Zebra Moray Eel

[cali9dub]

I have a few questions regarding the care of this eel from people who actually kept them. I've read everything I could possibly read on the interned about them and understand the requirements (secured rockwork, caves/pvc tubing, tight fitting lid,etc) I just would like to drill down the specifics of "œsecure rockwork" and "œtight fitting lid".
As far as rockwork is concerned....I have a 180 gallon tank of entirely dry Marco rock that is stacked and doesn't move or topple when bumping them. The tank is about 2 years old and I can't take the rock out to cement it because of corals all over them. Can I use reef putty to wedge in as many open spots as possible to stabilize the rock...is that sufficient? The Rocks were placed in the tank first then sand added so the base rocks can't move at all.
Tight fitting lid...I have a full canopy with the back opening closed in with aluminum sheeting. Is that good enough? (I assume I may need to secure the front access doors) or should I make some screen tops and affix them to the plastic bracing around the top?

Thanks for any real life experienced input with regard to this !!

 

[cali9dub]

Oh. Also I have an oversized skimmer that I currently turn off at night because it is so efficient, so I believe I have god enough filtration between the larger water volume (180 + 45 gallon sump) and the skimmer. Am I correct in assuming this? Thanks again !

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

While every creature has it's own personality The Zebra I had was a model citizen.
Never jumped or even stuck his head out of the water. He did however bite a 1" air lift tube & swallow a piece.
I never glued my rocks either.

 

[cali9dub]

While every creature has it's own personality The Zebra I had was a model citizen.
Never jumped or even stuck his head out of the water. He did however bite a 1" air lift tube & swallow a piece.
I never glued my rocks either.

A couple questions...did you keep him/her in a mixed reef? and what size was your zebra when you got it? Oh and where is it now? Thanks so much for the reply !

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

220 Mixed reef.
I'm talking many moons ago, initially IIRC around 16".
Died @ 30" from a fish that just would not leave his tail alone.
Kids named him "Lurch".

 

[cali9dub]

220 Mixed reef.
I'm talking many moons ago, initially IIRC around 16".
Died @ 30" from a fish that just would not leave his tail alone.
Kids named him "Lurch".

Awww damn ! I'm a bit worried about his tail being picked as well. I do have 2 separate 3" (circumference) PVC tube caves across the back of the tank and more rock to stack over them so hopefully the eel will find a nice safe spot (once I find an eel that is...)

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Mine only ate shrimp, frozen was OK.
They hunt by smell more than sight.
My culprit was an African Flame Back Centropyge.

 

[cali9dub]

I don’t have any dwarf angels, but I do have a lamark’s Hopefully she won’t bother any eel I get !

 

[Dmorty217]

Mine only ate shrimp (krill, raw shrimp from the seafood section of the grocery store) I never secured my rocks but mine also was only about 3ft not the 5.5 ft that they can grow to be. I also never had a top on my tank and never had a issue

 

[cali9dub]

Mine only ate shrimp (krill, raw shrimp from the seafood section of the grocery store) I never secured my rocks but mine also was only about 3ft not the 5.5 ft that they can grow to be. I also never had a top on my tank and never had a issue

Thanks for jumping in. Maybe I’ll just secure my openings in my hood and go with that ! Can I ask what happened to yours since you were speaking in the past tense ?

 

[rfgonzo]

I have two eels. A Japanese dragon moray and also a Brazilian Moray. You can secure rocks with reef puddy or also zip ties work well. remember eel are very strong and at feeding time they can move a lot of weight.

As far as the top, you need to make sure all lids and canopies are 100% escape-proof. My lids escape-proof and even at feeding time my Japanese dragon moray has hit the floor twice. Once about 5 years ago and once just last week. They can become very aggressive at feeding time. I've never had a zebra but I can only assume they can be just as aggressive.

 

[cali9dub]

I’ll have a damn heart attack if that eel shoots out of the tank ! I used to have a couple huge Oscars and one jumped out while feeding. Had to pick the guy up with a couple oven mits and toss him back in the tank ! After that he was scared to death to come close to the top at feeding time. Seems like eels aren’t quite as smart !! Lol.

 

[trembz]

I've had one for almost 3 years now and gets about 38-40" long.
He went from a 150 gallon to a 250.
Never had a lid on either tank and I've never seen as much as his head poke out.
Can easily knock down non secured rocks during feeding time though .

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

 

[cali9dub]

I've had one for almost 3 years now and gets about 38-40" long.
He went from a 150 gallon to a 250.
Never had a lid on either tank and I've never seen as much as his head poke out.
Can easily knock down non secured rocks during feeding time though .

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Thanks for adding more info !!

 

[Mike Ordner]

I have had mine for 5 years. It is in a 400 gallon tank with lots of rocks. All of my rocks are large, so no issue with that. I can see him moving smaller rocks, though. He can also do damage to corals (another frag,yay!). I do have a screen top but don't think it ever tried to escape. Started out about 18 to 20 inches and is now about 24 inches. Only feed it whole shrimp. As stated, they can smell food a mile away, but have to bump into the food before grabbing it. Zebras are crustacean eaters, not the mean fish eaters other type of eels can be. Really cool fish.

 

[cali9dub]

:facepalm:

I have had mine for 5 years. It is in a 400 gallon tank with lots of rocks. All of my rocks are large, so no issue with that. I can see him moving smaller rocks, though. He can also do damage to corals (another frag,yay!). I do have a screen top but don't think it ever tried to escape. Started out about 18 to 20 inches and is now about 24 inches. Only feed it whole shrimp. As stated, they can smell food a mile away, but have to bump into the food before grabbing it. Zebras are crustacean eaters, not the mean fish eaters other type of eels can be. Really cool fish.

Great info !! Thanks !

 

[dmsprague]

I've had mine for 10 months now in 180 gallon. He is about 30" long and stays curled up in a cave with a long tentacle anemone in the opening and two cleaner shrimp in with him. The cleaner shrimp actually clean his body and inside his mouth. It is the darnedest thing to watch because I figured he would eat them. I used to have a large coral banded shrimp that would pinch him if he got to close and the eel would shy away. I feed mostly shrimp but he does eat krill and muscles also. I tease him when I feed to make him come out so I can see how long he is. He will snap at tongs or fingers that get close to his mouth and when feeding will reach out for anything that swims by but he has never harmed a fish. He is one of my favorite additions even if he does stay in the cave most of the time. Tank mates are a vlamingii tang, yellow eye kole tang, yellow tang, magnificent fox face, niger trigger, pair of tomato clowns and 40+ bubble tip nems.

 

[cali9dub]

I've had mine for 10 months now in 180 gallon. He is about 30" long and stays curled up in a cave with a long tentacle anemone in the opening and two cleaner shrimp in with him. The cleaner shrimp actually clean his body and inside his mouth. It is the darnedest thing to watch because I figured he would eat them. I used to have a large coral banded shrimp that would pinch him if he got to close and the eel would shy away. I feed mostly shrimp but he does eat krill and muscles also. I tease him when I feed to make him come out so I can see how long he is. He will snap at tongs or fingers that get close to his mouth and when feeding will reach out for anything that swims by but he has never harmed a fish. He is one of my favorite additions even if he does stay in the cave most of the time. Tank mates are a vlamingii tang, yellow eye kole tang, yellow tang, magnificent fox face, niger trigger, pair of tomato clowns and 40+ bubble tip nems.

Cool ! I e been searching for an available zebra eel but haven't had any luck yet. Hopefully one of the LFS's I've asked to search for one will find one soon !

 

[cali9dub]

Ok....so I got a 16” zebra eel from Divers Den. He has been drip acclimated and is now in the tank with the lights out for about the next 4 hours. All of my other fish are freaking out and staring/displaying towards the eel. So far none have been aggressive towards it yet. Should I have concerns about any type of attack from the other tank mates (chocolate tang, lavender tang, dejardini, Lamarks angel, harlequin tusk, quoyi parrotfish, and a couple pyramid butterflies) ??

 

[CyclistMT]

Seeing as this post is a month old you may have already figured this out by now but the tusk and the parrot have similar feeding habits in the wild so you encounter aggressive behavior during feeding time. So much so that it might intimidate the eel. The tangs could very easily cause the same problems.

You have a very high bio load for that tank. Even if most fish are small now, you have a lot of high volume waste producers. Get that skimmer on 24/7 if you haven't already.