Eel in a reef ?

[Vlado4x4]

I have a 260g mix reef and i want to put a Snowflake Eel or a blue ribon.
Will sell all my gobies and small fish, but what about the shrimps ??

Will try to buy the smallest eel possible so it dosen´t eat anything

 

[RDtrack]

What about a Golden Dwarf Moray?

I have one and have no problems with anything small or shrimp. Can't get it's mouth around anything.

Good Luck.

 

[rssjsb]

Snowflakes will eat shrimp and crabs. Never kept a ribbon eel, but would guess it would also eat crustaceans.

 

[danimallaminad]

No experience with this but have heard zebra moray eels are pretty compatible with fish and crustaceans.

 

[rnscross]

zebra will be your best bet. have teeth for crushing not ripping and are pretty blind. They will test your filtration and move rocks around. Shrimp will be eaten in almost all cases.

Don't get a ribbon, it wont survive.

 

[duckmeat]

you could go with an engineer goby mine has reached about 7" in lenght now

 

[Reef264]

Had a Zebra Moray in my reef for 4 years.He and my fire shrimp shared the same cave.The Fire shrimp never stopped cleaning him.

-Ray

 

[olemiss reb]

I had a pair of Golden Dwarfs that were killing machines. Size didn't matter as long as the fish was a cigar shape. Ate a firefish, rainsford goby, small diamond goby. Attacked a pearly jawfish, that cost it an eye, and took a chunk out a zebra dart goby. I doubt you'd ever see them in a 260. My pair was in a 65 and they could be hard to locate.

Goby bite---

I wouldn't attempt a Blue Ribbon in that large of a tank. IF you can wean it to frozen, not easy to do, spot feeding in that large or a tank will be quite difficult. I have one in my 90 and spot feeding can be tricky in a small 4' tank. My ribbon(two at one point) doesn't touch inverts. Killed a damsel and clown early on but now is quite content with strips of amberjack, halibut, salmon...


Zebra would be my recommendation as well. They are the most "mellow" moray out there imo.

 

[BlueFyre]

I also suggest a zebra eel

My golden dwarf moray was ok at first but once full grown she started killing fish. She ate several clown gobies, a royal gramma, peppermint shrimp, small hermit crabs, 2 pistol shrimp, and took a bite out of my purple firefish.

Plus I only saw her once every 2 weeks.

 

[slief]

you could go with an engineer goby mine has reached about 7" in lenght now

+1! I have fat 12" Engineer Goby in my tank and he looks just like a cross between a Tessalata Eel and a Zebra Moray. He's a model citizen and has been in my tank for a couple years now. I like him so much that I've been thinking about adding a second one.

That said, I've got a lot of experience with eels and don't think they are a great idea for a reef tank. Essentially with an eel, they should be fed until they won't eat anymore which inevitably will contribute to less than ideal water quality for a reef tank. If you don't feed them well enough, they will likely prey on your tank inhabitants.

 

[Dmorty217]

Zebra eels are the safest when it comes to fish but any and all crabs and shrimp will be killed.

 

[Vlado4x4]

Thank you guys for the input. I allready have a Engineer Goby but he´s still small. About 5¨ and also a model citizen.

 

[Allmost]

I had a moray eel in my old reef, got it when it was super small, grew with my reef and other fish and all was good. then one day it decided to go crazy and ate both of my clowns ! removed it shortly after.

 

[ilikefish34]

Zebra eels are the safest when it comes to fish but any and all crabs and shrimp will be killed.

Agreed... and will definitely eat crustaceans. Mine add a thing for live crawfish, crabs and shrimp. Fish of all sizes were safe tank-mates.

As for the engineer gobies... I've heard some horror stories with them for aggression, but they were kept in much smaller aquariums than yours. Mine were fine but I gave them away when moving after having them for a little over a year.

Personally, I don't think you can beat the look of the Ribbons but they are more difficult to keep.

Good luck!
Mike