Freshwater Moray

[GobyMaster]

Okay, at my LFS, (a petco ), they have a beautiful 9 inch freshwater moray eel (Gymnothorax tile, I think), and yes, I've checked up on it regularly, and it is very healthy, and I wanted to put it in my oddball tank with a 7 inch marbled sand goby, a 10 inch sengal bichir, and a (believe it or not) a 6 inch bristlenose plecostomus (I don't know why it is so huge, I feed it algae pellets not too regularly, but who knows), and I wanted to put the moray in the tank. But, I was wondering, if I put it in my tank, will it attack and/or maul any of my fish in there now? And would any of my fish in there now try to maul the moray??

My tank's a 65, in case you're wondering.

GobyMaster

 

[Lhutch]

no this will not work, morays need brackish water i assume u dont, they say freshwater just as lfs term, in fresh water the moray will die early and while its alive it will suffer, and the moray would chomp everthing in the tank, do not put a Brackish moray eel to its death

 

[The-Wolf]

despite its name Gymnothorax tile are brackish fish not freshwater.
so no, you won't be able to put it in your tank.

 

[Fella]

As an alternative option, check out spiny eels.

 

[RadaR]

65gallon?? You have said in an earlier post that you moved the Goby to your 120gallon

 

[GobyMaster]

65gallon?? You have said in an earlier post that you moved the Goby to your 120gallon

I have 1 goby in my 120, and 1 in my 65.

My tank is brackish. I know that I have freshwater fish in it, but I've added salt gradually and it's now fully brackish. Can someone tell me the salinity level of the moray so I can see if my tank's salt level is good enough?

GobyMaster

 

[Fella]

65gallon?? You have said in an earlier post that you moved the Goby to your 120gallon

I have 1 goby in my 120, and 1 in my 65.

My tank is brackish. I know that I have freshwater fish in it, but I've added salt gradually and it's now fully brackish. Can someone tell me the salinity level of the moray so I can see if my tank's salt level is good enough?

GobyMaster

What SG is your tank? How did you make it brackish? What salt did you use? Anything above the 1.005 and your current inhabitatants will suffer. As The Wolf said, you won't be able to keep the fish you have, with a gymnothorax tile, and you would do better looking to keep one of the spiny eel family.

 

[GobyMaster]

What is the best spiny eel to keep in a 65?

I want one that isn't too small so that it won't eat my BN Plec, would a tire track or zig zag eel work

GobyMaster

 

[The-Wolf]

why have you ignored Fella's questions?

why do you have a bichir and a pleco in a brackish tank?
do you even care that people are trying to help you?

I'm done with this thread, so long and farewell which I doubt your fish will

 

[Lhutch]

morays need atleast 1.007 up

 

[GobyMaster]

why have you ignored Fella's questions?

why do you have a bichir and a pleco in a brackish tank?
do you even care that people are trying to help you?

I'm done with this thread, so long and farewell which I doubt your fish will

You do know that over time, fish will adapt.

I had sick fish and the owner of a LFS said put some aquarium salt in it. It cured the fish, no other fish died!

All my fish have been kept in this condition for close to 4 years, and they're doing fine!

morays need atleast 1.007 up

Thanks, I've decided to go with a tire track eel instead.

GobyMaster

 

[Fella]

why have you ignored Fella's questions?

why do you have a bichir and a pleco in a brackish tank?
do you even care that people are trying to help you?

I'm done with this thread, so long and farewell which I doubt your fish will

You do know that over time, fish will adapt.

I had sick fish and the owner of a LFS said put some aquarium salt in it. It cured the fish, no other fish died!

All my fish have been kept in this condition for close to 4 years, and they're doing fine!

There are bigger forces at work here. How much salt are you adding? If you're adding aquarium salt, then you're not making a brackish tank. If you're not measuring the amount of salt using either a refractometer or hydrometer, then there is no way that you can measure the specific gravity of the water, which is almost essential in keeping brackish water fish.

Adding a spoonful of aquarium salt, to a tank of fish which cannot thrive in brackish water, is more cause for concern rather than "What eel can I add to my setup?".

I would recommend you no longer add aquarium salt, no matter what your LFS owner tells you. It's a snake oil remedy recommended with no basis on scientific fact. The only additive you should add to water, if that, is dechlorinator.

 

[RadaR]

What is the best spiny eel to keep in a 65?

I want one that isn't too small so that it won't eat my BN Plec, would a tire track or zig zag eel work

GobyMaster

Type-o there? Im sure you want something that IS small so it won't eat your BN plec. Tire track will get soooo big, BN may be at risk.


I agree with Fella.

 

[nmonks]

GobyMaster --

I'd encourage you NOT to mix any kind of eel with gobies or catfish or bichirs, period. Even putting aside the question of salinity (which is a big issue) the other thing is feeding your fish. Spiny eels are extremely slow and picky feeders. The small species at least only really work well (i.e., easily) when combined with midwater fish. Why? Because the spiny eels then have no competitors at meal time. You can dump in a cube of frozen bloodworms at night, safe in the knowledge the spiny eels will eat them up.

Repeat this but with a loach or catfish in the tank as well, and those fish at the bloodworms and the spiny eel goes hungry. It's a little different with the bigger spiny eels because they eat more robust prey, and to some extent they're more day-active. But even then, I'd *never* mix a spiny eel with any other fish until I had it tame and feeding in front of my eyes.

Moray eels are not really community fish by any stretch of the imagination. Some aquarists have mixed them with fast midwater species like scats and monos, but others have simply looked in their tanks in the morning to see these fishes covered in scratches and torn fins, evidence of the moray's attempts to catch them by night. It probably depends on the size of the aquarium and how well fed the eel is, but still, it's not a gamble I'd make without having a backup plan to hand.

By the way, 15 cm is perfectly normal size of many species of Ancistrus. Since no-one knows which species are in the trade, despite the use of Latin names in the aquarium books, seeing specimens reach such a large size is no cause for alarm.

Cheers, Neale