size tank for a moray?

[Paul_MTS]

I'm in love with a big honey comb moray eel 1 of my LFS has.

although I doubt i have space for anothewr big tank.

for future reference what size tank would this or a zebra moray need?

 

[3fsh]

A zebra moray eel would require a 75g and a honey comb eel would require a 200g.

Translated: 284 litres for a zebra and 757 litres for a honey comb. They actually require smaller spaces than a fish of comparable size due to the fact that they aren't very active.

 

[Paul_MTS]

Cheers, how big does the honey comb get? I couldn't find much information on them but I'm guessing 5-6ft. Shame I haven't got space for another 200g. a 75g is do able though

 

[3fsh]

Everywhere I've looked, it says 6ft... but fish in captivity tend to stay smaller and grow less quickly than their wild counterparts.

Lol... don't go thinking "a 75 is doable" because you know that'll just lead to "well, I guess a 200g is doable"... I always seem to find room for tanks, even though there really isn't any space left.

 

[Paul_MTS]

nah i already have a 210g tank but thats FW and staying that way. i can't fit another one in...unless............

what other large evil fish can you keep with the moray in a 100g?

 

[3fsh]

Not fair!!! I need a bigger tank for my Triggers (hopefully gonna get a 125g for my b-day.... *fingers crossed*).

You can definitely put a fish with the Zebra Moray in a 100g because they are pretty docile. (Just make sure the fish is bigger than the moray's mouth. ) I would suggest a Triggerfish because they have so much personality and are also very evil at times. Picasso Triggers, by far, are the most fun of the triggers because they are constantly exploring their tank, eating small things out of the substrate, and guarding "their" hole. They also recognize you as their special food buddy after a while.... mine won't let anyone else feed them if I'm not standing by the tank. Be careful with your fingers, though. They have sharp little teeth! And make sure that you have an indestructible heater/thermometer/algae cleaner. They make it their mission in life to destroy everything that they can get their teeth on.

 

[Paul_MTS]

nah deffinately no space for a 200g but I'm very much considering closing my FW 4ft and making that into a predactory SW.

i know the LFS tanks much bigger but they also have a lion fish (p. volitans) in with theres. Is this possible or bigger tank?

i think they also have the trigger thats in your sig in there big tank.

 

[3fsh]

nah deffinately no space for a 200g but I'm very much considering closing my FW 4ft and making that into a predactory SW.

i know the LFS tanks much bigger but they also have a lion fish (p. volitans) in with theres. Is this possible or bigger tank?

i think they also have the trigger thats in your sig in there big tank.

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I wouldn't put the lionfish in with the zebra moray because there are only 25 extra gallons of water for whatever fish you put in. The P. Volitans requires at least 50g for himself.... so I don't believe the tank would be able to handle the bio-load. Plus, lionfish are boring.... IMHO!

Neither of my species of triggers should be put in with a lionfish... I can't believe your LFS has them together. It may seem okay when they are smaller, but triggers like to play with lionfish and pester them; especially the picassos. They tease them to death by reachinging inbetween the lionfish's spines to nip at them. (The picasso's eyes are set really far back so they can do this without getting stung. This is also what enables them to eat sea urchins.) The clown trigger is simply way too aggressive to be in with a lionfish. Mine trys to *kill* the heater and nips at the picasso when he gets irritated.

 

[Opcn]

in the wild some morays eat lionfish, because they are slow.Maybe a small grouper, or if you can a large angel would be nice. You know, theres all that space under your bed, you could raise it up a few feet and build a GARF style plywood tank down there, just need to buy one big pane of glass or plexy

Just a thought.

 

[fraservet]

I wouldn't put the lionfish in with the zebra moray because there are only 25 extra gallons of water for whatever fish you put in. The P. Volitans requires at least 50g for himself.... so I don't believe the tank would be able to handle the bio-load. Plus, lionfish are boring.... IMHO!

It really doesn't work like that.
The whole 1 fish needs 100g, so 2 of the same fish need 200g concept is a misconception.

I would think the tank would be ok for the zebra and the lion.

Edit - didn't read the post directly above this one. My comment was based on tank size rather than species compatibility.

 

[3fsh]

I wouldn't put the lionfish in with the zebra moray because there are only 25 extra gallons of water for whatever fish you put in. The P. Volitans requires at least 50g for himself.... so I don't believe the tank would be able to handle the bio-load. Plus, lionfish are boring.... IMHO!

It really doesn't work like that.
The whole 1 fish needs 100g, so 2 of the same fish need 200g concept is a misconception.

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Actually, it does work that way in this case.

Saltwater fish need 4g per inch of fish in a new set up. The zebra moray grows to three feet which means that it technically requires 144g... but, because it is such a complacent fish and doesn't move much or eat all that often, it can be put into a 75g. The lionfish grows to a maximum size of 15 or so inches. (Okay, let's say that it grows to 10 inches, to be fair.) This would mean that the lionfish, in and of itself would technically require 40g of water.

See what I mean? Each fish requires many gallons of water for itself. To say that you can cram two fish into a 100g which both require more gallons of water combined than the aquarium contains is not very smart.

 

[fraservet]

Well, I don't really agree with the inches per gallon rule either, as it has several fairly major flaws.

1 - it doesn't take into account mass of fish which can vary dramatically while still being the same length. Eg a 6 inch puffer will have much more mass than a 6 inch pipefish (an extreme example, but you get the point), and will produce much more waste.

2 - it also doesn't account for the diet of the fish. In general herbivores will produce different amounts of waste than carnivores. While some fish will eat 4 times a day, others will only feed once every 3 days.

3 - gallons of water describes only the amount of space the fish will have, and will also affect the overall stability of the system. It is NOT a function of the filtration capacity of the system.

As you have said yourself, the zebra moray completely blows the inches per gallon rule out of the water.

Anyway, back to my original point.

The gallon requirements for a fish that are quoted are not usually particularly related to how much filtration capacity the system needs. They are more to do with swimming space and territorial requirements etc.
This is obviously why the volumes for free swimming species (eg tangs) are relatively much higher than more sedentary species of similar size.
Obviously it is the big fish that don't move around a lot that have small tank size requirements in terms of space needed that are most likely to overload the filtration system, but it is quite possible for a small tank to have really large filtration capacity.

Once the required gallonage is achieved, it is usually possible to keep more than just that fish in the tank - obviously being careful not to exceed the waste handling capacity of the system, as well as not crowding aggressive/territorial fish.

So in this case, so long as the filtration is adequate, I don't see a problem keeping the 2 fish together - apart from the possibility of the zebra eating the lion.

Having said that, I wouldn't really be to keen on keeping a big lion in a four foot tank anyway.

 

[3fsh]

Lol... sorry that your thread got turned into an argument, Paul_MTS.

I think a good combination of fish would be the Zebra Moray and perhaps a large Angel or Trigger. Something that can defend itself but is not so big that it would overload the filtration capabilities of the tank.

 

[Paul_MTS]

nice to see a few points being made!

ok so not a lion if I were to do it!

don't quote me on what fish my LFS do have together as I'm not exactly an expert on marine fish, i can't remeber what they had listed on the price list. But this is a big tank so rules might change!.

 

[J-Money]

Also, just cuz you keep talking about the P. Volitans. I got my 125g tank cuz that was one of the fish i really wanted. After i did a lot of research i found my tank wouldn't be big enough My tank is something like 18 inches wide by 5 feet long and while the volitans only get around 15 inches long, they get up to 18 inches wide from spine to spine. doesn't sound too comfortable to me