Snowflake Moray! Mistake Made

[simonas]

I was travelling in work today and popped into a fish shop called Blakemere on a54 on way to Middlewich

They had 2 snowflake morays £10 each. I asked the questions what water are they in, aren't they salt water or brackish and the guy who said he was marine expert said fresh water ay ph7. I bought them on impulse as they were cheap and gorgeous at 15 inches or so long . One is darker than the other. They both have same subtle pattern but was one is very light and one very dark.

Obviously I have checked on here after putting them into my freshwater tank. I now see that they ain't freshwater at all but brackish and some posts refere to them being proper saltwater

I have a bracksih tank at the moment with two toadfish in. Could these two species be mixed or would the toads try and eat these fish which are twice length. Would the snowflakes thrive in a brackish tank. I realise I would need a bigger brackish tank but thats not a problem as long as I can keep them happy for a month or less as I', looking for bigger tanks as we speak.

I basically want to keep these fish and keep them well. Does anyone on here have one that thrives and if so what conditions is it in so I can replicate them

If they have been kept in fresh water for a while how do I get them into the brackish as I only have a brackish and a fresh. would I be best doing a change in the brackish to reduce the salinity and risk stressing the toads which appear pretty hardy and then gradually increasing salinity as days or weeks go by

Also if anyone on here wants the toads then I would let them go to an enthusiast

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I'm cheesed off for making this blunder but I was a sucker for these two beauties!!!

with a bit of luck NMONKS will see this post and point me in right direction

 

[simonas]

I must add it seems to be Gymnothorax tile as opposed to nebulosa

 

[CFC]

I've got 3 of them at 15-20" long each in my brackish tank along with 3 toadfish and there are no problems, although i did lose a very small one to the largest toadfish once.

They need a fairly high salinity to thrive, 1.010+ and they really dont deal with excessive heat well so the tank must be kept cool in summer, we've lost some of ours every time theres been a heatwave

You can dump them straight from fresh to brackish and there wouldnt be any problems, but to be on the safe side i would drip acclimatise them in a bucket over a couple of hours. Their appetite is conected with the salinity, if they stop eating then raise the ammount of salt in the water, they should be ravenous at feeding time. With training you can get them to hand feed, but watch out as they have some quite nasty little teeth and will draw blood if they grab a finger.

 

[simonas]

I've got 3 of them at 15-20" long each in my brackish tank along with 3 toadfish and there are no problems, although i did lose a very small one to the largest toadfish once.

They need a fairly high salinity to thrive, 1.010+ and they really dont deal with excessive heat well so the tank must be kept cool in summer, we've lost some of ours every time theres been a heatwave

You can dump them straight from fresh to brackish and there wouldnt be any problems, but to be on the safe side i would drip acclimatise them in a bucket over a couple of hours. Their appetite is conected with the salinity, if they stop eating then raise the ammount of salt in the water, they should be ravenous at feeding time. With training you can get them to hand feed, but watch out as they have some quite nasty little teeth and will draw blood if they grab a finger.

thats just the response I was looking for cheers CFC

My toads are just under that salinity at the moment so I shall gradually raise that wit the eels in it. It will make a difference to the toadfish still life study I have at the moment lol They never move just glare and make that bizarre noise if I knock the tank by accident. The tank is in my garage and its always in shade so will remember thaabout the heat

with a bit of luck they will do ok as they are a good size bgger than toads. what size tank are yours in?

 

[Marine/Freshwater?]

Gymnothorax tile are nice fish. I am glad you had the sense to relise they were not freshwater. Really the most important thing with them is not to overfeed them and to give them a balanced diet. I feed mine live silversides, shrimp, wild sailfin mollies and sea weed. Morays in the genus Gymnothorax tend to be piscavorious. Fish should be their staple diet, shrimp makes them fatty and bloated after a while.

 

[simonas]

thanks and just read your brackish moray page. very interesting thanks. Just been out and checked my two eels. They seem happy enough. we shall see over next couple of days how they get on.

 

[simonas]

both eels were doing well this morning in the brackish tank and seemed very cosy with the Toadfish. Having seen the Toads mouiths I'm suspicius of the but these eels are very long and should fingers crossed be fine

 

[CFC]

I've got 3 of them at 15-20" long each in my brackish tank along with 3 toadfish and there are no problems, although i did lose a very small one to the largest toadfish once.

They need a fairly high salinity to thrive, 1.010+ and they really dont deal with excessive heat well so the tank must be kept cool in summer, we've lost some of ours every time theres been a heatwave

You can dump them straight from fresh to brackish and there wouldnt be any problems, but to be on the safe side i would drip acclimatise them in a bucket over a couple of hours. Their appetite is conected with the salinity, if they stop eating then raise the ammount of salt in the water, they should be ravenous at feeding time. With training you can get them to hand feed, but watch out as they have some quite nasty little teeth and will draw blood if they grab a finger.

thats just the response I was looking for cheers CFC

My toads are just under that salinity at the moment so I shall gradually raise that wit the eels in it. It will make a difference to the toadfish still life study I have at the moment lol They never move just glare and make that bizarre noise if I knock the tank by accident. The tank is in my garage and its always in shade so will remember thaabout the heat

with a bit of luck they will do ok as they are a good size bgger than toads. what size tank are yours in?

Mine are in a 150g with various other brackish fish.

 

[simonas]

 

[Marine/Freshwater?]

Nice Morays! They are still a bit pale but they should color up in a month or so. You might consider getting some hermit crabs. Morays always need very clean sustrate. Toadfish and Moarays generate a lot of waste. Also what CFC said is true about the heat. I lost my first moary to the heat. They get wicked agressive when heated up. Mine attacked my Gray Snapper and threw an ornament against the glass and chipped the tank. I ended up donating him to my lfs. My dad does not use the ac enough in the summer.

 

[simonas]

Nice Morays! They are still a bit pale but they should color up in a month or so. You might consider getting some hermit crabs. Morays always need very clean sustrate. Toadfish and Moarays generate a lot of waste. Also what CFC said is true about the heat. I lost my first moary to the heat. They get wicked agressive when heated up. Mine attacked my Gray Snapper and threw an ornament against the glass and chipped the tank. I ended up donating him to my lfs. My dad does not use the ac enough in the summer.

they have been a bit darker since they have been in the brackish water. I think I stressed them moving the wood to take the photos. am I better sticking something in the tank to harden the water. I did a small water change last night with slightly higher salinity so I can gradualy raise it to a more acceptable level for the eels. Its currently 1.08 if thats thr right way of putting it.

 

[CFC]

Hopefully you mean 1.008 and not 1.08 otherwise the fish would be preserved in brine rather than swimming in an aquarium

As long as you do regular water changes you dont need to add anything to keep the water hardness up, the salt will do it for you.

 

[simonas]

excellent

one of the eels takes chopped lancefish from my hand

Its always so less stressful if a new fish like this feeds without bother

I only wish my toadfish were the same

how do your toadfish eat CFC?

 

[CFC]

The two newer ones eat like pigs, as soon as i add food they come hopping out from the rocks devouring anything near to them, the older original one was a pain to feed when we first got it and had to be hand fed with tongs but it now finds its own food, though its nowhere near as brazen as the other two.