How smart is a gymnothorax tile?

[Industrial]

So the other day I got a brackish snowflake eel from a LFS. I bought it about two days after they got it and I must say, it is a very understated fish. When I first added him to my tank he hid in my cave system and I shut off the lights. The next morning I tried to feed him feeders and my PSG ate all three of them right away, so I tried to spot feed the moray with my spot feeding tongs. To my surprise he ate the fish! This was on Sunday.

I have been feeding him two rosys a day on Monday and Tuesday. Today when I fed him he went right for the tongs after the feeder got out. I tried moving them and he chased them. I tried again with the feeder and he ate the feeder out of them, but I am thinking after two days he is already associating the tongs with "meal time". Also when I get close to the tank he comes out of the cave and looks at me.

I am wondering, is this species smart and learns quickly, or does he just hate me and the tongs? When I first got him, he was really territorial to my dragon goby and purple spotted goby. Now I think he may have calmed down.

I would like to try to train him (sticking his head out of the water for food, hand feeding) and I am wondering if this is worth a try or not.

 

[fishtex]

definitley- Mine know as soon as the lid opens that food is on the way. Try fresh raw shrimp, mine go crazy for it. Might make training a little easier. Just watch out for those teeth.
And a warning, my guys have eaten every tankmate that could fit in thier mouth, even 7 inch needlenose.

 

[Industrial]

Holy crap! I think mine may have bitten my dragon goby. My larger one had a cut on his face.

My moray is only a foot and probably the width of a thumb, so he is still very small. He has a massive mouth though. Haven't seen his teeth yet. Before I try hand feeding I want to get a good look at them and see if it's worth the risk lol.

The guy at the petstore told me "last night there were four puffers, this morning there were three". The lid was completely sealed, it was a glass lid weighted down with rocks and large rocks along the back openings as well.

I think aside from the less predatory nature of the eel, they would make a perfect long term tankmate with a purple spotted goby.

 

[murfy28]

dude he ate the puffer? I know puffers are toxic to mammals but i don't know if the toxins from their organs have the same effect on eels...chances are they don't but it can't be good for him

 

[lingi]

I have been keeping a 17"gymnothorax tile in a brackish tank with 3 baby silver datnoids they are around 2" biggest one around 3". Everyone calls me crazy and tells me theyre gonna get eaten but for some reason its been six months and the eel just shows no interest in them even when they swim by his mouth.
He has however eaten live fish before, i put 10guppies in the tank the size of the dats and they all disappeared one by one. I also caught 30 live sea shrimps from a local bay and they disappareared aswell.
Apart from the live food i feed the moray bloodworms, peeled frozen shrimps: 6/7 a time, and frozen whitebait: 4 a time, the datnoids just eat what im feeding the moray, and im just happy with the setup as it is ill upload the pic of the eel.

 

[HX67]

Gotta say that my G tile is not the sharpest pencil in the pencil case.

I don't target feed it. It has a hard time finding food before my Monos and puffers eat it all. I actually have to overfeed a bit to make sure the eel gets it's share.
Dropping in way bigger bits of fish or shrimp than the others can swallow usually leaves something for the eel. It is about 2' long.

I don't know. Maybe there's something wrong with it's eyesight or something, but it is very slow and clumsy when its searching for food that it seems to smell is there.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

Gotta say that my G tile is not the sharpest pencil in the pencil case.

I don't target feed it. It has a hard time finding food before my Monos and puffers eat it all. I actually have to overfeed a bit to make sure the eel gets it's share.
Dropping in way bigger bits of fish or shrimp than the others can swallow usually leaves something for the eel. It is about 2' long.

I don't know. Maybe there's something wrong with it's eyesight or something, but it is very slow and clumsy when its searching for food that it seems to smell is there.

Generally eels have poor vision, they feel around using their smell and sensory organs in the head, usually they go nuts when food is in the water. I'd try target feeding....a smaller tankmate can get seriously injured and/or decapitated if it has a piece of food on its mouth and a larger eel decides to go for it

 

[HX67]

Generally eels have poor vision, they feel around using their smell and sensory organs in the head, usually they go nuts when food is in the water. I'd try target feeding....a smaller tankmate can get seriously injured and/or decapitated if it has a piece of food on its mouth and a larger eel decides to go for it

Oh, happy to hear it's a common moray eel characteristic and not just my eel.

For now it's with monos and a couple of larger puffers. Been so for over three years. I guess it's just slow enough to not have hurt any of the others (yet).

Thanks for the info. You cleared my thoughts about the fish.