Baby Monster(Tesselata Eel)

[lion king]

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.

 

[lion king]

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.

 

[Slocke]

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.

 

[lion king]

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.

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.

 

[Slocke]

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.

 

[lion king]

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.

 

[Bj’s Reef]

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.

 

[lion king]

Today's pic

 

[Go The Eels]

Today's pic

This is simply awesome. Excited to see how this guy keeps growing.

Eels are my thing so this thread will be required reading for me!

 

[lion king]

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.

 

[lion king]

 

[lion king]

Starting to adventure out more, I think he is starting to recognize me.

 

[Slocke]

Starting to adventure out more, I think he is starting to recognize me.

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

 

[lion king]

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.

 

[PubicFinger]

A preview to my new baby, have you ever seen a tessa this small, I haven't. He's in a 40B observation tank right now, he will eventually reside in a 210g alone. He a gorgeous little fella and seems to be settling in fine. I usually wait a while before a reveal, because you never know, but I haven't really been excited about a new addition for a while. I got so utterly bored with my 210g semi aggressive community tank, I just started giving away everyone as I found them adequate new homes. Some fish I had for over 10 years, like the 8.5/9" yellow belly dogface puffer, that I'm still looking for the right home. This guy is like rehoming an actual dog, so I've been very, very selective. While many reputable sources will recommend a 180g minimum tank size for the tessa, I'm still a little anxious about this, although I've never really seen one close to the max size everyone touts. My friend at the lfs tells his co-worker, "they get big and mean". I say "he'll be in a 210g alone so he can get as mean as wants".

I've only had him for 2 days. 1st day he mouthed some slivers of silversides, but wouldn't take it from the stick. So I offered the smallest molly from my Rhin'o's stock and a couple of ghosties. The molly looked to be too big, but then I heard some thumping and a dust up under the rocks. I can't find the molly the anywhere now. Yesterday I decided to dump a bunch of ghosties and guppies in, and he went crazy. He started hunting them down so I started to feel more confident he's going to make it. Today I can't find anything in the tank alive other than the baby monster.

I did put some pvc in the 210g and did some rearranging, but I'm not happy with the results so far. It's a bare bottom but I think I'm going to add some sand, planning to maybe add some
nassarius snails, they are pretty good at cleaning up after eels. I'm tossing around adding a variety of damsels; but I'm weird, I actually like tanks with less activity. But I don't want him to get bored, if he guarantees me that he will eventually eat them, I may do it for his enrichment. I'll post some pics of the 210g when I'm happy with it, but for now I think he will be residing in the 40B for a while. 1st off to get him eating well and he needs to do some growing, he would literally just disappear in the 210g.

I’m years late but I just received my baby today and he’s super active now. How is yours doing these days?

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Ok we need a picture of the little guy.

 

[littlefoxx]

I’m years late but I just received my baby today and he’s super active now. How is yours doing these days?

Ok we need a picture of the little guy.

No one has seen lion king in about a year, not sure what happened to him. I hope he is okay, I miss him on the form for sure. Just so yall know…. @HAAAAAAAA does have a tessa though he could show you!

 

[PubicFinger]

Ok we need a picture of the little guy

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

When I got the eel he was about 2 and a half feet! In year or so he grew another 6 inches and the second year another 6 inches, the younger they are the more they will grow!

For yours i believe that it will be about 12 inches a year! Or even more depending upon its diet

 

[littlefoxx]

When I got the eel he was about 2 and a half feet! In year or so he grew another 6 inches and the second year another 6 inches, the younger they are the more they will grow!

For yours i believe that it will be about 12 inches a year! Or even more depending upon its diet

Is your tessa still in his own tank??