.

 

[helicoprion]

Not too much later that green moray was released into the ft. Lauderdale intercoastal waterway.....

Good stuff! A captive animal that's been trained that food comes from humans being released into a heavily trafficked water way. :headwalls:

And OP, sorry for hijacking and to hear about your grouper. G. fimbriatus really is one of the meanest morays out there.

 

[chris s]

Good stuff! A captive animal that's been trained that food comes from humans being released into a heavily trafficked water way. :headwalls:

And OP, sorry for hijacking and to hear about your grouper. G. fimbriatus really is one of the meanest morays out there.

At least it's a native species with a taste for the non-native invasive lionfish.

 

[helicoprion]

At least it's a native species with a taste for the non-native invasive lionfish.

Native fish it is, but it's also a captive specimen that's been trained to associate food with humans. Divers can create this association too, by feeding morays in the wild. In regards to it's taste for the non-native lionfish, I'm guessing it's diet choice had more to do with being in the same tank as a fish that happened to be bite size, not a newly developed taste for that specific species.

Non native is certainly worse, but releasing any captive animal into the wild is dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

 

[jwm2k3]

Good stuff! A captive animal that's been trained that food comes from humans being released into a heavily trafficked water way. :headwalls:

Native fish it is, but it's also a captive specimen that's been trained to associate food with humans. Divers can create this association too, by feeding morays in the wild. In regards to it's taste for the non-native lionfish, I'm guessing it's diet choice had more to do with being in the same tank as a fish that happened to be bite size, not a newly developed taste for that specific species.

Non native is certainly worse, but releasing any captive animal into the wild is dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

I was waiting for this type of response. Matter of fact...this response is exactly why I posted what I did, the way I did...

You are 100% correct. It shouldnt have been released into the wild... Actually, it shouldnt have been collected out of the wild and put into the aquarium trade in the first place... BUT!

I did this most likely before you were even born, helicoprion...before I knew what we all should know today. It was at least 25 years ago when I put the green moray and a 20 inch nurse shark in the florida waters they were caught from. I would never do this today, but hey...it happened. Be careful with these types of specimens. :wavehand:

 

[helicoprion]

I was waiting for this type of response. Matter of fact...this response is exactly why I posted what I did, the way I did...

You are 100% correct. It shouldnt have been released into the wild... Actually, it shouldnt have been collected out of the wild and put into the aquarium trade in the first place... BUT!

I did this most likely before you were even born, helicoprion...before I knew what we all should know today. It was at least 25 years ago when I put the green moray and a 20 inch nurse shark in the florida waters they were caught from. I would never do this today, but hey...it happened. Be careful with these types of specimens. :wavehand:

So basically you planted that statement to elicit a response to which you would respond - 'I know what I did was wrong, and I was just waiting for someone to point out that it was wrong, so I could acknowledge that.' That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Also I don't know where you get off telling me when I was born, nor do I know what that has to do with anything. Someone with the grammar and spelling of a petulant fifteen year old is in no position to be talking down to others. And for the edification of others, the event you described did indeed take place after I was born.

 

[whipsaw]

I was waiting for this type of response. Matter of fact...this response is exactly why I posted what I did, the way I did...

I like to troll the interwebs too.

but I troll softly.

and use pictures.

 

[rwb500]

lol that pic is a troll's best friend

 

[Sterling07]

Well I came in the office the next day and gues what??? The eel found a way to get that grouper in its belly...

I guess on a good note I will not have to feed him for a while....

 

[facepirte]

Well I came in the office the next day and gues what??? The eel found a way to get that grouper in its belly...

I guess on a good note I will not have to feed him for a while....

but now he is spoiled and will want the good stuff again...

 

[Toddrtrex]

I was waiting for this type of response. Matter of fact...this response is exactly why I posted what I did, the way I did...

You are 100% correct. It shouldnt have been released into the wild... Actually, it shouldnt have been collected out of the wild and put into the aquarium trade in the first place... BUT!

I did this most likely before you were even born, helicoprion...before I knew what we all should know today. It was at least 25 years ago when I put the green moray and a 20 inch nurse shark in the florida waters they were caught from. I would never do this today, but hey...it happened. Be careful with these types of specimens. :wavehand:

So you were openly trolling?? Check the attitude.

 

[helicoprion]

I like to troll the interwebs too.

but I troll softly.

and use pictures.

lol that pic is a troll's best friend

I don't get it... I see rope or something behind the fish, but the rest is lost on me.

Well I came in the office the next day and gues what??? The eel found a way to get that grouper in its belly...

I guess on a good note I will not have to feed him for a while....

but now he is spoiled and will want the good stuff again...

Honestly, in all morays I've kept, G. fimbriatus has to be one of the meanest and most unpredictable. I don't know what you paid for the gouper, but it was probably more than he's worth in calories. I'm wicked sorry to hear about it!

So you were openly trolling?? Check the attitude.

True this.

 

[whipsaw]

that pretty little fish in the middle is the reason I can't keep sharks and/or eels- by all accounts it will kill and eat them. That particular fish wiped out several people's tanks before I bought him. Just went through and killed everything in the tank. I named him Bitey.

 

[helicoprion]

Are you talking about the trigger in your avatar? I thought banner's were supposed to be laid back. How is that trolling?

 

[whipsaw]

Yeah, the Balistapus undulatus.

it doesn't matter, I posted it in irony. The only reaction I was looking for was a laugh or two... and mission accomplished.

 

[Sterling07]

Honestly, in all morays I've kept, G. fimbriatus has to be one of the meanest and most unpredictable. I don't know what you paid for the gouper, but it was probably more than he's worth in calories. I'm wicked sorry to hear about it!

Yeah, I guess I should have been more cautious when purchasing him...He was at the LFS and was from another reefers tank that took him out because he was too big for his tank (probably because he ate everything).

Grouper cost me 3x more than the eel...Oh well I have another grouper on the way and will be more cautious feeding them next time.

In that same tank I have a Naso, Yellow and Blue Hippo Tang, Passer Angel and Queen Angel so if one of them goes missing the eel will be gone and I will replace him with a less aggressive species.

Oh well nobody said that this hobby was cheap or easy

 

[helicoprion]

Yeah, the Balistapus undulatus.

it doesn't matter, I posted it in irony. The only reaction I was looking for was a laugh or two... and mission accomplished.

Sorry... just a joke I didn't get. He is stunning.

Yeah, I guess I should have been more cautious when purchasing him...He was at the LFS and was from another reefers tank that took him out because he was too big for his tank (probably because he ate everything).

Grouper cost me 3x more than the eel...Oh well I have another grouper on the way and will be more cautious feeding them next time.

In that same tank I have a Naso, Yellow and Blue Hippo Tang, Passer Angel and Queen Angel so if one of them goes missing the eel will be gone and I will replace him with a less aggressive species.

Oh well nobody said that this hobby was cheap or easy

The last statement is absolutely true... good luck!