Several types of morays commonly caught in Indonesia's rivers
- Thread starter john_lord_b3
- Start date
1. They are less prone to diseases if the salinity of the water are raised a little. However, I think I can't go full-on brackish on them either, because everytime the salinity gone beyond 1.009 sg, their slime coats will be overworking and sand sticks on them, making them looks sickly. So I decided that they shall remain on low-end brackish. I even let the salinity drops under 1.004 for a few days every once in a while, to simulate the fluctuating salinity of the river where they were caught.
2. Now I have two Uropterygius Micropteruses in the same aquarium, and from what I know, this species is a marine to brackish, therefore I won't allow them to stay in less than 1.006 sg for too long.
3. With all being said, their appetite is actually at best in 1.005-1.006 sg.
great. thanks for the insight. I recently picked up a white cheek. It was at the lfs for a month and appeared healthy. I have had it for about two weeks now. I am not sure if he is eating or not. The eel is always hiding so I never see him.
With such docile moray like the white cheeked (E. Rhodochilus), we need super extra patience. My first white-cheeked moray started chasing feeder shrimps right away, but it seems to have up-and-down appetite, mostly down, for months. It was only recently (only days ago) that it will take frozen shrimps, and only when the pieces fell close to its face. So it took me almost half a year to see it eating frozen shrimps.
On the other hand, the largest one (the one on the clip above) has no trouble eating and no penchant for hiding. So it's more like individual differences thing, maybe your moray is the shy type. What tankmaters does it has? Much larger tankmates could make them "not confident" to go out and seeking food.
It's in a 90 with 4 giant danios and a 7 inch spiny eel
Well give your eel some times to adapt, it will eventually eat something. Try feeder live shrimps.
In the past I have told anecdotal story of a friend of mine who kept E. Nebulosa on brackish aquarium. Last month my procurer told me that it captured an E. Nebulosa actually _in_ a brackish river estuary in North Java. So I got that eel, put it on my aquarium and... well, let's just say that his appetite is far bigger than all my other eels.
I have heard stories of morays refusing to eat in aquarium, but this particular E. Nebulosa has been eating voraciously since DAY ONE...
I call him 'Eyal', Eyal the Eel
Since Eyal seems healthy, active and eating voraciously (it even search for food daily & demanding food when other morays are resting), I will keep this guy on my aquarium for awhile, but at any sign of stress or weird behavior, I will either acclimatize it to SW, or return it to the river where we caught him.
Interestingly, though we all know that Echidna Nebulosa is a full marine eel, but there are at least two articles which mentioned that this eel actually prefer brackish water in the wild, but they still recommend that this eel be kept in SW (and I agree with them; never attempt to keep E. Nebulosa in BW unless you're a super experienced aquarist! And even then, please make it only temporary)
https://petponder.com/tips-to-take-care-of-snowflake-eel
http://thepetserver.com/snowflake-eel/
I have heard stories of morays refusing to eat in aquarium, but this particular E. Nebulosa has been eating voraciously since DAY ONE...
I call him 'Eyal', Eyal the Eel
Since Eyal seems healthy, active and eating voraciously (it even search for food daily & demanding food when other morays are resting), I will keep this guy on my aquarium for awhile, but at any sign of stress or weird behavior, I will either acclimatize it to SW, or return it to the river where we caught him.
Interestingly, though we all know that Echidna Nebulosa is a full marine eel, but there are at least two articles which mentioned that this eel actually prefer brackish water in the wild, but they still recommend that this eel be kept in SW (and I agree with them; never attempt to keep E. Nebulosa in BW unless you're a super experienced aquarist! And even then, please make it only temporary)
https://petponder.com/tips-to-take-care-of-snowflake-eel
http://thepetserver.com/snowflake-eel/
Oh! - Late to the party, but I've also kept various types of G. Tile through rescuing!
They've been appearing more in the US pet trade and unfortunately the reason that I've obtained them in the past was always 'they won't eat' - which I usually corrected with 'dirtier' water (tannins, bacteria, the works) and a bunch of stim foods.
I also vary the salinity in aeration in my tanks to simulate moving water sources.. It looks funny, but the eels appreciate it. My white ribbon is fully marine - but when I kept G. Tiles I had them on the low end of brackish, simply for the biological security. Now I am wondering what I could be doing better if I were to keep them permanently and not just rehabilitating the nearly dead.
If I set up another biotope for them after the move. I doubt I will find as many as I did in the early 2000s. - but this has absolutely sparked the joy I had in keeping them. Hoping to learn more!
Thanks for sharing!
They've been appearing more in the US pet trade and unfortunately the reason that I've obtained them in the past was always 'they won't eat' - which I usually corrected with 'dirtier' water (tannins, bacteria, the works) and a bunch of stim foods.
I also vary the salinity in aeration in my tanks to simulate moving water sources.. It looks funny, but the eels appreciate it. My white ribbon is fully marine - but when I kept G. Tiles I had them on the low end of brackish, simply for the biological security. Now I am wondering what I could be doing better if I were to keep them permanently and not just rehabilitating the nearly dead.
If I set up another biotope for them after the move. I doubt I will find as many as I did in the early 2000s. - but this has absolutely sparked the joy I had in keeping them. Hoping to learn more!
Thanks for sharing!
G. Tile in my country is usually obtained in the southern section of Java island, in the province of Yogya, and they are mostly caught at the estuarium, and even farther in semu freshwater. They are less popular as pets than G. Polyuranodon, the true freshwater moray, which also has brighter skin patterns. I already have G. Polyuranodon, so I'd like to get a G. Tile sometime in the future. Most of people I know who kept this eel,didn't kept them in SW. Always brackish or even low-end brackish, or even FW with addition of seawater, with no ill effects. They mostly keep these eels in species tank (only eels), I heard they got sickly very easily if kept together with FW fishes.Oh! - Late to the party, but I've also kept various types of G. Tile through rescuing!
They've been appearing more in the US pet trade and unfortunately the reason that I've obtained them in the past was always 'they won't eat' - which I usually corrected with 'dirtier' water (tannins, bacteria, the works) and a bunch of stim foods.
I also vary the salinity in aeration in my tanks to simulate moving water sources.. It looks funny, but the eels appreciate it. My white ribbon is fully marine - but when I kept G. Tiles I had them on the low end of brackish, simply for the biological security. Now I am wondering what I could be doing better if I were to keep them permanently and not just rehabilitating the nearly dead.
If I set up another biotope for them after the move. I doubt I will find as many as I did in the early 2000s. - but this has absolutely sparked the joy I had in keeping them. Hoping to learn more!
Thanks for sharing!
I can understand that. This is valuable information! I'll keep this in mind for my next build if more G. Tile are in my future. I desperately prefer to mimic biotopes whenever possible.
I suppose that location also makes a lot of sense considering where I had success, and where failures approached. I am sad to confess that you are absolutely right when it comes to how sensitive they can be. I only had an inkling when I first started with these particular eels, and while they survived and were rehomed as fat and happy - they were very sick when I first retrieved them. You cannot help but miss these animals when you invest after so long.
With my first rescue, I had no idea what I was doing. (Who does?) - but you learn. - but small tweaks lead to massive success. Homemade plant overhangs and banks and masked powerheads near the surface on deep tanks, and a bubbler near the filter. I cannot stress using overhangs instead of caves or pipes. They would hide their food if I wasn't careful, and leave bits everywhere. U shaped hides were way easier to keep them secure and to not move everything after feedings.
For me, they thrived in groups. Even the most defeated eel was more eager to eat if there were others in the tanks... but since they were rescues - I never even considered adding other species to their tank.
If I were to take in more eels, I am curious as to if another ghost ribbon may cross my path, or perhaps a new G Tile estuary themed biotope would be in my future. We shall have to wait and see. It's all a learning process.
