Got A Gymnothorax Tile Eel:) Any Info?

[Kasiopea]

Went to the fish store and could not live without this charming booger (Gymnothorax Tile, or some times called Freshwater Snowflake Eel, which i came to understand is incorrect)
How salty does the water have to be? Or how do you measure it?
I add salt to my fresh water tank, but just a small amount. A tablespoonful for every 5 gal. Would that be enough?
I have a Fire eel that is on quarantine right now, Electric Blue Jack Dimpsey a Pleco and planing to introduce some other cichlids. The shop attendant said the eel should be fine. He was in the tank with a couple blue cichlids any way.
Its a 75gal tank with plenty of hiding areas and im not planing on keeping too many fishes.
Do you think it would work?
Also what is the best food choice for them?
And again water salinity?

Thank you,

 

[Kasiopea]

Oohhh, almost forgot!!!

My friend has a Green Spotted Puffer (Tetraodon nigroviridis). Which he got for his community freshwater tank.
I read that its actually a brackish water fish, and he looks very unhappy.
If i take the puffer and raise the salinity just enough for the Puffer and the Moray Eel without killing the other fish. (Fire Eel, Cichlids and a Pleco)
What would it be?

Thanks,

 

[indigoj]

I think you need proper marine salt to make water brackish - table salt or 'aquarium salt' is no use. You are going to need a completely seperate brackish tank.

 

[simonas]

I kept two of these fish for about a yr befoe I sold them to a mate, i did the same bought them for a freshwater tank... they were unhappy in fresh ad when i set a brackish up for them they improved ten fold

I had mie in high salinity 0.018sg salinity which is a fair amount of aquarium sea salt. you'll need a hydrometere I think its calledwhich measures salinity

Mine grew to 16 inches and had very sharp teeth as i found out to my cost, mine eat large lancefish about 4 inch long so would have no problem eating fish of similar size, I once tried a puffer in my tank and it was gone following day.

personally you have a disaster waiting to happen on your hands, to keep the eels happy and healthy you need to cater for them but if you do you will harm and make unhappy your other fish, uness you ca provide just for the eel I'd take it back. They are lobvely and interesting fish to keep

 

[nmonks]

Both GSPs and "freshwater" morays need fairly high levels of salinity, and neither can be kept in a freshwater aquarium; end of story. So whatever else, you are going to need to set up a specific aquarium for them. GSPs don't need particularly high salinity levels, and something upwards of SG 1.005 at 25 degrees C should be adequate. That's 25% normal seawater salinity, or about 9 grammes of marine salt mix per litre. Many aquarists prefer to keep them in more salty water though; above SG 1.010 at 25 C you can add a protein skimmer, dramatically improving water quality, and you can even acclimate adult GSPs to fully marine conditions and keep them in a tank with live rock, should you want to.

Freshwater morays tend to need higher levels as they mature, and it's a good idea to keep them at about SG 1.010 at 25 C; that's 45% normal seawater salinity, or about 15.5 grammes of marine salt mix per litre. The best food for them initially are things like live river shrimps and earthworms, but once settled, they are easily weaned onto white fish fillet and frozen seafood. Add food in small amounts because they hunt by smell, and if too much is added, they can't find the source of the tasty smell! Hand-feeding isn't recommended because these fish can bite, viciously, and wounds sustained easily become infected. But you can use long forceps to offer small pieces of food, and by wriggling the food, you can attract their attention. The main thing is to choose a varied diet that doesn't lean too strongly on mussels and prawns, since these contain large amounts of thiaminase; this is the same reason why you wouldn't feed them minnows or goldfish, by the way. There's a detailed article on thiaminase over at WWM, and I'd recommend you took the time to draw up a shopping list of suitable foods choosing from those items with low or zero levels of thiaminase. While the science isn't completely resolved, there does seem to be a pattern between sudden deaths of moray eels and the overuse of thiaminase-rich foods such as feeder fish or frozen mussels and prawns.

Neither Gymnothorax spp. morays nor GSPs are sociable, and both species are best kept alone, in their own tanks.

You've fallen into the classic trap of buying a fish without doing any research whatsoever. Whilst that won't usually cause problems when we're talking about Corydoras catfish or South American tetras, with oddball fish it's invariably a disastrous approach. Much written about both morays and GSPs in my brackish aquarium book, and a quick look through my FAQ should provide some useful reading too.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Kasiopea]

Thank you all, i have returned the Eel. And advised the same to my friend with the GSP. I don't want to torture the fish, and the shop took him back and even gave me the refund.

 

[indigoj]

Good on ya!

If only everyone thought that way.

 

[Kasiopea]

Good on ya!

If only everyone thought that way.

Thanks, haha