Skeletor Eel Owners Please Share your Experience!

[CMO]

There seems to be quite a few Skeletor eels sold on divers den these days but still very little info out there on them. Anyone who either currently keeps or has previously kept a Skeletor eel would you mind sharing your experience? Here is some information I'd love to hear from actual owners. And photos would be awesome too!

• Do you keep yours in a reef? If so, has it eaten any fish or crustaceans including cleaner shrimp? Has it broken or damaged any secured coral?
• Did your Skeletor acclimate quickly and easily to your tank? If shipped, did it ship well and arrive in good health?
• How often do you see your Skeletor and when is it most active? Does it swim around much?
• Does it hide completely or poke it's head out of it's hiding spot?
• What and how often do you feed yours?
• How large was your eel when you got it and how fast does it grow? If yours has reached maturity, what is it's max size - length and thickness?
• Is the eel aggressive towards you while you're working in the tank?
• Are they escape artists / do they try to escape regularly?

Thanks!

 

[eatbreakfast]

@Bob Loblaw

 

[Bob Loblaw]

1. Fish should be safe. Ornamental shrimp should be safe as long as the eel is well fed. Coral is at risk of being dislodged.

2. It’s a hardy eel that will acclimate quickly to captivity. How well it ships is dependent on seller. Shouldn’t have any issues with LA/DD shipping practices.

3. Tankmates and scape come into play. If housed with aggressive fish such as triggers/large puffers the eel may be more reclusive. A happy eel isn’t going to be cruising around the tank and if it’s constantly swimming around something is amiss.

4. This is dependent on the individual eel but 9/10 a skeletor will have its body in the rockwotk with its head pokin out.

5. I generally feed 2x/ week. Squid, octopus, and shrimp are my go to for the pebbles with the occasional strip of fish mixed in. Avoid silversides and do the occasional vitamin soak.

6. Growth depends on how much you feed. They’ll max out around 2’. A stout one would push 2”.

7. It all comes down to individual eel but I’d be absolutely shocked to see an aggressive skeletor go after an aquarist.

8. All eels pose an escape rock but provided proper habitat, tankmates, and diet the risk is minimized. Essentially you want to make the eel comfortable so it doesn’t go looking for greener pastures. Being said, some sort of top is encouraged.

 

[CMO]

Thanks for the info. So as it relates to potentially damaging corals, what are we talking here - do you think well secured frags and or established corals that have grown onto rock would be safe, or is all at risk?

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Once corals are encrusted a skeletor isn't big enough to break them off. ​

Only corals at risk would be freshly glued or where the base is just shoved into a rock crevice.

 

[JoshH]

Once corals are encrusted a skeletor isn't big enough to break them off. ​

Only corals at risk would be freshly glued or where the base is just shoved into a rock crevice.

Hey Bob,

I'm curious if this eel or any other eel would be suitable for a tank with mandarins? Or are eels just a bad idea period for mandarins given there nature?

 

[CMO]

Hey Bob,

I'm curious if this eel or any other eel would be suitable for a tank with mandarins? Or are eels just a bad idea period for mandarins given there nature?

While I'm not Bob, I have had a Mandarin with a Skeletor for quite a while now with no issues. The only compatibility issue I've had so far was with my Blue Spotted Jawfish since the eel would steal his burrows (BSJ now re-homed) - but that's about it and I have lots of other small fish.

 

[JoshH]

While I'm not Bob, I have had a Mandarin with a Skeletor for quite a while now with no issues. The only compatibility issue I've had so far was with my Blue Spotted Jawfish since the eel would steel his burrows (BSJ now re-homed) - but that's about it and I have lots of other small fish.

That's awesome to hear, I'm guessing a lot of this good behavior could be on an individual basis? Or as long as they are happily fed they aren't an issue? Thanks for the response I was just asking Bob cause it didn't look like you had acquired one yet when this thread was started

 

[CMO]

That's awesome to hear, I'm guessing a lot of this good behavior could be on an individual basis? Or as long as they are happily fed they aren't an issue? Thanks for the response I was just asking Bob cause it didn't look like you had acquired one yet when this thread was started

He's an extremely aggressive feeder but surprisingly very peaceful with all fish and shrimps. The only thing I've seen him go after was an emerald crab which he really wanted to eat but it was too big .

 

[JoshH]

He's an extremely aggressive feeder but surprisingly very peaceful with all fish and shrimps. The only thing I've seen him go after was an emerald crab which he really wanted to eat but it was too big .

Lol can't blame him for trying

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I wouldn't expect issues from any of the pebble toothed morays. The lone exception would be a Snowflake larger than 2. It would likely be a low risk but the large Snowflakes can be quite unpredictable. I've kept mandarins with a number of medium to large bodied pisco's and never had an issue. Smaller piscos may be tempted but I would expect the slime coat would deter any thoughts of predation.

 

[CMO]

Had this guy for about 6-7 months now and he's grown like crazy from a wee little pencil like thing to this now. So my question today is how much should I be feeding him? He will literally eat infinity it seems and is always running around the tank during fish feeding time looking for food so I just want to make sure he's getting enough (he sits happily in his hole otherwise though). I'm currently feeding him 2 times per week raw shrimp of the size in the below photo (or the equivalent in clam, squid, or krill). Does this seem about right for his size, too much, too little? And also curious how much would be appropriate to feed him once full grown? Thanks!