Marine Eels

[Denmar]

Looking at starting up a 90G FOWLR Marine tank and am looking for opinions on marine eels. So far here's what I have come up with, and some comments.. looking for people that have actually had some of these marine eels or lots of exposure to them.

Snowflake - standard eel, pretty common. I usually like to get something a bit less common, but would consider
Zebra - don't now much about these.
Tessellated - Seem interesting..is 90G large enough to house 1 or 2? Are they safe for someone without marine eel experience?
Honeycomb - ""
Green - ""
Dragon - So far my personal favorite, but very cost prohibitive.. LFS's quoting $1000+. Also would probably fall into the same quetions as the Tessellated, etc.

Any opinions / ideas would be greatly appreciated. <3 Eels

 

[joemackereth]

i have no personal experience with eels. but if its your first eel, i'd go with a snowflake. they won't out grow the tank and are apparently, very easy to care for.

 

[SalmonAfrica]

I agree with the above.

Snowflakes are the beginner moray - they're very hardy, easy to find, and are normally quite cheap too. Another bonus is that there is very little chance of them attempting to attack tankmates, mainly because they prefer to eat inverts. This is a good idea for a starter moray keeper, as you will probably find your moray tank quite boring (except during feeding times). You'll want other fish to share the tank with the moray, something to look at while the moray is being 'shy' - snowflakes are ideal.

Zebras are also invert eaters, but are slightly costlier. They also get bigger than snowflakes. Not that the beginner has to avoid this one, though, and still a good option.

The tesselated, honeycomb and dragon all get MASSIVE. They'll need much more than a 90 gal. Beyond that, they're outright predators, and can be quite dangerous to the unwary beginner's hand, especially as they put on size. Leave these for later.

As for the green, I can't tell if you're talking about the green moray or the green blenny eel. The green moray is very much like the other eels I spoke about in the last paragraph, and the blenny is carnivorous but interesting to keep. A good option but don't keep with smaller fish, including eels.

You'll be able to keep two or three snowflakes together in a 90 gal, provided you provide plenty of rockwork (as hiding places). You'll alo be able to keep some fish bigger than the moray's mouth, like smaller lionfish species or puffers.

Regards
Tim