Eel in a reef

[badbrady06]

So here is the scenario. 90 gallon reef, 2 blue green chromis, tomini tang, lemonpeel angel, tomato clown with bta, and melanarus wrasse. I've read through everything I can here on rc about eels before this. I'm thinking about adding an eel. It's gotta be native to Fiji and unlikely to eat my fish. I know there is always a chance but least likely to consume its finned friends. I've already taken snowflakes off the list. Suggestions and experiences welcome and we all love photos.

 

[dvmsn]

I have a 6 inch snowflake in mine. He will have to go one day, but so far so good. I really like him.

 

[badbrady06]

Too many bad stories about them. Losing a couple chromis isn't that big a deal but losing my melanarus not cool.

 

[DrSalty]

I don't know about native to Fiji (I don't believe it is), but if you want a eel that would be suitable for your reef and would be unlikely to go after your fish, I would recommend a golden dwarf moray eel. They're not cheap, but would work nicely in your tank. They tend to be a little shy but are allways an eye catcher whenout and fun to feed.

 

[barry_keith]

Completely agree. I got a golden dwarf moray for Christmas and love it. My favorite fish by far.

I don't know about native to Fiji (I don't believe it is), but if you want a eel that would be suitable for your reef and would be unlikely to go after your fish, I would recommend a golden dwarf moray eel. They're not cheap, but would work nicely in your tank. They tend to be a little shy but are allways an eye catcher whenout and fun to feed.

 

[badbrady06]

That's an eel I've been looking into. I just haven't found anything to prove that they can be found in Fiji. Any ideas of where I could find that info?

 

[DrSalty]

Out of curiosity, why is being found in Fiji so important to you?

 

[badbrady06]

I'm doing my 90 as a Fijian type biotope. Corals and fish. I just think its a cool idea.

 

[badbrady06]

I've done some digging and it looks like the gdm is found in Fiji. Can anybody confirm or point me in the right direction for confirmation.

 

[namxas]

G. melatremus (Fish Base)

Click on the distribution map to enlarge it.

 

[BuckeyeFrags26]

G. melatremus (Fish Base)

Click on the distribution map to enlarge it.

Cool site. Had to add to bookmarks

 

[savemyreef]

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.

 

[badbrady06]

fishbase is where I got the info but its also the only place I got it. Do you think the zebra would to much of a bioload on a tank my size? I am working towards a full mixed reef.

 

[bobkill]

I use to keep eels in a fowlr and I think the zebra would added to bioload - they will need some soft of larger frozen food - I feed mine cooked small cocktail shrimp or oysters - and he would eat like a champ- we are not talking a brine cube here - but only feed twice a week- so I think filtration and husbandry would come Into play - what's the details on your system - 95 g full sump set up? LA says 125g for the zebra. It was the only eel I ha e had that wasn't really aggressive towards any other tank mate- but nothing was smaller than his mouth soooo it's still a eel - just like haveing a wrasse in a rimless - might eat a small tankmate , might jump out - part of the choice is the risk- but overall I think the nutrients would be a bigger issue

 

[badbrady06]

90 gallon about 90 lbs. live rock, 40 breeder sump, oversized skimmer,10x flow, weekly 5 gallon water changes, and I try to grow algae on a mat in sump/refugium to export any nitrates but not much grows. Do you think my tank is to small to handle the size and or bioload of a zebra. I don't plan on upgrading so I don't want a fish that will outgrow the tank.

 

[Arnoldtatts]

I have a 112g tank I'm gona try the golden dwarf Murray

 

[rssjsb]

90 gallon about 90 lbs. live rock, 40 breeder sump, oversized skimmer,10x flow, weekly 5 gallon water changes, and I try to grow algae on a mat in sump/refugium to export any nitrates but not much grows. Do you think my tank is to small to handle the size and or bioload of a zebra. I don't plan on upgrading so I don't want a fish that will outgrow the tank.

Zebras can get really large and are messy eaters like other eels. I wouldn't put one in a 90. Most eels are fairly cryptic - you'll only see their heads unless they're hungry. I've kept them and they're cool fish, but I finally decided occasional glimpses couldn't justify the bioload and restrictions on what else I could keep.

 

[bobkill]

Zebras can get really large and are messy eaters like other eels. I wouldn't put one in a 90. Most eels are fairly cryptic - you'll only see their heads unless they're hungry. I've kept them and they're cool fish, but I finally decided occasional glimpses couldn't justify the bioload and restrictions on what else I could keep.

I agree with rssjsb. It is going to be a cost vs benefit. Are you willing to have less bioload from other sources (less/smaller fish) to get this eel in there. And then willing to cont. maintenance/ husbandry.

I understand the battle. At some point i plan on going to add angels into my sps system which are similar thought process. angels have large bioload, can be aggressive and eat coral. in your case same deal (maybe exchange coral for inverts and such ) SOOO i decided the risk is worth it. I will add angels at some point just as rssjsb has decided eel in his system was also worth it.

how are you tank parameters now? do you keep a log of nitrates/phos etc? bc they are very messy eaters but dont have to be feed daily. I think so of the desecion could be based on current nutrient trends, if you are running a ultra low nutrient tank you should have better success than if you were running a low nutrient tank


Just know the risk. and have a plan to fix it. your water goes down hill, trade the eel or some other fish off. and re group mentally then move on

 

[Reeferz412]

Eels get pretty mean. They draw blood as they mature. Any time my lady friend wanted to rearrange her rockwork she had to bring me over to fix it because the eel would penetrate the skin on her hands. Plus they are escape artist ninjas that can fit in almost any dang crevice.

 

[badbrady06]

I think I'm gonna take the zebra off the list and do some more homework on gdm. Seems like a lot less on my bioload. Plus it sounds like a zebra is just to big for my tank.gdm Shouldn't be able to eat anything except maybe my chromis, could still add a couple more fish, and its still an eel. Anybody have pics or video of their gdm. Thank you all for your input. I do appreciate it.