Eel Possibilities

Aaron Davis · Jul 15, 2017

Hey peeps,

I currently have a 55 gal and am wanting to add an eel soon. For this tank I'm wanting to go with another snowflake eel or a dwarf golden. However; in the next couple years I plan on getting a 150 gal at least. I'm looking for some input on an eel to throw in that along with the fish I currently have and other fish additions. I'm REALLY wanting a Ocellated Eel (Black Edge Moray). I also really like the Skeletor eel. I currently have a clown fish, mandarin dragonet, flame angel, scooter blenny, with the hopes of adding a yellow tang and maybe one other. I also currently have a couple cleaner shrimp, some hermit crabs, and a sand star. Thoughts on these eels coexisting with these fish?

AtulR · Jul 15, 2017

Aaron Davis said:
Hey peeps,

I currently have a 55 gal and am wanting to add an eel soon. For this tank I'm wanting to go with another snowflake eel or a dwarf golden. However; in the next couple years I plan on getting a 150 gal at least. I'm looking for some input on an eel to throw in that along with the fish I currently have and other fish additions. I'm REALLY wanting a Ocellated Eel (Black Edge Moray). I also really like the Skeletor eel. I currently have a clown fish, mandarin dragonet, flame angel, scooter blenny, with the hopes of adding a yellow tang and maybe one other. I also currently have a couple cleaner shrimp, some hermit crabs, and a sand star. Thoughts on these eels coexisting with these fish?

Hey Aaron,
I'm a tad confused here, are you asking for advice on the Occelated and Skeletor coexisting for the future 150? If you get a snowflake in your current size tank, I'd be prepared to say goodbye to your hermits and shrimp.

Aaron Davis · Jul 15, 2017

Atul@AmongTheReef said:
Hey Aaron,
I'm a tad confused here, are you asking for advice on the Occelated and Skeletor coexisting for the future 150? If you get a snowflake in your current size tank, I'd be prepared to say goodbye to your hermits and shrimp.

I'm asking for advise on whether or not the ocellated or skeletor would be compatible with monitoring in a 150 gal with the current fish I have and more. Was also curious about the dwarf golden and snowflake in my current 55 gal.

Kyle Sicard · Jul 16, 2017

I am also an avid eel lover. I've learned that pretty much any of the larger eels will eventually consume something in a reef tank whether it be fish or inverts (crabs, snails, shrimp). However, there is typically one exception. I've had a lot of luck with golden dwarfs in my reefs over the years. I currently keep a golden dwarf in my reef. I've discovered if you add shrimp first and let them get to adult size, which doesn't take that long, then the golden dwarf will usually leave them be. I've had snowflakes eat the arms off my starfish in the past, and a black edge will certainly eat small fish such as gobies. Your best bet is a golden dwarf.

Aaron Davis · Jul 16, 2017

Kyle Sicard said:
I am also an avid eel lover. I've learned that pretty much any of the larger eels will eventually consume something in a reef tank whether it be fish or inverts (crabs, snails, shrimp). However, there is typically one exception. I've had a lot of luck with golden dwarfs in my reefs over the years. I currently keep a golden dwarf in my reef. I've discovered if you add shrimp first and let them get to adult size, which doesn't take that long, then the golden dwarf will usually leave them be. I've had snowflakes eat the arms off my starfish in the past, and a black edge will certainly eat small fish such as gobies. Your best bet is a golden dwarf.

Kyle; thank for your reply. Where do you purchase your Dwarf Golden from? They're pretty spendy.

Kyle Sicard · Jul 16, 2017

When I bought my current one about 3 years ago or so I was working in a LFS so I got to hand pick mine from a local wholesaler. But I do remember some years back there use to be a guy on ebay who lives in Hawaii and catches them and sells them on ebay. They ran about $150 from the ebay guy which is generally a good bit cheaper then most retailers. I would try your luck there or maybe try to find someone local through a local reef club that might have a hookup or is selling one.

They are really special eels, they are well worth the price tag honestly. They tend to be secretive but mine always comes out when I feed the fish and can also be caught doing laps around the tank when the lights are off. Just be aware that golden dwarfs are particularly awesome escape artists due to their small size and slender physique. When I had smaller tanks they would always try to get out but in my current system I've never even seen him try to escape unlike previous eels. If you give them enough rockwork/caves and keep them well fed they tend to be more tame. Regardless I made my screen top and modded the screen top to fit a auto feeder without providing any gaps for the eel to get out of or one of my many wrasses.

If you plan to QT the eel I would recommend purchasing a critter cage, I get mine at Walmart for about $10-$15. It will be escape proof, but one thing I've noticed is when they are forced to live in cramped quarters such as a critter cage they will refuse to eat. It's not a huge deal since they can go several months without food but mine didn't eat a single bite in the 5 weeks he was in QT. Day 2 after being in the DT he readily accepted food from my tongs and since then without fail he eats every 2 days.

Aaron Davis · Jul 16, 2017

Kyle Sicard said:
When I bought my current one about 3 years ago or so I was working in a LFS so I got to hand pick mine from a local wholesaler. But I do remember some years back there use to be a guy on ebay who lives in Hawaii and catches them and sells them on ebay. They ran about $150 from the ebay guy which is generally a good bit cheaper then most retailers. I would try your luck there or maybe try to find someone local through a local reef club that might have a hookup or is selling one.

They are really special eels, they are well worth the price tag honestly. They tend to be secretive but mine always comes out when I feed the fish and can also be caught doing laps around the tank when the lights are off. Just be aware that golden dwarfs are particularly awesome escape artists due to their small size and slender physique. When I had smaller tanks they would always try to get out but in my current system I've never even seen him try to escape unlike previous eels. If you give them enough rockwork/caves and keep them well fed they tend to be more tame. Regardless I made my screen top and modded the screen top to fit a auto feeder without providing any gaps for the eel to get out of or one of my many wrasses.

If you plan to QT the eel I would recommend purchasing a critter cage, I get mine at Walmart for about $10-$15. It will be escape proof, but one thing I've noticed is when they are forced to live in cramped quarters such as a critter cage they will refuse to eat. It's not a huge deal since they can go several months without food but mine didn't eat a single bite in the 5 weeks he was in QT. Day 2 after being in the DT he readily accepted food from my tongs and since then without fail he eats every 2 days.

Critter cage? I'll have to look that up. What did you treat yours with during QT? I have a LFS that has offered to get me one; but it's $300. However, he said he would be willing to reorder it for me if for whatever reason the eel died during shipment or within 7 days after receiving it. I've tried 2 snowflakes; each have died from unknown causes within the 1st week of me receiving them. I shortly after had an Ich outbreak in my tank and found that a QT tank is a necessity. I didn't have one before, but do now. So what do you treat the Dwarf Eels with and you treat them for 5 weeks? Was investing2day the Ebay user who sells the Eels? Lots of Spanish with his profile. About the only one I could find.

Kyle Sicard · Jul 16, 2017

They are super common to find. Here's the one I have on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lees-Kritter...8&qid=1500225747&sr=8-3&keywords=critter+cage

I got the idea from wholesalers, when I would go there and walk around this is what they kept the octopus in. If it can keep octopus contained then it's pretty much good for anything. $300 is a fair price from a LFS honestly. I've seen them as high as $450 in LFS's. Typically your only going to get a lower price if you shop online or have someone in the local reef club that has a "source", IME there's always somebody that has a wholesale accounts in established reef clubs. They tend to be shy about it so they dont have a lot of people messaging them to use their account.

That's awesome that the LFS is offering that. I wouldn't worry about it either way. Eels tend to be very hardy as long as they dont end up on the floor, there are a few exceptions like the ribbon eel but the golden dwarf is pretty hardy IME. The only caveat I have found with them is that they tend to be picky eaters at first and sometimes wont take to certain foods at all that most other eels would happily eat. I use to try silver sides and krill and all that but most of the time my golden dwarfs wouldn't ever eat them. I just go to the local super market and buy wild shrimp (the kind you peel and eat) and I cut it up into bite size pieces and keep it frozen in some tuber ware with a shallow amount of water. I just pull it out and thaw it every time I feed and he's been happily eating this for 3 years now. It's much easier and cheaper then buying a bunch of aquarium specific food that he may or may not eat. I only get like 4-5 pieces of shrimp at a time and half the time the clerk just gives it to me for free.

If your newer to hobby its a good thing you learned your lesson about quarantining early. It's probably the single most important lesson I've learned in the hobby. I quarantine all fish for 4-6 weeks standard, except for mandarins due to their diet. I quarantine longer if something nasty pops up like ich or velvet. For almost all my fish except tangs I only dose prazi pro after they get accustomed to the QT, I dose twice 5 days apart. I only use copper or other meds if the fish in question present with symptoms. Tangs I copper no matter what since they tend to not be overly sensitive to copper unlike my wrasses, as long as you ramp up the copper dosage over time.

For the eel specifically i just dosed Prazi twice and then observed for the remainder of time. I QT for 4-6 weeks since I dont proactively dose medications unless symptoms show. The extended period of 4-6 weeks allows time for any nasties that may be hiding to pop up in a visible state where I can then treat. A lot of people have different methods with quarantining but I find this to work best for me. If you start coppering every fish you QT chances are your gonna cause some deaths as not all fish tolerate copper very well. And just so you know Eels is particular should not be exposed to copper unless it is absolutely confirmed that they are suffering from something such as ich or velvet. If I was going to copper a eel I would slowly ramp up the dosage over a 7-10 days and only raise the copper level to 0.3ppm which is the minimum level to effectively treat for ich. I would avoid this situation at all costs as eels do not fare well in copper. But basically just dose prazi pro twice, wait 4-5 days after the first dose then do a WC and then dose a second time making sure no carbon is being used during this process. from there its just observing and trying to get the eel to feed throughout its QT time.

I'm not saying my method is the best, as it is not 100% full proof but it works very well for me to where i have 22 very healthy fish for more then a year and have only lost 3 fish that all perished during QT and not in the DT. I would recommend checking out the disease and fish treatment thread here on R2R and educating yourself on how to QT and what to do if something pops up. From there you can make your own decision on how to QT. Also please read up on how to rid your tank of ich. If you had ich previously I would really research this to make sure your tank no longer carries the parasite.

I'll try to take a look to see if the ebay seller is still active. Hope all this helps!

Kyle Sicard · Jul 16, 2017

I just checked and I couldnt find the ebay seller. It was a number of years ago when I bought one from him so he may just not be active anymore

jasonrusso · Jul 16, 2017

Kyle Sicard said:
I just checked and I couldnt find the ebay seller. It was a number of years ago when I bought one from him so he may just not be active anymore

The eBay seller was "Corals of the world." I bought one from there. I had it for 4 years before I lost it during the tank transfer. I bought another one at my LFS late last year and he is going strong. I paid $200 at the LFS (had it on sale for $299). The eBay one was $125 I believe. I think I saw one on TSM Corals for $299.