green wolf eel eggs

[robinhood]

Well what can i say,

three days ago my wolf eel went nuts and killed its only tank mate a rather large (compared to the wolf eel) damsel. anyway i found it dead at the bottom of the tank and deffinitley the victim of the wolf eel.

He (and i say he becuase i belive its a he ?) being bright green stopped eating the same day. This morning i woke up to a rather large cluster of pinkish eggs each with a little black dot. There is only one eel in the tank so im assuming they cant be fertilized?

I have not had the eel long about two weeks?

any suggestions, from what i have read they only lay eggs in the fall?

 

[robinhood]

As i understand it Green wolf eels are hermaphrodites from what i have read yet in the articles i read from Alan and Frank (which i read before getting my wolf eel) they refer to males and females with no mention of Hermaphroditisum. And a egg laying season of the fall.

I was hoping to find a female before fall?

Is it true there is no way the eggs are fertilized which is my assumption ?

The wolf eel is still showing no interest in food today but also not venturing far from the eggs.

Should i remove them? will it eat them? when should i remove them if this is the case?

The fact that it killed the damsel must have been aggression/protection?

Has any seen this behavior before (my plan was dismantle the tank and get the damsel out before adding the female of course, it really sucks) i had thought and watched closely at first and the eel showed no interest? the eel looks like a juvinelle as it is not more than 10" to 12" long at the moment.

It could not possibly have eaten the damsel and had not shown interest in it prior. Plus was not eating either for at least one day before it killed it if i remember correctly?

The tank he/she is in is a 100Gal and a now only he/she is the occupant. How ever it is connected to 4 other tanks 1 a 220Gal reef, one 280Gal reef one an 180Gal tide pool like tank and a 100 Gal Sump in the basement. So im not so worried about the effect of the eggs on water quality for a couple of days anyway.

Can i feed the eggs to the other tanks occupants safely if they are infertile?

I guess removal by syphon is the best?

Is it normal for the eel to be laying eggs this late/early in the session/year?

Anyhow let me know if you have any suggestions.

Robin

 

[robinhood]

I seperated several of the eggs pics attached if anyone would like to take a look, sorry about the quality its all taken with my phone

 

[robinhood]

Ok dont seem to be able to embed the pics they are in my gallery. I will take some pics of the system incase any of you are interested, its mostly DIY.

 

[Reefbox]

Let's see some pics.
How do you like the eel as a pet? I have thought about getting one or two in the past.

fyi: You don't have to tear your tan kapart to catch a damsel. A bag with noose and food in it makes a good trap.

 

[BS]

 

[robinhood]

well, most of my questions are now mute. I appears while i was out the Eel ate 95% of all the eggs?

or moved them ?

 

[robinhood]

The Eel is a great pet, very animated usually. the last three or four days was taking food directly from my fingers.

He/she ate the first day so they are not finiky at all. But beware, from my experience everything you here about them going after everything in the tank is true. It is a very agresive fish.

I would recommend it though if your looking, they prodce a lot of waste though my skimer is producing more stuf thats for sure.

 

[robinhood]

ok eggs are back. The eel moved them deeper into the rock work. Im gonna have to take the rock work apart to get them out if needed.

 

[BS]

I would leave them be.... see if they hatch

 

[billsreef]

They won't be fertile without a male

I would look around for a female, or young indeterminate juvenile. Like most members of that family they do change sex, but it's typically a one way progression for most. But I don't know if the work has been done to actually nail that down in the wolf "eel".

 

[AquaticServices]

Did the eggs ever hatch?