Small Eels?

Lord Gaz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 17, 2006
120
1
0
Australia
Just wandering, I'm setting up a 2'x1'1.5' SW tank, and I'm looking to keep a small eel that won't grow massively big like any of the Morays. i won't have the space or the financial support to maintian such a huge one, though I would love to! Are there any? I'm still very new to all this so I'm not sure what's what. Are eels in general hard to keep? Are they hardy fish? What sorta fishs, invertebrates and crusteans can I keep with them?
 

andywg

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2006
38
0
0
43
Southend, England
Smaller growing morays (from Reef Fishes Volume 1)include:

Enchelycore carychoa (Chestnut Moray) 34cm (13.4")
Gymnothorax brunneus (Brown Moray) 25 cm (9.8")
Gymnothorax buroensis (Latticetail Moray) 33cm (13")
Gymnothorax gracilicaudus (Slendertail Moray) 32 cm (12.6")
Gymnothorax herrei (Herre's Moray) 30cm (11.8")
Gymnothorax melatremus (Golden Moray) 18cm (7.1")
Gymnothorax richardsonii (Richardson's Moray) 32 cm (12.6")
Uropterygius macrocephalus (Largehead Snake Moray) 40cm (15.7")

All of the above are recommended as a 20 gallon minimum tank size, though I find that occasionally Scott W. Michael seems to slightly undersize the tanks. One must remember that the sizes are the maximum lengths so in an aquariums expect a little less.

Your big problem with these fish will be actually finding them and affording them as a number command high prices.

Morays of Gymnothorax and Enchelycore have sharp teeth and are piscivorous, so don't be surprised if they eat small fish and possibly take chunks out of larger ones (some have evolved to attack lionfish and fillet them from below so as to avoid the venomous spines).

I would not expect ornamental shrimp to be safe from a moray either. I would be surprised if they bother snails and hermits I would expect to have to replace periodically, though I know of someone who keeps Gymonthorax spp. and he only loses at worst one hermit per month to his tank of preds.
 

guppy

Small Squiggly Thing
Apr 15, 2005
11,582
87
0
confused, lost, and lonely
There are also several worm and snake eels, even a snipe eel or two, in the size rang you want, but most are not easy to find.
 

kerklin

Feeder Fish
Dec 5, 2006
1
0
0
washington dc
only thing i have found to do consistently well w/ my (approx $30) FW snowflake (18") has been large african ciclids. they handle the salinity (.014-.016) and, though they eyeball each other and nudge, they have a truce. your corys can forget it, mine has taken chunks and has grabbed and "constricted" 5" spotted pims/pictus cats, will strike and eat smaller unsuspecting ciclids. they dont eat snails and agree, i dont think he has taken any of my crabs.
 
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