Tesselata Eel (Gymnothorax favagineus)

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1swtlx

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Anyone keeping this eel or have kept in the past?

I got my heart set on this eel but because of potential size and aggressiveness i am worried about what tank mates could live to tell about it. If the fish list is limited i would like to maybe keep 2-3 eels in this tank of equal size (with the exception of green moray) what eels could co-exist with the Tess eel?

120g FOWLR set up and cycled but no inhabitants at the moment.
 
A tess could not live in a 120 for life. Maybe a couple of months. If you want an eel You could do a pair of goldentails.
 
The speciman i found is about 1.5 to 2 feet with outside diameter of a raquet ball.

Im aware of the potential size of the full grown tess, but sounds like he would outgrow 120 inside of a year if well fed?

I have kept the mexican dragon eel as the very first saltwater fish i bought several years ago and really miss those days.

Are these better choices for multi-eel tank: ?

Chainlink Eel - Echidna catenata
Jeweled Eel - Muraena lentiginosa
Fire Coral Eel - (Gymnothorax miliaris)
 
not sure really. I remember the eel didnt have any special markings on the tail so i know it wasnt a goldtail. LFS had it labeled as "mexican dragon moray" and it was dark brown with light gold spots. All the pics of jeweled i have seen have been lighter colored eels but i couldnt rule it out as being a jeweled.
LFS has an eel right now labeld as "viper moray" and im still trying to figure out what kind he is. Brown with medium size white circle spots and a blunt nose. It has the razor teeth and not pebble tooth. Sometimes i feel like they really dont know what they have. They look at the invoice and copy it to the tank glass.:rolleyes:
 
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Man you picked quite a Killer for you new tank. I've seen them actual kill themselves be trying to eat other eels twice their size.
 
after this thread i dont think i would be willing to put anything in with the TESS eel. I guess if i do end up with a tess then he will be the soul occupant of the tank with the exception of some live food :lol:

The un-identified LFS eel for sale looks similar to this: myrichthys breviceps (sharptail)
 
I have a 180 with a 3-4" tess, 2' tess, 2' snowflake, 2' zebra, and 5 1-2" damsels. The most aggressive eel in the tank is the zebra which is completely opposite of everything ive read. The zebra is the only one that chases the damsels, which are too quick. I have a domino damsel that will back up right in front of the 3' tesselatta and wave it's tail in front of its mouth (when the eel gets in the damsels territory). The eel ignores it. The eels get along fine with each other and 2 or three usually like to stick their heads out of the same PVC pipe. They have been together for several months, but im not ruling out problems in the future.
 
puhleez dont do a tessie! they are not really meant to leave the ocean and fully grown have the ptoential to send you to the hospital from a single bite. think hundreds of stitches and reconstructive surgery. not to me but i have seen it happen.
 
fully grown......you have an 8 foot by nearly 1 foot chunk of muscle with a huge mouth w' lots of sharp teeth that has poor eyesight and a short fuse....what could be more cuddly!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7146316#post7146316 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eljefe3
You two from GA seem to have the same inhabitants in your tanks.
Click to expand...

Very observative!
 
Hmmm...there might be a reason for that?!? (soap opera cliff hanger...j/k)

Doh!.....finally busted. She's my girlfriend....same household tanks.

Congratulations on someone finally catching it.
 
well i found a beautiful volitan lionfish in LFS this weekend and i took him home. probably 4-5 inches with really nice coloration and fins.

so no eels now :rolleyes:

thanks for all the input guys.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7145551#post7145551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Petstorejunkie
puhleez dont do a tessie! they are not really meant to leave the ocean and fully grown have the ptoential to send you to the hospital from a single bite. think hundreds of stitches and reconstructive surgery. not to me but i have seen it happen.
Click to expand...

Sounds like someone doesnt know how to handle their eel :D

Tesselatas are VERY resiliant and are a perfect aquarium species, IMO. They are very happy if they have some big rocks to dig under. Both my tessies typically stick to one cave all day and only come out when its feeding time. They will usually fold their bodies over so both their tails and heads are coming out of the same hole. Im sure a 6' tess would do fine in a 180 as long as there was a good sturdy cave/PVC tube that could hide its whole body.
 
Woops, i have a 3-4' tess, not 3-4".
Here's an old picture when it was not quite 3'.
2005-08-06_184533_moray.jpg
 
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