Green Moray Questions???

[MyFishEatYourFish]

soon i plan on getting a green moray from the fish store i work at for a saltwater pond im about to begin construction on. ive done saltwater before but only have experience with snowflakes. so obviously i have a few questions and i haven't been able to answer them with searching.
im also going to start a thread on the diy forum regarding setup.

1. how fast do they grow to 6' and up when fed properly? he is about 3' now.
2. he is fed mainly deformed koi ranging from 3-8" now. is it healthy to feed him freshwater fish like this?
3. what are suitable tankmates? i don't plan on putting much in with him but it would be nice to add some blue damsels, cardinals, hermit crabs, cleaner shrimp(will he allow them to clean his mouth and body in captivity) etc.
4. temperature? i would assume 78f but i would like to keep it cooler if possible to save energy.
5. anybody got any good links to info?
6. any sensitivities i should know about?

thanks guys, if i can think of anything else i will ask

 

[nonstophoops]

soon i plan on getting a green moray from the fish store i work at for a saltwater pond im about to begin construction on. ive done saltwater before but only have experience with snowflakes. so obviously i have a few questions and i haven't been able to answer them with searching.
im also going to start a thread on the diy forum regarding setup.

1. how fast do they grow to 6' and up when fed properly? he is about 3' now.
2. he is fed mainly deformed koi ranging from 3-8" now. is it healthy to feed him freshwater fish like this?
3. what are suitable tankmates? i don't plan on putting much in with him but it would be nice to add some blue damsels, cardinals, hermit crabs, cleaner shrimp(will he allow them to clean his mouth and body in captivity) etc.
4. temperature? i would assume 78f but i would like to keep it cooler if possible to save energy.
5. anybody got any good links to info?
6. any sensitivities i should know about?

thanks guys, if i can think of anything else i will ask

Sounds like quite the project. I wish you good luck and would love to see pics of your progress as you set it up.

I am not sure how fast these eels grow, but it will depend on how much and how often you feed obviously.

Feeding freshwater fish is a no no for a number of reasons.
1. There is way too much fat in goldfish than in a marine diet like the eel would have in its diet. I often compare it to you being forced to eat a Big Mac Meal from McDonald's for every meal. You would end up being fat and having healthy complications.
2. Live fish can introduce disease. Bacteria and parasites within the goldfish can create intestinal problems.
3. Feeding goldfish is not cheap. Do a comparison and you will realize that frozen shrimp, squid, scallops, silversides, cod, etc. will be cheaper in the long run than 8 in. Koi.

Not to mention the hassle of going to the store every couple days to get live food and the time and gas you spend.(I know not in your case)

Your eel will be much healthier and happier with a diet consisting of a variety of marine fish soaked in a vitamin supplement like Selcon than Feeder fish.

For tankmates, damsels may be too fast to catch and hermits too small, but he may choose/try to eat them. The cardinals will be gone in no time as they are very slow moving. The shrimp I am pretty sure will be eaten as well, though I am not positive.

Better suitable tankmates would be fish too big to be eaten. That doesn't leave a whole lot when this eel gets really big besides other very large fish that will add to your bioload.

The mid 70's will be good for the eel. The higher the temperature the faster the metabolism and growth rate so a lower temperature is better anyway. Shoot for between 72(at the lowest) and 75(you can go higher into the low 80's).

 

[MyFishEatYourFish]

Sounds like quite the project. I wish you good luck and would love to see pics of your progress as you set it up.

I am not sure how fast these eels grow, but it will depend on how much and how often you feed obviously.

Feeding freshwater fish is a no no for a number of reasons.
1. There is way too much fat in goldfish than in a marine diet like the eel would have in its diet. I often compare it to you being forced to eat a Big Mac Meal from McDonald's for every meal. You would end up being fat and having healthy complications.
2. Live fish can introduce disease. Bacteria and parasites within the goldfish can create intestinal problems.
3. Feeding goldfish is not cheap. Do a comparison and you will realize that frozen shrimp, squid, scallops, silversides, cod, etc. will be cheaper in the long run than 8 in. Koi.

Not to mention the hassle of going to the store every couple days to get live food and the time and gas you spend.(I know not in your case)

Your eel will be much healthier and happier with a diet consisting of a variety of marine fish soaked in a vitamin supplement like Selcon than Feeder fish.

For tankmates, damsels may be too fast to catch and hermits too small, but he may choose/try to eat them. The cardinals will be gone in no time as they are very slow moving. The shrimp I am pretty sure will be eaten as well, though I am not positive.

Better suitable tankmates would be fish too big to be eaten. That doesn't leave a whole lot when this eel gets really big besides other very large fish that will add to your bioload.

The mid 70's will be good for the eel. The higher the temperature the faster the metabolism and growth rate so a lower temperature is better anyway. Shoot for between 72(at the lowest) and 75(you can go higher into the low 80's).

thanks for all the info! and i wasnt going to continue to feed him koi. i was just asking about it. i will be feeding him things like you mentioned.

with tankmates im only going to do small cheap fish cause big fish can even gets chunks taken out. i would love to put a massive emperor snapper in with him if he tolerates other fish. i think ill just experiment with cheapo fish.
can the live with a lionfish? do they know enough to not bite it or will they try anything once?

 

[nonstophoops]

thanks for all the info! and i wasnt going to continue to feed him koi. i was just asking about it. i will be feeding him things like you mentioned.

with tankmates im only going to do small cheap fish cause big fish can even gets chunks taken out. i would love to put a massive emperor snapper in with him if he tolerates other fish. i think ill just experiment with cheapo fish.
can the live with a lionfish? do they know enough to not bite it or will they try anything once?

Wasn't necessarily saying you were, just thought I would do a little write up since I was getting into the topic. Figured others would see it as well and the explanation would help. Good move on your part getting away from the feeders.

Those cheapo fish could really add up if your eel is good at "fishing." I think no matter what fish you put in there will be some risk and I do understand that losing larger more expensive fish would not be wanted. I have not dealt with an eel that big so I am not certain. I know that other eels I have dealt with never went after anything else they couldn't swallow whole. Keep yours fed and I would assume the same. The Lionfish should be ok, I would look to get a large one to start though. Less tempting for the eel.

 

[seanathon]

I've seen videos of divers feeding them hotdogs, so maybe you could try that as a cheaper alternative. Just kidding. I think frozen raw table shrimp and the like would be a much better diet. I'm sure you could lower the temp down to the very low 70s. These guys are tough as nails. I know that my buddies Green Moray had a blue damsel in the tank with it with no problem and those were very confined quarters. a 200gl and the eel was about 4.5'

 

[MyFishEatYourFish]

all good info thanks guys

 

[Kdcarey]

I have kept Morays for years and kept a Green Moray for about a year and he was a great pet. Green Morays are incredibly aggressive and fun to watch. They are nocturnal so looking at the tank at night is always fun cause he will be roaming around. While Watching Morays hunt is incredibly fun, It is not usually nutritional or cheap. The best thing to feed Green Morays would be silversides or Smelt(check your local grocery store). Frozen Shrimp as well as live ones are good from time to time as crustaceans make up a large part of moray diets. Small fish are not a good idea with Green morays. However, for whatever reason my Moray was fine with whatever fish were already in the tank when i got him(minus a damsel or two that disappeared). The Moray was completely fine with a small yellow tang i had living in my tank, but when i came home with a new 7in trigger fish, he attacked it as soon as i released it. I scared him off and caught the trigger, which made an amazing recovery after being bitten. That was when i decided to get rid of my moray, but man was he a great experience. I do not believe the moray will allow crustaceans to live in the tank, let alone clean his mouth... but you never know

 

[perfect_prefect]

i have seen pics in the wild of giant greens with cleaner wrasses in there mouths picking crap out of between there teeth. you may try one of them in with it, it would probably be too small to be seen as a food source and hopefully the moray would recognize it as a cleaner. other than that, i have had good luck with my whitemouth and snowflake in a 300 gallon rubbermaid stock tank so far. evaporation is a p.i.t.a. with so much surface area. how much is the green and where are you from if you dont mind me asking?

 

[FLESHY]

Preds are hit and miss...I have had triggers attempt to get cleaned....and I have a lionfish that has at least been attempting to eat a skunk cleaner almost the size of himself.

 

[MyFishEatYourFish]

i have seen pics in the wild of giant greens with cleaner wrasses in there mouths picking crap out of between there teeth. you may try one of them in with it, it would probably be too small to be seen as a food source and hopefully the moray would recognize it as a cleaner. other than that, i have had good luck with my whitemouth and snowflake in a 300 gallon rubbermaid stock tank so far. evaporation is a p.i.t.a. with so much surface area. how much is the green and where are you from if you dont mind me asking?

the green is $100 and i live in corvallis oregon. the pond will be well covered to reduce evap and heat loss.