Thinking of getting a "freshwater" eel

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
S

Spontaneous

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 22, 2010
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SE Washington
I know it's not really a freshwater eel but its the gymnothorax tile. I was wondering what it's going to take to get the tank ready. I know they can live in either brackish or full marine. I'm totally new to salt water and I want to take ALL necissary steps to ensure a healthy moray eel. Also, I know they are more of a loner fish but my LFS has two in one tank and when I had asked about them, they said nothing about saltwater so I'm guessing they are misinformed about them and now want to "rescue" these fish. Any and all suggestions welcome! And thanks in advance!
-Spontaneous:)
 
i would not touch those with a 10 foot pole. The fact that they have them in freshwater now makes the conversion to salt long and tiresome. They may already be stressed to the point of death and you may never get them feeding again. If you want a nice moray eel, get a snowflake or something thats already in salt water.
 
You can do it...tell us what you have for a setup.

If your LFS has a gurantee you should be okay even in the case that they do die.

Start reading up on this specific species, and getting stuff together to house them.

We can help you better when you have more specific questions.

For now, you are going to need:

Tank
Finer grade substrate
Salt
Heater
Hydrometer
PVC for a hiding place
Tight fitting lid

You will want some lights and some LR sooner or later, but that can wait.
 
Well right now I have nothing. My bf is getting me a tank setup for christmas, or at least he WAS until I ruined it for him, lol. Anyways, It might be that they have it in brackish water, I never asked because at that point all I knew was that is was marked "freshwater" eel. It was in with a blood parrot that was picking on him, poor guy and some other fish but I don't remember what they were.

I'm more than likely going to start out on the smaller side with a 20g, I know a 30g tank is recomended but it will only be temperary as my bf has a huge 75g at his dads that he plans on getting once we move.
I mainly just want a list of the more specific items and how to actualy get the tank ready. WOuld it be better to start out in brackish water just so it's a slower acclimation process for him and then after a while do full marine?
Sorry if I seem jumbled, this is all new to me and I have a million things racing through my mind. Thanks guys!
 
Yes, I would try to match salinities with the store, and slowly work it up.

Let some h2o evaporate, and then take a measurement.

Mix your h2o change to the same salinity, and then add that water...this way you will slowly work your tank up to the point where the fish probably wont even notice.

I dont know how big this specific fish gets, but make sure that 75g is big enough, and that your boyfriend is going to want an eel in his tank. If a girl came and dumped an eel in one of my tanks right now, I probably wouldnt be too happy about it.
 
Oh lol, I'm not going to jut dump it in there. He wants to start over with it anyways. Supposedly they range from 24inches to 32? not that big really so I think a 75 gallon would be sufficient enough. But until then I believe a 20g will be alright. At least until I upgrade. Like I said, I'm just doing the research for now. It might be as easy as putting him in straight fresh water because that is what they have him in but I don't know yet. How would I go about slowly upping the salinity of the water and keeping everything at proper levels at the same time?
 
I thought you said he was in brackish? Or you just assumed that....okay.

Anyways...if you put him into brackish, you can match the salinity of the tank he is in now.

Then slowly over the course of a week let h2o evaporate off. (Not so much as to hinder filtration or create stress on the animal however.) This will increase your salinity.

Take a measurement.

Mix your h2o change water to that salinity.

Do an h2o change, and fill the tank up all the way with h2o of that salinity.

Repeat till you reach the desired salinity.

Or you could just top off with h2o of the salinity of whatever is in the tank after the days evaporation.
 
Ok, well I have my setup, so far I have a 20g tank with filter, lid, and lights. Just lame ole flourescent lights but they'll do for now. I bought salt, a hydrometer, and places to hide. I have everything set up but I haven't added the salt. Just have water, sand, heater and filter. Going to let everything settle since the sadn seems to "float" lol. What exactly is substrate?
 
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