Moray Eel Help

[LegalTender]

I recently bought myself one of these about a month ago, ive always wanted one of these, and i finally found one!
But i have encountered a few problems:

Eel is about 18 inches, really healthy lookin, but now seems kind of depressed?

Water:
It was labeled at "freshwater" eel but i knew that wasnt the case, i bought some salt to go with it, its called "Nutrafin freshwater aquarium salt"
Latetly ive been wondering if thats even sufficient enough for brackish water, the fish guy said it would work, naturally i took his word.
Is this sufficient? or should i go out and buy sea salt?

Food:
I asked him what the eel eats, he directed me to some frozen Krill, so i bought a hefty amount from him, he said that it would be fine and it would eat in a few hours after i brought him home. That wasnt the case, im still to this day not sure if the eel has eaten, I have tried the krill, lights on/lights off, i put it on the end of a skewer stick and put it in front of him and he doesnt even seem interested in it, then I tried feeder fish, now u put about 25 in to start just to make sure that he at least got one of them, now his tankmate is a Green Terror, about 6 inches, and he eats the feeder fish as well, so in the matter of 3 days, the 25 feeder fish were gone, so i know somthing ate them but im not sure WHO ate them lol.

What other food would be recommended, and is there any other feeding techniques i could be doing?

Tank:
The eel is currently in my 60gal tank, temp is 75, dont know the salinity of it though, he has his lair where he hides, he has 3 tankmates
2 Green terrors, 1 mature (6 inches) and 1 youngin (1 inch) and a Mystery snail.
The big one runs the tank, when i first brought the eel home, he was scared for a few days, but now he sometimes picks on the eel if he comes out too much, but right now my eel is out about 8 inches from his hole and the terror isnt bothering him so its off and on kinda thing.

Im just really lost on the feeding, I have no idea if the eel has eaten or not, and i cant tell if hes sick or hungry or anything.
Ive read a lot of info on them and not much has done anything for me.
So any extra info and tips from personal experience dealing with eels, would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

[Davo86]

Not 100% on this but I'm pretty sure that the salt you have added is simply for helping fish recover from diseases i.e. a tonic salt. and not one that will effect the salinity of your tank. for that i presume you will need to add marine salt,

I would also be worried about the tankmates that the moray has, 6 inches is still pretty small for a GT and in a 60G i doubt a mature fish will tolerate a younger GT in its tank. I also think that you will have some big problems acclimatising them to live in the brackish setup that the moray eel requires

 

[LegalTender]

Not 100% on this but I'm pretty sure that the salt you have added is simply for helping fish recover from diseases i.e. a tonic salt. and not one that will effect the salinity of your tank. for that i presume you will need to add marine salt,

I would also be worried about the tankmates that the moray has, 6 inches is still pretty small for a GT and in a 60G i doubt a mature fish will tolerate a younger GT in its tank. I also think that you will have some big problems acclimatising them to live in the brackish setup that the moray eel requires

Yeah I im pretty sure you are right about that as well, OK well now i know to go and get some marine salt.

Okay, well the 2 GT's have been together for a little while now, the big one doesnt seem to mind him, the lil one just keeps to himself and they stay away from each other. Do you think i could slowly acclimatise them by a drip set up in a new tank? or the current one? Cause it seems like im gonna have to get a whole new set up for the GT's or the Moray.

 

[Davo86]

I would say that it is unlikely that your GT's are a pair and so sooner or later the bigger one is going to turn on the smaller one, it is enevitable with this species.

At work we currently have 4 mature GTs in 4 seperate tanks, They were originally added to a 100G but were so intent on beating each other senseless that we had to move them.

If the other tank is cycled then you could quite easily move them over, GT's are a very hardy fish and so if left to float in a bag in the new tank and then acclimatised with some of the tank water they shuld very quickly adapt to their new tank. Although if you do have a drip set up handy that would work juust as well.

 

[LegalTender]

I would say that it is unlikely that your GT's are a pair and so sooner or later the bigger one is going to turn on the smaller one, it is enevitable with this species.

At work we currently have 4 mature GTs in 4 seperate tanks, They were originally added to a 100G but were so intent on beating each other senseless that we had to move them.

If the other tank is cycled then you could quite easily move them over, GT's are a very hardy fish and so if left to float in a bag in the new tank and then acclimatised with some of the tank water they shuld very quickly adapt to their new tank. Although if you do have a drip set up handy that would work juust as well.

Yeah that makes sense, i have a 10gal running right now, just a feeder breeder tank, got about 10 in there, i could put my lil guy in there for the time being until i get my 20gal set up.

So if i kept my big one in my main tank with the moray and set up a drip system, do you think the big GT would eventually acclimatize to the salt water? and if so, should i do it with the current water, or my next water change?

 

[Davo86]

aah, i thought you meant using the drip tray to transfer the GT's to another freshwater tank,

The GT may be able to adapt to a very small amount of salt, but I'm not sure how they will cope with the conditions required for the moray? Hopefully someone else can answer this a little better for you

 

[CFC]

The eel needs a much higher amount of salt than the Cichlids can tolerate, to keep the eel you need to have an SG of at least 1.010 which is about half the strength of sea water and i doubt the Cichlids will be happy with an SG above 1.003 , and really they shouldn't be kept in salt water at all. Moray eels stop feeding and will starve to death when the SG is too low for them and large adults will need an SG of close to full strength seawater.

 

[LegalTender]

Okay, i just picked up a new 33gallon tank and some marine salt, now i need to make the choice of what fish to put where, Im not sure if i should move the eel into the new tank, or keep him in the current one and add the salt and then put the GT's in the new one

 

[simonas]

i RECENTLY BOUGHT TWO FRESHWATER Morays belileveing them to be freshwater.

Theyhave been in brackish which I have slowly raised and they are thriving now. I've noticed in last few days that when i Put my hand in with the frozen lancefish that they come straight out for it and almost take my hand off. One is particularly eager.

Good luck with them but definately get them in some salt or they will suffer

 

[LegalTender]

PPT: is at about 8 or 9
SG: in between 1.004 - 1.008

 

[LegalTender]

HE ATE!
went out and got some frozen uncooked shrimp and HE FINALLY ATE
This made my day

 

[Marine/Freshwater?]

Definately going to want to use the new tank for the moray. All the bactieria and organisms in your freshwater tank will die if you raise the salinity as quik as will be neccessary. Your moray needs salt pronto. I would set up the other tank, let it settle, and through in a dozen or so mollies, guppies or whatever else to cycle the new tank. Livebearers like guppies and sordtails can take 1.010. Since you most likely have Gymnothorax tile you will want to give it fish. When I got my 2 morays i hand fed them live silversides. If you have to, get your moray some feeder fish. Read my article, there is a link by my signature, it might help.
Read this:
Reasons Why People Fail To Keep Their Brackish Moray Alive:

1. Poor Water Quality
. A salinity above 1.010 for all morays.
. It is imperative that the tank is sufficiently cycled.
. Also the water temperature should not be too high, 78 F or 26 C. Females can become egg bound.
2. Poor Diet
. All eels should be fed frozen food
. Live food is full of nasty parasites
. Also morays in the genus Gymnothorax need fish ever once in a while, they cant just live off shrimp.
. Overfeeding can make most large predatory fish sick
. They should be fed no more than once every other day
3. Boisterous Tank mates
. Fishes like puffers and other Tetraodontiformes tend to harass morays.
. Monos, and Scats are good choices.
. Morays will typically eat gobies and blennies that fit in their mouths, however large individuals will beat on and evict morays.
4. Uncovered Aquarium
. eels are escape artists.
. For some large eels a weighted cover is a must.
. Also filters should not appeal to an eel's "natural curiosity", morays love to get trapped in filters
5. Lack of Attention/Maturity
. Morays are not for beginners
. Morays appreciate specialized species tanks.
. You cannot cut corners with morays, there are no shortcuts




Great! glad he finally ate. Eating is the most crucial thing!

 

[LegalTender]

it was only a peice of shrimp now he doesnt seem to want anymore, hes full already?

Definately going to want to use the new tank for the moray. All the bactieria and organisms in your freshwater tank will die if you raise the salinity as quik as will be neccessary. Your moray needs salt pronto. I would set up the other tank, let it settle, and through in a dozen or so mollies, guppies or whatever else to cycle the new tank. Livebearers like guppies and sordtails can take 1.010. Since you most likely have Gymnothorax tile you will want to give it fish. When I got my 2 morays i hand fed them live silversides. If you have to, get your moray some feeder fish. Read my article, there is a link by my signature, it might help.
Read this:
Reasons Why People Fail To Keep Their Brackish Moray Alive:

1. Poor Water Quality
. A salinity above 1.010 for all morays.
. It is imperative that the tank is sufficiently cycled.
. Also the water temperature should not be too high, 78 F or 26 C. Females can become egg bound.
2. Poor Diet
. All eels should be fed frozen food
. Live food is full of nasty parasites
. Also morays in the genus Gymnothorax need fish ever once in a while, they cant just live off shrimp.
. Overfeeding can make most large predatory fish sick
. They should be fed no more than once every other day
3. Boisterous Tank mates
. Fishes like puffers and other Tetraodontiformes tend to harass morays.
. Monos, and Scats are good choices.
. Morays will typically eat gobies and blennies that fit in their mouths, however large individuals will beat on and evict morays.
4. Uncovered Aquarium
. eels are escape artists.
. For some large eels a weighted cover is a must.
. Also filters should not appeal to an eel's "natural curiosity", morays love to get trapped in filters
5. Lack of Attention/Maturity
. Morays are not for beginners
. Morays appreciate specialized species tanks.
. You cannot cut corners with morays, there are no shortcuts




Great! glad he finally ate. Eating is the most crucial thing!

Okay will do, how long should i let it cycle for? Glad my feeder fish are guppies lol.
Okay i can do that for sure.

Awesome thanks for the info. I will follow that for sure.

 

[Lynden]

I keep my G. tile in a full marine setup and they are very voracious, doing very well. The species does venture (and is born in) into FW when young and can be kept in it for a while, so take your time with the new tank.

Guppies, in my opinion, as well as any other commonly sold livebearers other than mollies, are a very poor choice to cycle a SW tank. Non-inbred Guppies can withstand marine levels of salt but they must be acclimated very slowly, unlike mollies that can be acclimated within an hour. Platys and swordtails do not tolerate salt at all, so they must be excluded.

I'm sure Marine/freshwater knows just how much I disagree with his "rules", so I will not point all that out now. Following his above info certainly won't get you into trouble but morays are much more resilient/tolerant regarding many (or even most) of the above points.

Yes the moray is likely full already. Feeding every few days is sufficient.

 

[Marine/Freshwater?]

Guppies, in my opinion, as well as any other commonly sold livebearers other than mollies, are a very poor choice to cycle a SW tank. Non-inbred Guppies can withstand marine levels of salt but they must be acclimated very slowly, unlike mollies that can be acclimated within an hour. Platys and swordtails do not tolerate salt at all, so they must be excluded.

I'm sure Marine/freshwater knows just how much I disagree with his "rules", so I will not point all that out now. Following his above info certainly won't get you into trouble but morays are much more resilient/tolerant regarding many (or even most) of the above points.

Actually Swordtails, platies and other livebearers tolrate salt well. Even though their tolerance is signifigantly less than mollies, it is irrelevant. I was merely sugesting that platy and swordtails would be suitible for Legaltender's salinity, I said nothing about saltwater. Fishbase says the Green Swordtail is brackish,

FISHBASE:benthopelagic; non-migratory; freshwater; brackish; pH range: 7.0 – 8.0; dH range: 9 - 19 .


These Rules, are more of a set of guidlines actually... Theyare simply ways I screwed, cough, I mean noobs can screw up. You combine the errors your moray is toast. Plus there is no reason to cause your pets undue stress.