Eel in reef tank?
- Thread starter airtime23
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sugardaddy1979
New member
I think most would at best case eat your cuc. Worst case fish too
kalgra
New member
Yeah I was going to mention that too but I dont know for a fact that the Golden Dwarf my buddy had did or did not do this.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Funny you asked this, I just put a Zebra moray in my 220g mixed reef today with small fish and 3 cleaner shrimp and clean up crew. Hasn't eaten any snails yet and I don't think he will. He readily will accept krill and is very docile. He is 8-10" so still very small, since he gets 5'. The last one I had 10 yrs ago was about 3' and didn't bother anything either.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Update on the eel, put him in the tank and even though he is 8+" I haven't seen him again yet in the past 7 hrs. Cleaner shrimp are still alive and I know they won't eat fish so the only other thing will be the snails so I will update in a wk or so and let you know if he is eating them. I don't have any hermits in my tank so know worries there.
Hormigaquatica
Active member
I've got a Ghost Ribbon Eel in my 240 mixed reef, and he behaves perfectly fine. He has never attempted to bother anyone in the tank, including a Yellowtail Damsel that he could easily tackle. Every evening he comes out to cruise the tank for an hour or two. My Mystery Wrasse hovers over his tail and paces the aquarium with him, but that's about the extent of his interaction with anybody.
danimallaminad
New member
I had a chainlink moray and he ate the smaller fish in my reef. I didn't have a clam but I'm sure he would have torn it up. He ate all my peppermint shrimp but not my skunk cleaner, in fact the cleaner shrimp used to clean my morays mouth like any other fish. I have heard zebras are the safest for reef tanks.
wii64brawl
New member
I have a golden dwarf. Keep him with a toby puffer, urchin, two starfish, dozen or so hermits, soft corals, and macro algae. He doesn't bother a thing.
Though, I did have another golden dwarf (who unfortunately jumped) that did bite a damsel's fin. The damsel was fine, but it really happened as the damsel tried to grab food from the eel. So I don't really blame the eel. But before and after that incident, nothing else has come up.
Though, I did have another golden dwarf (who unfortunately jumped) that did bite a damsel's fin. The damsel was fine, but it really happened as the damsel tried to grab food from the eel. So I don't really blame the eel. But before and after that incident, nothing else has come up.
rgentry123
Member
I have a zebra with no problems at all. He may have eaten my emerald crabs but that was to be expected. The thing to keep in my mind is if you are going to mix an eel in a reef tank, you just have to be prepared for potential losses as any COULD go after fish/cleanup crew at some point. That being said, I don't think I've ever heard of a zebra going after any fish at all. You're best bet is going to be with somthing in the way of a pebble tooth moray, like a zebra, snowflake or skeletor eel. FWIW, I have heard stories of snowflakes going after fish in the past though. A golden dwarf is also a good choice, as they are typically too small to go after fish even if they wanted one.
+ 1 to SD guy. Some are more reclusive than others so research your choices. A zebra may lay in the PVC with a couple inches of its head sticking out where a skeletor s head may be a couple inches inside the pipe only to be seen if looking straight into the pipe. Another thing is bio load. Eels are messy eaters that create a lot of waste.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
LFS got him for me, I told him what I wanted and he had been looking for the last 2 months. Most all that are available are XL and I'm not sure what size that even means? They get 5' so XL could of been several feet long, oh and they were 5-600$ for on that size
RJT
Member
I have a golden dwarf in a 220g tank with several bite size fish and snails. He has not touched anything that wasn't food. He rarely comes out though, usually just to go from rick to rock. I feed him raw peeled shrimp every other day. I place it on a throng and hold it near his favorite hole, he snatches it and goes back into the hole.
He does on a daily basis stick his head out and look around sometimes up to half his body.
He does on a daily basis stick his head out and look around sometimes up to half his body.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
I agree with you on this 95% of the time. With me I don't care about my cleaner shrimp, and well snails are snails. The last one I had was a model citizen and this one is looking to be the same. They aren't much for a conversation piece though, unless they happen to make a appearance
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