An eel hitchhiked it’s way into my tank, help a beginner out.

[uagirl08]

Edit: It’s not tiny. It just has a tiny head. It’s really long. I couldn’t get a good pic.

I bought a brittle starfish last night and he wouldn’t let go of his rock hole so I got the rock as part of my purchase. I just found a tiny eel poking it’s head out one of my adjoining rocks. He’s really small but I’m worried about my tank residents. I have an arrow crab, Scarlett hermit, fighting conch, emerald crab, pin cushion urchin, Haitian anemone, Pygmy angel, fire goby, and an orchid dottyback. Any advice as to how to handle this stowaway is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[MaddyP]

Cool! Keep him fed and your current residents should be okay.

 

[elysics]

Catch and sell the eel or the other fish

 

[ApoIsland]

Once you get it eating the eel will be very easy to catch if you decide you ever want it out so don’t stress about that.

First step is to figure out what eel you have. The pattern kind of looks like a snowflake eel but not the coloration so I don’t know.

Depending on what type of mouth it has it will either eat your crabs or your fish. So you will need to choose which you like more.

 

[bnord]

looks to be a snowflake and there are lots of people who keep them in mixed tanks, as long as they are well fed - bits of scallop store well and don't rot too fast if it misses the feeding for too long. that said, feeding it well we resist, no doubt , in having to re-home it with size.
AND they are escape artists of the first order, tight lid required

 

[uagirl08]

Thanks y’all! Im pretty sure it’s a snowflake eel. I remember seeing that on a sign. The color is just off in my picture.

I’m about to leave town for the day, but don’t want to come home to a massacre or an escaped eel.

I love watching this tank. It’s so cool. My crab stood his ground.

 

[lion king]

Agreed a snowflake, I would pull it out. If you don't go in planning an eel, it's a bad idea. They will eat crustaens and small fish that will fit into their mouths.

 

[Fatmike92]

This is awesome!! ha good for you. yes if you just keep it fed then you should be just fine and it shouldnt mess with your inverts.

 

[Fatmike92]

Thanks y’all! Im pretty sure it’s a snowflake eel. I remember seeing that on a sign. The color is just off in my picture.

I’m about to leave town for the day, but don’t want to come home to a massacre or an escaped eel.

I love watching this tank. It’s so cool. My crab stood his ground.

so jealous thought. I want one that is this tiny

 

[Rmckoy]

They are cute and tiny when young . But remember they do grow fast ,
They will eat anything that fit in their mouth .

if you plan on keeping it , go to the seafood counter and buy frozen raw seafood medley in a bag .
it’s a mixture of different seafood pieces .
thaw and feed with long tongs ( their bite hurts like nothing you can imagine ).
do not let it close to your fingers !

that being said they are food driven and easy to catch hold a piece of seafood with Tongs and when it comes to get the food someone else or your other hand with a large net to catch .
They are fast and escape artists

I had one for a few years in my previous mixed reef until it reached 16” long .
I couldn’t add any new smaller fish , even juv blue tangs went missing

 

[Rmckoy]

That being said .
they are amazing creatures
Perhaps a upgrade to a larger system is in order

 

[attiland]

Why these things never happened to me?

 

[TnFishwater98]

Yep, they have pretty much 2 jaws. The outer row of sharp teeth, but a secondary set of jaws emerge from the throat (like in Alien the movie) and grab whatever it has bit.

 

[mav3rick478]

Awesome, snowflake eel bonus! Like others said just keep him fed and he won't bother anyone. I had one in a mixed tank and he never ate any of my fish, clowns and pygmy angels. Fed him squid I think once or twice a week and he was fine. I even hand fed him. Unlike other morays they don't possess the sharp teeth in their mouth, they are more crustacean eaters and like to crush their shells. I'm sure if a sick fish came along and they have not been fed in a while they would eat the fish but mine never even looked at fish as a meal. It would hang out in his cave and poke it's head out every once in a while.

 

[mpatient]

I have had a snowflake that has grown quite large. I feed him almost every day (chunky shrimp or clam bits) with tongs and he has left everything alone (Even my teeny tiny biota mandarins). At the size you have, a few krill shrimp will work fine. Every eel may be different, but in my experience, I have had no issues.

 

[lion king]

Yep, they have pretty much 2 jaws. The outer row of sharp teeth, but a secondary set of jaws emerge from the throat (like in Alien the movie) and grab whatever it has bit.

Just some info, that example is of a fang tooth eel, like a tessalata, jeweled, fimbriated, and goldentail to name the most common. The snowflake eel isba pebble tooth eel, their teeth are blunt and like rows of crushing knobs like a meat tenderizer, they are to crush shells and such, as their main diet is crustaceans. Pebble tooths will eat fish that they basically can swallow whole, while fang tooths will grab and shread.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Looks cool, but scary

 

[uagirl08]

Update: I got home and everyone was alive and doing well. About 30 minutes later, my new fire goby was being eaten by my arrow crab. There was only half of him left. I got my arrow crab in October on the same day I got a Caribbean Pygmy angel and a Royal gamma who I found the head of the next day. I bought a new one and he too died and the crab was walking around with its head and trying to stuff it in holes. From that day until yesterday the only fish in the tank was the Pygmy. The crab never bothered him. After seeing my perfectly healthy new fire goby being eaten by the crab just minutes after I saw him swimming around m makes me think the crab is my fish killer. If the snowflake eel (who hasn’t come out of the rocks) killed the fire goby wouldn’t he have kept it to eat? Now I’m not sure whether to blame the eel or the crab.


This is so stressful. I don’t want to lose anymore fishies. Do y’all think it was the snowflake eel or the arrow crab?

 

[fishguy242]

hi,welcome to the reef...
think the eel took the half of goby today, arrow was cleaning up
possibly 1st time arrow was cleaning up dying fish??
but bit in half eel.
once a fish eater ,too late. i would rehome.
crab is easy to get out too...

 

[MaxTremors]

Update: I got home and everyone was alive and doing well. About 30 minutes later, my new fire goby was being eaten by my arrow crab. There was only half of him left. I got my arrow crab in October on the same day I got a Caribbean Pygmy angel and a Royal gamma who I found the head of the next day. I bought a new one and he too died and the crab was walking around with its head and trying to stuff it in holes. From that day until yesterday the only fish in the tank was the Pygmy. The crab never bothered him. After seeing my perfectly healthy new fire goby being eaten by the crab just minutes after I saw him swimming around m makes me think the crab is my fish killer. If the snowflake eel (who hasn’t come out of the rocks) killed the fire goby wouldn’t he have kept it to eat? Now I’m not sure whether to blame the eel or the crab.


This is so stressful. I don’t want to lose anymore fishies. Do y’all think it was the snowflake eel or the arrow crab?

I would guess the eel bit the fish in half and the arrow crab cleaned up. Arrow crabs are certainly opportunists and I wouldn’t keep one in a small tank with nano sized fish, but it would have a hard time catching a healthy fish, and eating half of it in 30 minutes. The eel is likely pretty hungry and your other fish could end up with pieces missing (even though is primarily a crustacean eater, if it’s hungry enough it’ll go after fish). I would rehome both the eel and the crab.

I’m also curious what kind of brittle star you got, if it’s a green one, I’d re-home it as well, as they are known fish killers (firefish, which are not gobies, are the exact kind of fish they go for). If its not a green one, it should be okay, though I’m weary of large brittle stars in general, IME serpent stars are a much safer alternative.