reef safe eels?

[TANK0789]

anyone know of any reef safe eels?

 

[badbrady06]

garden eels the next closest thing would have to be a dwarf golden or a ribbon eel.

 

[TANK0789]

awesome thanks man

 

[TANK0789]

what are some eels that could live in a 55g tank all by itself maybe with 2-3 larger fish?

 

[Moonstream]

garden eels are extremely hard to care for, and very delicate, best left in the ocean, even in the case of public aquariums.

ribbon eels are hard to get to eat, and also delicate and large. best left to very experienced keepers.

as for golden dwarf morays, a wondering choice to keep in a 55g, and one of the only eels besides the two previously mentioned that would be able to live comfortably in a tank that size once they reach there adult size.

I would recommend them, they seem (from my prior research) to be small, colorful, and peaceful (as much as an eel could be). they maz out at about 12" and are much less likely to go after shrimp, crabs, small fish, ect then other species.

a cool 55g tank would be a golden dwarf moray eel, a dwarf lionfish, a leaf scorpionfish and 1-2 medium sized open water swimmers.

 

[TANK0789]

cool thanks for the info

 

[kodyboy]

snowflake and zebra should be fine, they don't eat fish (mine don't at least) but they will eat shrimp, crabs and other crustaceans. The only problem is they get big and can knock stuff over.

 

[Moonstream]

the only problem with both snowflake and zebra eels is that they get very large, and would need to be the only fish in the tank once they reached about 2/3 of their adult size (I think about 30" for both)...

 

[kodyboy]

They are big, but by no means would they have to be the only fish. I have both in a 150 with lots of small fish, and no problem at all for years. Mine are huge, about 3feet long for each one. They do move rocks around though and that is annoying.

 

[zemuron114]

dwarf eels are not reef safe. Will eat pistol shrimp and small fish. corals they wont

 

[RGBMatt]

All eels are reef safe! However, they may not be "fish safe".

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Agreed RGB

 

[lloydkeller]

garden eel ok forget the ribbon eel hard to keep alive

 

[Moonstream]

garden eels are just as hard, if not harder, to keep alive as ribbon eels, as well as being delicate, needing a very specific tank setup, and doing best in groups.

 

[snommisbor]

I have a SFE and he is pushing 2 feet. He doesnt bother any fish crabs or snails. Of course I guess he could flip out one day but has been a model citizen for the last year except when stealing some frozen food from my other fish.

 

[goodtimes2]

Have you ever thought of getting an engineering / convict goby. When they mature most people who look at my thank thinks it is an eel, it moves alot of sand but it is reef safe with most reef fish. It will easily reach 8 inches long.

 

[TANK0789]

Thanks guys! I like the quote about all eels being reef safe but some might not be fish safe. Lol umm can you feed eels live food? I like seeing that how they really would eat in nature

 

[kodyboy]

I feed my snowflake and zebra large unshelled shrimp.

 

[TANK0789]

Cool thanks

 

[LukFox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13012041#post13012041 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TANK0789
Thanks guys! I like the quote about all eels being reef safe but some might not be fish safe. Lol umm can you feed eels live food? I like seeing that how they really would eat in nature

Offering live prey on a feeding stick isn't really like it is in nature. If you just release the live food into the water, how will it know the difference between tank mates and food? Saltwater feeders are also expensive. I suggest just sticking to food that's already dead, and in that way it can possibly only associate food with what's on the feeding stick.