Yellow Spotted Skeletor Moray Eel

[JessDale]

Hey guys! I'm new to the forum and was wanting to see if you guys could give me a little insight about our new eel.

We recently purchased an 11 inch yellow-spotted skeletor moray eel off of live aquaria's diver's den. He's a beauty. Currently, he's in a 20 gallon quarantine. He ate the very first day we acclimated him to the quarantine. We have feed him, small pieces of frozen shrimp, sun dried krill, and tried silversides. He liked the silversides, but we know that they are extremely fatty, so those are just an occasional treat.

He seems extremely mellow and it really active. We have a few PVC pipes in the quarantine that he uses as shelter when he needs his rest.

Ultimately, we plan to move him into our 65 gallon. In our 65 we have a 4 inch longnose hawkfish, a 3 inch flame hawkfish, and a bonded pair of orange tail spotted papuan toby puffers (also came from diver's den) who are both over 3 inches. The biggest one is around 5 inches. Everyone in there gets along nicely and we know with our eel's temperament, he should fit right in - not too peaceful - not too aggressive.

We researched this type of moray eel before we purchased him and most recommend a tank size of 50 gal or larger. We also know that the full size of these type of eels are max 2 feet in the wild and probably a little less in captivity. Our tanked isn't crowded at all.

In our tank we have 3 inch sand bed, and have decorated with instant reef, which we love. The lighting is simply a CORALLIFE T5 with white accents. The tank has been set up for almost 6 months and all of this fish currently in it are not new to the aquarium.

I'm just wanting some input on how you guys have cared/care for eels, such as feeing, etc.

Thanks again!

I'm going to post a few photos so you all can enjoy.

 

[SDguy]

Nice pics! A couple comments... 1. That looks like a chainlink moray to me (Echidna catenata) in the last pic, but I'm not an eel expert by any means. 2. Tiny eels are SOOOO hard to keep from escaping (I sold off my eels after trying, and failing, to keep them contained - skeletor and banded eels). Make sure any tank he's in is 1000% covered (even the tiniest of holes), even plumbing. Good luck with it!!

 

[cfsindorf]

Bingo on keeping tank covered. I lost 2 for my stupidity. Now I have Canopus and netting covering overflows.

My skel before he went surfing would eat out of my hand. Friends loved seeing me do that. I worked on him from 8 inches to over 14 with hand feeding.

I love the smaller species. Chains, skels and false zebras

 

[cfsindorf]

Bingo on keeping tank covered. I lost 2 for my stupidity. Now I have Canopus and netting covering overflows.

My skel before he went surfing would eat out of my hand. Friends loved seeing me do that. I worked on him from 8 inches to over 14 with hand feeding.

I live the smaller species. Chains, skels and false zebras

 

[JessDale]

Hey guys,

I think you may actually be right about him being a Chainlink Moray Eel. I was doing some research before I posted on here and thought the same thing. However, I searched my history and actually found him on Diver's Den. Here's the link:http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=176095

I've called them and said that they may have mislabeled the eel and they asked me to send pictures in. I guess we will see what they say.

I have the tank covered tightly. I have the glass canopy and put the sealing plastic coverings on the opens gaps in the back. I plan get a screen covering too ASAP.

 

[JessDale]

Well guys, I've be in contact with Live Aquaria facilities and I told them I was concerned that the eel was mislabeled. They have asked me to send photos in and I have emailed them. I'm waiting on a reply. They were extremely nice and understanding (as always). I would like to see what they say about my little guy. If in fact, it is a chain link moray, then I was definitely over charged.

I'm happy with him though. He has an awesome personality, is eating wonderfully, and is absolutely doing fantastic with my other fish (I just moved him from quarantine to display this evening.)

 

[namxas]

We have feed him, small pieces of frozen shrimp, sun dried krill, and tried silversides. He liked the silversides, but we know that they are extremely fatty, so those are just an occasional treat.

Actually, the dried krill is about the worst thing you can feed the eel. They're high in thiaminase, completely devoid of Vitamin C, and they're habit-forming.

Silversides are generally OK, assuming you get a brand that doesn't use a Cyprinid (member of the carp family) species. The only way to know is to check with the vendor regarding which species they sell as silversides. The last we heard (this past summer), Hikari informed us they use a FW species for their silversides.

You should be feeding your eel a mixed diet of SW fish flesh (salmon, tuna, shark, snapper, etc), shrimp, clams, scallops, squid, etc. IME, the best way to buy food for your fish is to get it from the grocer's seafood/meat dept. or from the local fish market. The food is better quality, and is even cheaper than "fish food" at the LFS when bought in small amounts.

I'd also add some Vitamin C to the diet (you can add it to the water, as it can be assimilated thru the fish's gill structures). You can stuff silversides with beta glucan or NLS pellets as well. Vita-Chem is a good Vitamin C source.

FWIW, I've had an SFE kill tobies in the past, even tho they're supposedly "fish friendly", and a chainlink is a close relative, so I'd expect similar risk in that respect once it reaches about 18" or so.

HTH

 

[JessDale]

As of now, he really enjoys frozen shrimp and squid. I think I'll stick with that for now until I can try the others you suggested. I wasn't sure about the tuna because I know it has high counts of mercury. I treat all food supplements with VitaChem regularly.

As for my gobies, they are extremely large. When I think of a toby puffer, I think of a small docile puffer. The biggest of my pair is as big as my fist and the smaller one is definitely catching up to him. As fat and plump and large s they are I feel that they should be okay. They are easily the size of an average porky puffer. So far, he has showed no aggression towards anything in the tank. He actually bumped into my flame hawk and scared each other to death. I know eels have poor eyesight. The little guy reminds me of a blind little old man lol.

Here he is after we moved him into the display. He ate right away. He curled around one of the power heads and waited his turn.

 

[JessDale]

I meant tobies* in my last post instead of gobies.

 

[namxas]

The way my eel killed the toby, was to grab it, and when it inflated, the SFE tore a chunk from its side, which killed it. In fact, that's how it killed anything that was too big to swallow once it decided on taking a tankmate down. And it was a model citizen when it was small. I kept it for 15 years, and had it since it was the size of a pencil...it was about 30" when I lost it when a GFCI outlet failed in the open position.

It's just something to bear in mind...

 

[SDguy]

I've heard many accounts of horrid snowflakes, even seen one first hand (bye bye nemo!). Is the same true for other species in the genus?

 

[spotfin]

From your last pictures, that is a chainlink eel.

 

[JessDale]

After I researched, I definitely believed it was a chain link eel also. Live Aquaria confirmed that it was and gave us a gracious partial research on him. Still happy with the little guy! Eating well and doing great with his tank mates.

 

[namxas]

I've heard many accounts of horrid snowflakes, even seen one first hand (bye bye nemo!). Is the same true for other species in the genus?

That's a good question, altho it seems like one always hears that SFE's are about the "safest". However, it seems like we're seeing a few more species show up in the hobby these days, so it's likely there simply isn't enuff data out there yet.

I have been told by someone with lots of eel experience that the zebra is about the safest of the "pebble-toothed" species, but of course, they get larger than a SFE.

The biggest of my pair is as big as my fist and the smaller one is definitely catching up to him. As fat and plump and large s they are I feel that they should be okay.

Eels engage in a behavior known as "knotting" where they can literally from themselves in to a kind of "knot" which gives them the purchase needed to tear chunks of flesh from large prey. And again, this didn't show up till the eel got some size on it.

I'm definitely not wishing you any bad luck...just more like giving you a "heads-up".

Also, oddly enuff, when I tried keeping the same eel with an Arothron puffer, and the puffer decided to take bites out of the eel's back! Once that healed, it ended up with a Diodon puffer with no problems.