Baby Monster(Tesselata Eel)

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He went into the 210g on Sunday and tonight has made himself at home in the pvc. He has doubled in length and tripled in thickness., so about 18" now. He eats ok, not as voracious as I expected. He has gotten pickier with food; loves salmon but can get a little finicky with silversides and squid. I do occasionally toss some live mollies in, he doesn't go right for them and they can last a day or two. He is very yellow, I have to get a good pic of him to share. While I have considered am undulated trigger, it's nice to have a tank I only need to feed 2-3 days a week.

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If you look really hard you may be able to see the yellow going down the back. I just can't get it to show up in my pics, it really is petty brilliant, goes down the whole length of the body.

I think I'm going to add some dither fish to get him out more often. My thoughts of dither fish are not the norm, thinking of a trio of triggers.

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Looks very healthy and quite big already. Is it just me or is it much bigger in the last picture than in this picture? The head at least twice as big.

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Looks very healthy and quite big already. Is it just me or is it much bigger in the last picture than in this picture? The head at least twice as big.

1672180775996.png

No just the angle, those pics were taken within a week or two, he's only been in the 210g a couple of weeks. I'm not going out of my but I am considering some triggers to add some movement and bring him out of his shell. At this size and the rate of growth, I think I'll have a couple of years before I need to worry. I actually saw a good looking clown trigger for $129, which is a really good price. One of my first fish 30 years ago was an undulated trigger that went on to be a house fav at my local bar hangout, think I'll add one of those also. Then trigger #3, maybe a niger. they grow fast and can hold their own. I had a niger that used to mix it up with a jeweled eel, it was so funny, he was always scraped and battered, and he was always the one that started it. I'll pull them out if it gets too hairy.
 

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Any reason why you want a triggers? I regretted mine as you know as they would grab the food out of the tongs and out of the mouths of my eels.
 
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Any reason why you want a triggers? I regretted mine as you know as they would grab the food out of the tongs and out of the mouths of my eels.

Triggers are my favorite fish behind lions/scorps and fang tooth eels. They are interactive and smart, and most importantly, tough enough to handle the tessa, at least for next 2 years or maybe more.
 

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I’m glad you posted about your new eel. I’m thinking about getting a baby as well. So that I can raise it myself. My lfs has a full grown one on display and it’s a sight to behold. Please keep the updates coming.
 
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9" to 24" in 9 months, he's still a baby. He's alot more shy than I anticipated, and wanted. He is alone and that does matter in terms of personality many times. I do consider a trio of triggers, but not in a position to add fish at this time. This is as far as he comes out of tube when I'm in the room. He eats about every 5 days, not as much as I expected, but regular. I think his growth rate has been good and he is a very good looking eel, just want him to be bolder.

 
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Wow. You are right. Its massive already. That is incredible growth!

It is but I think it's really not too far off from the other fang tooth morays. They may grow faster, the smaller morays I've had would be close to full grown in a years time, about 2'. This guy is close to tge full size of the smaller ones like a jeweled, goldentail, fimbriated. Fang tooths are also more dynamic swimmers, that's another reason even the smaller ones needs at least a 6' tank.
 

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