Eel in a reef

[bobkill]

Keep us posted - I think your made the right call

 

[Dmorty217]

Zebra eel is my vote. Fits your geographic requirement and I have never had any problems with them being agressive or eating fish, just the occasional emerald crab.

+1 for this pick, won't bother any fish at all just your crabs

 

[rssjsb]

+1 for this pick, won't bother any fish at all just your crabs

They don't eat fish and they aren't aggressive, but they do get quite big and will still make a big contribution to waste in a 90 gallon tank.

 

[badbrady06]

Now I just need to find a nice specimen. Any ideas where to look? I think LADD had one a couple days agobut its gone now. Are some brighter yellow than others? Any pics?

 

[EnderG60]

A ribbon eel, or golden moray would do well since they dont get to big and cant eat med size fish.

Your chromis, wrasses, and clowns would be fair game though.

I said screw it and got a pair of engineer gobies for my tank. They look just like eels and wont eat anyone.

 

[badbrady06]

You really think a 10" gdm could take down a tomato clown and a melanarus wrasse? A ribbon eel would be the ultimate but for every successful story I hear there's a hundred bad ones. Idk if I'm ready for that project. An engineer goby doesn't even come close in my book. Plus I've heard some bad stories about them too.

 

[rssjsb]

I think he was talking about a g. miliaris, or "banana eel," not the golden dwarf eel.

They get about 2 feet long and really muscular. They are not really aggressive, but I wouldn't trust them with clowns or other fish of similar size.

 

[jhaimes]

A GDM is what I am going to add to my tank. I cannot see a GDM taking a tomato or any fish for that matter. They just dont get that big. I could be wrong and never owning one really puts me in the dark but they really dont get very big, which is why I want one. I think you would be safe with one. Just my .2

 

[DrSalty]

Have a golden dwarf moray with a 6-line wrasse, black oscellaris and blue chromis. No problems at all. Eel is very shy and passive and never has shown interest in them.

 

[barry_keith]

My GDM is afraid of my fish lol.

He is housed with a small springeri dottyback, smaller ocellaris clown, small mystery, melanarus, yellow and green coris wrasse, a small chromis and a few larger fish.

When I fist added him he was hanging out near where my chromis sleeps and the fish quickly kicked him out. It was pretty funny. My cleaner ship loves to clean him too.

Like I said before its my favorite fish by far. My tanks centerpiece. Best of all he is usually pretty active and can always be seen in the evening.

I know a good source for them, if you're interested PM me.

 

[Arnoldtatts]

So gdm will eat blennys,gobys & mandarins? What about dwarf angels? What's the cut off size?

 

[BlueFyre]

My golden dwarf moray lives with a pair of percs, midas blenny, mystery wrasse, purple firefish, red scooter blenny and an orange spotted prawn goby. He has never shown any interest in any of my fish.

I think he may be the cause of my recent hermit loses though.

 

[jhaimes]

what is the max size anyone has had a GDM grow? You would have to have some pretty small fish for them to be eaten by the eel I would think...I mean with the diameter of a sharpie it is hard to imagine them eating some of those fish...crabs, sure but then again, they are crabs lol...anyway, keep posting as I am very curious as well!

 

[badbrady06]

Yeah it sounds like even my chromis woul be safe. Barry_keith I'll get pm sent as soon as I figure out how. From what I understand they max out at 10". Is there a reason some have better color than others? I'd really prefer a bright yellow or orangish gdm. By the way maybe those of that have them could post some pics please.

 

[BlueFyre]

I would say mine is no bigger than 10" though it's hard to tell for sure. She never comes out all the way.

 

[barry_keith]

I'll get a pic of mine tomorrow.

 

[badbrady06]

Sweet I was gonna ask. I got your PM and was thinking how does his look.

 

[G4546]

There are eels that have molar teeth and those that have sharp toothies If you don't want a fish eater, but don't mind crustaceans being at risk... I'd go with something like the Zebra or from the Echidna ... Fish eaters will be (among others) generally in Gymnothorax... Though a ribbon is tough to keep from the Rhinomuraena, I've found a good amount of success in the Pseudechidna brummeri. I currently keep one at about 3 1/2 ft. with Chromis and inverts such as hermits and crabs. Beautiful creatures, elegant. I Only bring this species to mind because you have mentioned the GDM. Hope that helps

 

[rssjsb]

There are eels that have molar teeth and those that have sharp toothies If you don't want a fish eater, but don't mind crustaceans being at risk... I'd go with something like the Zebra or from the Echidna ... Fish eaters will be (among others) generally in Gymnothorax...

This is largely moot because the OP has decided to go with a dwarf. However, echidna eels (at least snowflakes) do not keep their grinding molars for life. Once they reach sexual maturity, their teeth change and they can become a big problem for other fish in the tank.

 

[Modern-Revolution]

Damn. So snowflakes are a bad choice? Everything I've read suggests that they are among the safest choices. I just got a 7" guy that is now hiding in my sump since he keeps getting into overflow. I was about to grate it off but maybe I should remove this guy and get a zebra if they are that much safer. How long until this guy reaches sexual maturity?