The Freshwater Seems To Be Menacing.....

[Lynden]

I recently had three Chestnut morays in a 55 reef. They wreaked havoc, and eventually I got fed up and caught the two bigger guys (stupidly, I could catch only two because I did not have a net and got frustrated after awhile) and the little bugger remains in the marine, causing virtually no trouble.

However, when acclimating the morays to freshwater, the bigger guy puked up his shrimp which was eaten the day before. I felt horrible. But, a few weeks later, they ate again. But one of them wouldnt touch his shrimp. Over awhile, they ate a Pimelodus pictus and a black mystery snail. Recently, the guy that was eating died, leaving only the one who wouldnt eat behind, as well as the one in the reef. The one in the reef eats well and hides in live rock, but the freshwater one refuses.

It is very thin and I belive it is relatively close to death. Any suggestions on how to feed this animal or what I might be doing wrong will be gladly accepted.

Thanks,
-Lynden

 

[maestro]

Im not an expert on eels but are you positive you can put them a freshwater tank? ive done a quick search and it listed the seas they come from but theres no mention of freshwater, it does sounf like your problems started when you took them out of saltwater

 

[Lynden]

Well, I bought them from a freshwater tank, they were there for months, they are actually brackish. Im not quite sure they are chestnuts, they were listed as snowflakes but I did research, and found out they were not even in the same genus as snowflakes, them being Echidna and mine being Gymnothorax.

 

[Opcn]

morays are not freshwater eels

 

[andywg]

The thing you are doing wrong is keeping him in fresh water.

Morays are marine fish, heavy brackish at the very least. Keeping them in too low a salinity will put them off of their food and they will starve. The other may have been eating, but his osmoregulation would be screwed by being in the wrong type of water (like if you only had salt water to drink).

You can't acclimatise fish to live in water they shouldn't be in. A number of morays can start in FW and then need to go through brackish to marine, but you can't really go back.

I recommend getting him into the correct salinity.

 

[Tiggs]

gymnothorax are estuarine really......not ideal for a pure feshwater tank no matter what they were in at the shop.

 

[Lynden]

As well as research, I guy at my LFS has one, and he has it in marine, then freshwater for two days, then back to marine. He was kind of wacko though And althogh they are not freshwater, they are brackish, my LFS and the supplier has always kept them in freshwater.

If it was the wrong type of water, wouldnt they be dead after a few days? The LFS kept them for months in freshwater, and they are very young, only about 10''. The smallest one is only about 7''.

 

[Tiggs]

As well as research, I guy at my LFS has one, and he has it in marine, then freshwater for two days, then back to marine. He was kind of wacko though And althogh they are not freshwater, they are brackish, my LFS and the supplier has always kept them in freshwater.

If it was the wrong type of water, wouldnt they be dead after a few days? The LFS kept them for months in freshwater, and they are very young, only about 10''. The smallest one is only about 7''.

what research said they were ok in FW???

and just because it doesnt kill it on day 1 doesnt mean its doing it any good!

(taking advice from LFS loony is like getting tips on fine dining from McDonalds employee of the month)

 

[andywg]

They are heavy brackish, with an SG above 1.018, as a result they do fine in saltwater (a lot better than freshwater). Most lfs and suppliers will keep juves in FW as they can take that fine. A nubmer of brackish fish go up stream to spawn.

If you post in brackish you'll get replies as a few of the FW/BW guys keep morays.

 

[Lynden]

Thanks Andy, I was thinking of putting them back in saltwater, or mabye a nice little brackish tank will do, at least until they turn into godzillas Does anyone know of a zoo that would take them when they are older?

 

[andywg]

Depending on the species depends on the final size. A number of the snowflakes top out at 2' whereas others (the leopard for example) will hit 4'.

Again, if you search the Brackish forum, that should help.

 

[maestro]

Thanks Andy, I was thinking of putting them back in saltwater, or mabye a nice little brackish tank will do, at least until they turn into godzillas Does anyone know of a zoo that would take them when they are older?

I think you need to acclimatise them very slowly to a higher salinity, obviosly if sick then teh extra stress might kill them off but sounds like the only hope.

Personally i would acclimatise them slowly and put it back in your reef untill it is feeding and then once it is then sell it on, it could be too late but i think you owe the poor animal a fair chance

 

[Lynden]

I do. But then why was the other one (who is now dead) eating when that one wont? Could it be that the one was tougher than the other?

 

[maestro]

I wouldnt say the other one was tougher tbh, its dead! possibly the not eating has actually kept this eel alive as his body not using up energy to digest food.

Get back in a higher salinity slowly asap and let us know how it gets on, please do all you can for it as it deserves a fair chance

 

[Lynden]

Right, ill do it ASAP.