A Few Questions About My Tank {new Picture Of Mystery Fish}

[Imaruki]

I "inherited" a 30 gallon tank from a friend and set it up. I took my eels out and put them in there. There's a "green wolf eel" and a blue ribbon eel in there so far. I just added a Coral Beauty and all it's done since last night is sit in the top, back corner of the tank. I put an anenome in there and 7lbs of live rock. I know that's not a lot, but it's all I had the cash for at the moment since I forgot my credit cards at home. I feed my anenome phytoplankton......but my Coral Beauty doesn't eat. I give it Marine Flakes....shold I drop some freeze-dried bloodworms or something in there for it? My freshwater angels love those bloodworms, and they were supposed to be for the Electric Blue Lobster in that freshwater tank, not the two angels. Also, should I start dumping some of that phytoplankton into my bigger tank for my Purple Sea Urchin too, or does it just eat whatever? I've noticed my eels won't eat the frozen Krill I got them, so should I give it to the anenome every once in a while? All my eels will eat is live fish. I had to feed them minnows last night because the store was out of guppies and mollies. Oh yeah, I also used to have a lawnmower blenny and a feather duster in the tank I kept the eels in before. They're not there anymore! Where the hell did they go?! Would an eel eat a feather duster?! And, I thought the blenny was plenty big enough to not get eaten, but I guess not? Also, I wanna liven up that eel tank. What fish can go with them and them not try to eat the damn thing? I mean, I know what the charts say, but I would rather have experienced human suggestions than looking at another stupid compatibility chart. Basically, what are your suggestions to put in a tank with two eels that eat anything smaller than 3", or at least try to.....

 

[callell]

I'd be more concerned by the Anemmone, do you have any experience with looking after them
What type of Nem is it ?

 

[Lynden]

Anemones are actually fairly hardy animals, they die because of incorrect handling usually. Amoung the most common cause of death once in the aquarist's tank is... overfeeding! Feed them no more than once a week.

Blue ribbon eels are perhaps the most 'difficult' commonly offered fish. They rarely (as in one in 500) learns to accept frozen foods and they cannot survive off fresh water feeders (excepting perhaps mollies that are acclimated to salt and fed 'salty' foods). Try searching 'blue ribbon eel eats' in the search tool.

As for compatability, what about fang blennies, or medium sized docile crustaceans?

-Lynden

 

[Imaruki]

I'd be more concerned by the Anemmone, do you have any experience with looking after them
What type of Nem is it ?

It's a Carribean Anemone....yeah, I've taken care of some before. Had pretty damn good luck with them too with the exception of the last one that ate a goldfish and died I bought some kind of fish, I forgot what the guy said it was called, but according to him, the eels won't mess with it because it's too big. Oh yeah, and those fang blennies look too small. The "wolf eel" ate the lawnmower blenny just fine and the fang blenny looks about the same size when bought at the fish store down here.

This is the fish ->

 

[Lynden]

I'm not sure but that looks a bit like a Scarid (parrot fish) to me. Scarids are mega-big wrasse-like fish that eat coral and will outgrow all but the largest tanks.

Fang blennies have an effective defense mechanism; large, venomous fangs that they use to bite the inside of their attacker's mouth. Gulping predators cannot stomach them; they will be safe with lionfish, groupers, et cetera and probably also your wolf "eel".

-Lynden

 

[Imaruki]

They eat coral??? Crap! I just put a bunch of polyp coral in there. I just realized my blue ribbon eel is actually a black ribbon eel. I guess I'm color blind or something Anyways, well, since those fangs are poisonous, won't the kill my eel if it tries to eat it?

 

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Lynden, that looks a lot like a Juvenile Stoplight Parrotfish... Anyway you can get a pic more from the side?. As Lynden said, Parrotfish get BIG in the wild, like 24" big and they live off or algaes and sponges that they scrape off of rocks with their beaks. They are constant nibblers on rocks, any corals in their way just get nibbled too...

 

[Lynden]

Indeed; they can often be heard chewing acropora near reefs. You are much more likely to hear them than see them on a wild reef.

The fangs on a fang blenny are venomous, not poisonous. When the wolf eel tries to swallow the blenny, he will nip the inside of the attackers mouth, causing the attacker to spit the blenny out. After the first incident, the fish will recognize the blenny's shape and colour and avoid him in the future. If the eel manages to eat the blenny (highly unlikely; usually only wrasses that bite and incapacitate the blenny will succeed, eg. large Thalassoma), the venom will be digested and cause no harm to the eel.

-Lynden

 

[Imaruki]

Ok...got some new pictures of this crazy looking thing. Sorry it took so long.

I noticed the "wolf eel" attempted to take a bite out of it the other night and that fish turned around and got him back. Ever since then, the "eel" doesn't mess with it. Now the black ribbon eel in there just doesn't screw with it period. Had really good luck with my chocolate chip starfish not eating my 2 anemones also. All my coral seems to still be there too. Now, about these fang blennies. What's the usual price range of them and do most saltwater fish stores carry them? Also, I've got this odd lump ontop of my sand....what is it? It's almost an inch long. Kinda gross looking if you ask me.

 

[Lynden]

I'm sorry to say this but your tank may be headed to a war zone. If I were you I would rehome/eat the scarid when it reaches about 6-7'' and can no longer live comfortably, and do the same with the wolf eel as it appears to be a menace. The choco chip star needs to go as well or else it will definitely eat your anemones in due time.

I would recommend leaving the tank as it is for now if you don't mind the starfish preying on the anemones (not a bad thing to do, it is after all just nature). As far as everything else, maybe try selling the scarid back to the pet store owner because he appears either greedy or ignorant to the fish's ultimate size.

Fang Blennies are usually common and inexpensive. I would not add one until your tank has settled down a little.

-Lynden

 

[Imaruki]

Called the fish store and told him what the deal was and he said he could refund all but $5 of the fish's cost because it was in my tank already. I'm fine with that I guess....HOLY CRAP! I just noticed he's eating the pointed tips off my sea urchin!!! He's leaving now!

 

[Lynden]

Yup... I'm afraid that's no surprise.

 

[Imaruki]

Ok, so new question......what are some good inverts to put in there? Say like crabs, lobster, shrimp, etc.? I want something that's so hard they won't even try to eat it. But, I want something colorful too though.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yup, Stoplight Parrotfish for sure. One of the more striking examples of color change from Juvenile (what you have), to an Adult

 

[Lynden]

How about reef lobster, or a Dardanus hermit crab?