Baby Monster(Tesselata Eel)

[lion king]

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.

 

[Slocke]

How tiny is he? I saw a tiny one at the LFS the other day, maybe 8". Really cute at that size but I know the monsters they become.
Edit: See the picture now. That's a really beautiful little eel. The pattern is incredible.

 

[lion king]

How tiny is he? I saw a tiny one at the LFS the other day, maybe 8". Really cute at that size but I know the monsters they become.

He's around 9", must be right after breeding season and all the babies are coming in. Your 2 new eels look pretty small, how are they doing. I debated doing a small fang tooth group like a pair of white eyed, a golden tail, and a jeweled. But I've always wanted a tessa, and how could you pass up on this gorgeous fella.

 

[Slocke]

He's around 9", must be right after breeding season and all the babies are coming in. Your 2 new eels look pretty small, how are they doing. I debated doing a small fang tooth group like a pair of white eyed, a golden tail, and a jeweled. But I've always wanted a tessa, and how could you pass up on this gorgeous fella.

That Tessa will be a show stopper and getting to watch it grow from that minnow to its monster size must be exciting. Mine are doing good. Realizing I need to give them smaller chunks or else them and the trigger will try and steal from each other. The tiny 6" chainlink is particularly feisty.

 

[Gp!]

So awesome. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to seeing how he grows!

 

[lion king]

Here he is on the hunt. Saw what looks like a healthy bowel movement, I know it may sound weird that I report such things, but it is important. These and all for that matter, come in with internal parasites frequently, so good observation, or even prophylactic treatment for internal parasites. I would prefer not to treat. Eating, hunting, and pooping are all good signs.

 

[lion king]

I swear he's grown in less than a week, the quickest eel I've ever seen to get acclimated to captive living. I think I'm in trouble, the little guy put away 3 good size silversides last night, that's alot for a boy his size. I don't know what sex he is, but I'm calling him a boy, just gives me the impression of being a boy. I threw in some guppies last night, they are really too small for him but I didn't have any appropriate sized mollies. In his frenzy I decided to offer him some silversides on the tongs, he took right to it. Then he was crazed. Within a couple of offerings he was coming right up to me asking for more. I had to go back and get more, as soon as I walked back up the tank, he was there waiting for more. He tends to hang under the rocks with his head out or completely in the cavern during lighting times. During dark times, the room he is in gets pretty dark also, he seems to be pretty active. He's a beautiful sight when he is open swimming. I'll try and get a vid of him open swimming. I hope the 6' tank is going to be ok for him. I hate to push it but I know what happens, he will definitely have a better life with me than many others. Too many people get these guys that have no idea what they are getting into, and especially a small one that is so gorgeous, so their fate many times don't end well. He'll get some fresh wild salmon next feeding and I'll be visiting the Asian market soon, to see what I find, fresh squid or some other fresh fish that I haven't thought of. If you've seen some of recent post, I am changing silversides brands, I will use up the Hikari I have, then I'll switch to San Francisco Bay brand if I can find it.

A Brief Word On Silversides…

Odds are, if you’re at all familiar with silversides, it’s from having fed their defrosted corpses to a larger carnivore. But while they may be little more

reefs.com

 

[Slocke]

I swear he's grown in less than a week, the quickest eel I've ever seen to get acclimated to captive living. I think I'm in trouble, the little guy put away 3 good size silversides last night, that's alot for a boy his size. I don't know what sex he is, but I'm calling him a boy, just gives me the impression of being a boy. I threw in some guppies last night, they are really too small for him but I didn't have any appropriate sized mollies. In his frenzy I decided to offer him some silversides on the tongs, he took right to it. Then he was crazed. Within a couple of offerings he was coming right up to me asking for more. I had to go back and get more, as soon as I walked back up the tank, he was there waiting for more. He tends to hang under the rocks with his head out or completely in the cavern during lighting times. During dark times, the room he is in gets pretty dark also, he seems to be pretty active. He's a beautiful sight when he is open swimming. I'll try and get a vid of him open swimming. I hope the 6' tank is going to be ok for him. I hate to push it but I know what happens, he will definitely have a better life with me than many others. Too many people get these guys that have no idea what they are getting into, and especially a small one that is so gorgeous, so their fate many times don't end well. He'll get some fresh wild salmon next feeding and I'll be visiting the Asian market soon, to see what I find, fresh squid or some other fresh fish that I haven't thought of. If you've seen some of recent post, I am changing silversides brands, I will use up the Hikari I have, then I'll switch to San Francisco Bay brand if I can find it.

A Brief Word On Silversides…

Odds are, if you’re at all familiar with silversides, it’s from having fed their defrosted corpses to a larger carnivore. But while they may be little more

reefs.com

Good luck on sexing it. Don’t they only grow gonads for mating season and are otherwise without reproductive organs or is that just conger eels.


Unfortunately I couldn’t see the video. But sounds like he’s good eater. I was shocked how quickly mine got through a sizeable squid.

 

[38bill]

Beautiful eel. Keep that lid on tight!!!

 

[Aspect]

Yes for sure keep your lids tight and check on your overflow/return. My Snowflake got down my overflow during the first week thankfully survived.

 

[Aspect]

Also, what species are you planning on keeping with this?

 

[miyags]

Your's has a great pattern..I missed out on this one, years ago. Dr Foster& Smith

 

[lion king]

Also, what species are you planning on keeping with this?

Read my initial post

 

[lion king]

Here he is begging, he has become very aware of activity outside the tank and always comes out when I'm in my office. He's eating wild salmon, squid, and San Francisco Bay brand silversides; so a good start to his diet.

 

[lion king]

Taking a little swim, literally doubled in size in less than a month.

 

[Gp!]

How's he looking? Still growing at such a fast pace?

 

[lion king]

How's he looking? Still growing at such a fast pace?

He's looking great, getting some nice yellow across the top but I can't bring it out in pics yet. He's growing well but not like the initial growth spurt, he's was likely being starved, as they all are. He's eating well; salmon, squid, and silversides about every 3 days. Right now he's still comfortable in the 40 and would be just swallowed up in the 210.

 

[Gp!]

Did you work out the layout in your 210? Any chance for a peek at what it looks like?

 

[lion king]

Did you work out the layout in your 210? Any chance for a peek at what it looks like?

Close, I've a bit too busy. It's not going to be impressive, just rocks.

 

[Gp!]

Close, I've a bit too busy. It's not going to be impressive, just rocks.

Would love to see when you get to a point where you would share =) Trying to absorb as much of what is good for eel layouts as possible before committing to a structure on mine for the first time