Breeding FW Moray Eel Hypothesis

[Tanyoberu]

Recently, I've lost some eels to an explosion of eggs. That started me thinking, what was the possible successes that caused the eel to produce eggs. So I am going to share some of the parameters that I think caused the eels to try to produce.

1. The salinity. I keep the tank at 1.013 to 1.016. Yup that high! But that was because of the feeding.

2. The feedings. One of the eels adapted to eating pellets. (more about this fish later) The other two were consuming goldfish, home bred sailfin mollies and mostly cray fish and shrimp. The store brought, human consumable shrimp.

Here I believe it was the crayfish that may have created an egg laying environment. These eels LOVE the live crays and I believe this is a part of their natural diet. It was also because of these live foods that I kept the salinity so far from the fresh water where the prey normally resided (save the sailfin mollies that I breed in the same salinity for the datnoids.

3. The eel sizes. Much like convicts, I theorize that other species may vary in size according to their sex. One of the three eels was purchased out of pity at a pet store because it was looking poor. This eel, when purchased was 1/4 the size of the other two.

Since it is theorized that eels are dimorphic, it is possible that I have had two sexes.

I am going to attempt to see if I can produce the same results again. I am currently looking for eels of various sizes at diverse pet stores and online. IF I have any success, I will document the progress. And maybe soon, FW moray eels will be a common fish, like the convict... I doubt that!

 

[CHOMPERS]

I thought this was interesting because one of my LFS's has two morays for sale. They are 20 each and I am having a hard time deciding if I should go for it. We have native eels here and I want to find out if I can catch my own and save the fourty bucks.

... I've lost some eels to an explosion of eggs...

I don't get it. Do eels die after laying eggs? Sorry for the idiotic question, I just don't know anything about eels.

Since it is theorized that eels are dimorphic, it is possible that I have had two sexes.

I am confused. How do you tell the sexes, and by dimorphic do you mean that there is another metamorphic stage like in frogs and tadpoles, or as in leaches where if not fed then they will get smaller until they dissapear.

I am going to attempt to see if I can produce the same results again. I am currently looking for eels of various sizes at diverse pet stores and online. IF I have any success, I will document the progress. And maybe soon, FW moray eels will be a common fish, like the convict... I doubt that!

So what size is a mature fresh water moray? the ones at my LFS are about twelve inches. I am interested in anything that you can add.
Thanks,
Ron

 

[mac]

contrary to popular belief there is no such thing as a freshwater MORAY eel

 

[RadleyMiller]

Sexual dimorphism means males and females look differntly. Mollies for example, and he doesn't have them in fresh he has them in very high brackish setup. If they are thriving, I would just let them go and hope the two you have left get busy. I don't know about eel breeding, but good luck. I don't think the would survive with those datnoids though!

 

[CHOMPERS]

contrary to popular belief there is no such thing as a freshwater MORAY eel

How so very true. And there is no such thing as a fresh water shark. The strange thing is if you call a catfish a catfish, no one wants them. But if you call a catfish a freshwater shark, then all of a sudden they sell like crazy.

And saltwater Moray Eels get to over fifteen feet (not sure of the max) where as fresh water eels only get a foot or two. The Florida size limit on fresh water eels is twelve inches minimum. (Salt water morays can not be possesed at any length.) The fresh water moray eels are not the saltwater variety that have been acclimated to fresh water. They are a breed of their own that looks like their salt water cousins. I have seen both with my own two eyes and I must say the resembelance is striking. They are more deserving of being called a moray than any catfish is of being called a shark.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Sexual dimorphism means males and females look differntly...

That clears things up a bunch. I wasn't thinking along those lines. On the same note, do eels change sex like many fish do?

 

[Tanyoberu]

That clears things up a bunch. I wasn't thinking along those lines. On the same note, do eels change sex like many fish do?

The two things I've read were that the sexual difference is in the fish's dentetion. I've read that the teeth are the only things one can monitor in their eel to say whether they are male or female. I have only read this after the death of my eel.

Let me explain the death. No, they do not die after laying eggs, at least I don't believe. Mine experienced a horrific death. I posted about it, in "My Eel Exploded". Simply, my eels live in the hollow sections of some of the plastic decor in my tank. In my pictures of my 80 gallon in the brackish section you can see one of the eels squeezing out of one of the plastic structures. Due the the increased girth of the "pregnant" eel, during one of it's exits, it ruptured it's anus and the eggs and other internal parts ripped out of it's body and it died.

Yes there is no FW Moray eel, but I was just using the common name. The scientific is listed in my signature.

As far as their size, mine are about 20".

As far as pairing, I believe the success is in the age of the fish. So if you have a pair that are the same size, it's possible that they are the same sex. I believe my success is that I purchased one eel that was at least a year younger than the other two. Again, this is based on some readings that state that eels change sexes as they mature.

If I were you, I would indeed buy the two eels. It may be possible that the little knowledge known about these fish is inaccurate.

Buy them, take notes and we'll share data.

 

[me_wee_todded]

True there is no such thing as a Freshwater Moray but it is possible to acclimate them to fresh water over a period of time. I bought mine 6 months ago and have been slowly lowering the salt content of his water and he is doing just fine.eating extremely well and atill growing.

 

[Tanyoberu]

True there is no such thing as a Freshwater Moray but it is possible to acclimate them to fresh water over a period of time. I bought mine 6 months ago and have been slowly lowering the salt content of his water and he is doing just fine.eating extremely well and atill growing.

It is possible for the eels to live in freshwater, I believe they are extremely hardy fish. But I wouldn't keep them in freshwater personally. My reasons are primarly because of the foods I put in the water with them.

I dub a fish "happy" when he/she tries to reproduce. While it's easy for some fish, I love the challenge of the unknown. So I make it a habit to try to stick to their natural environment as much as possible... Minus the space of course hehe. Though I'd love to have a 1k brackish tank!

That's my dream tank.