Hello all you good people in MonsterFishKeeper forum!
This is my first thread, so please pardon me if I am not yet familiar with forum etiquettes *bowing*
Any of you still keeping (or used to keep, like tlindsey) white-cheeked freshwater morays, AKA Echidna Rhodochilus? I have three, all three were kept in full freshwater by their previous owners. Now I am keeping them in low-end brackish (one part seawater, five parts freshwater from my well).
They've been here for months and so far seemed to be content with their new home. Except in the beginning when I did try to raise the salinity but when I did that, the smallest one began secreting lots of slime, so much that sand sticks to it. So I stopped adding seawater, and I start doing the weekly water changes with freshwater. Now the smallest one is back to normal.
All three were captured in the island of Java, the smallest one (35cm) were captured in Muaratawar estuarium in North Java, while the two larger ones (40cm) were captured in Segara Anakan lake, in South Java. There is a possibility that the Echidnas from Java has developed better tolerance for freshwater/low salinity than Echidnas from other countries, as all people around here who owns these morays (whom I know of), keep them in freshwater (as they were all caught in lakes and rivers).
They are easier to find here in Indonesia than Gymnothorax Tile, the species usually sold as "Freshwater Moray" in other countries. Other species that are rather easier to find here are Gymnothorax Polyuranodon, the "true" freshwater moray. But these morays are seasonal in nature, if not in season, they're hard to find.
Echidna Rhodochiluses that I have, are very cute, and so far so easy to care for. There are no intra-species aggression between them, even the smallest one are not bullied by the larger ones. They eat live shrimps and small guppies (I am not yet weaning them away from live food). They are very active and love to rearrange their aquarium, moving their home pipe and ornamental bogwoods any way they please.
They are very docile too, they never even tried to bite my hands when I am putting back the pipes and bogwoods that they are moving around, or when I am cleaning the filters.
So, if there any other Echidna Rhodochilus keepers, I'd love to hear from you!
Here is a clip of my Echidnas sharing their home-pipe:
And here are their pictures. Sorry for very low quality of the pics, I am using cheap cellphone, that's all I can afford for now.
This is my first thread, so please pardon me if I am not yet familiar with forum etiquettes *bowing*
Any of you still keeping (or used to keep, like tlindsey) white-cheeked freshwater morays, AKA Echidna Rhodochilus? I have three, all three were kept in full freshwater by their previous owners. Now I am keeping them in low-end brackish (one part seawater, five parts freshwater from my well).
They've been here for months and so far seemed to be content with their new home. Except in the beginning when I did try to raise the salinity but when I did that, the smallest one began secreting lots of slime, so much that sand sticks to it. So I stopped adding seawater, and I start doing the weekly water changes with freshwater. Now the smallest one is back to normal.
All three were captured in the island of Java, the smallest one (35cm) were captured in Muaratawar estuarium in North Java, while the two larger ones (40cm) were captured in Segara Anakan lake, in South Java. There is a possibility that the Echidnas from Java has developed better tolerance for freshwater/low salinity than Echidnas from other countries, as all people around here who owns these morays (whom I know of), keep them in freshwater (as they were all caught in lakes and rivers).
They are easier to find here in Indonesia than Gymnothorax Tile, the species usually sold as "Freshwater Moray" in other countries. Other species that are rather easier to find here are Gymnothorax Polyuranodon, the "true" freshwater moray. But these morays are seasonal in nature, if not in season, they're hard to find.
Echidna Rhodochiluses that I have, are very cute, and so far so easy to care for. There are no intra-species aggression between them, even the smallest one are not bullied by the larger ones. They eat live shrimps and small guppies (I am not yet weaning them away from live food). They are very active and love to rearrange their aquarium, moving their home pipe and ornamental bogwoods any way they please.
They are very docile too, they never even tried to bite my hands when I am putting back the pipes and bogwoods that they are moving around, or when I am cleaning the filters.
So, if there any other Echidna Rhodochilus keepers, I'd love to hear from you!
Here is a clip of my Echidnas sharing their home-pipe:
And here are their pictures. Sorry for very low quality of the pics, I am using cheap cellphone, that's all I can afford for now.
I will keep them together for now, but once I saw bad signs on the loaches (due to being kept in low-end brackish instead of FW), I will move the loaches back to my full FW aquarium.
*very happy* 
