FW Moray

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ineedabox

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Jan 31, 2005
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Ok, I'm sorry for bringing this up, as I'm sure it's been talked about millions of times on here, but I have a lot of questions about the freshwater moray eel. I believe the scientifice name is Gymnothorax tile, and it doesn't get very big. Only about a foot...i think.

So anyway, I'm letting all you experts, or just you fishowners on this site try and help me with the basics.

First off, I want to know what you think the minimum tank size i could have would be. I'm guessing somewhere around 20 or 29 gals, but I could be wrong. I usually am.

Second off, this may prove to be controversial, but CAN a FW moray actually live and thrive in freshwater? or is that just a temporary thing? Of course I would put some salt in, I mean I already put in almost twice the recommended amount for my sharks, but would that be enough to fulfill the moray? I just dont know, I've never owned one and wanted to see what you guys thought.
 

labont865

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Nov 26, 2004
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No there is not actually a fresh water moray eel. They can tolerate fresh water when they are young but will soon need brackish to full marine. I also wouldnt keep them in less than a 90gal. As they get very aggressive and will kill most any type of fish you have in with them. Therefor need lots of space to be away from your fish and lots of places for it and th fish to hide.
And what type of shrks are you keeping and in what size of tank?? Not many shark species will last long in a 20-29 gal.
 

ineedabox

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Jan 31, 2005
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riiiight here
Well I have more tanks than the 29, they're just currently in use. :)

90 gallons?? Isnt that a bit much, considering the type I want would only get up to about one foot long? In fact, I saw at the pet store, ...hmm, I guess it was about a 100 gallon tank, but they had at least 25 of those little guys in there, with no decor. whatsoever (which is a bad idea in my opinion, but I'm sure that those Morays go quick, so they probably needn't worry) and they seemed to be doing just fine, and there were also some goldfish in there with them (too big to be feeder fish).

So I am in no way questioning your knowledge of fish, I just think that maybe you're thinking of a different species. But point taken.

.............so how brackish do you think we're talkin here? :D
 

Oddball~

Brackhead
Nov 18, 2004
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Medium to marine waters. 1.016-1.025
 

labont865

This is drako, a friend of a friend
Nov 26, 2004
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Well to tell the truth even the best LFSs dont keep their fish in ideal conditions. I have also seen 20gal. tanks filled with about 50 GSPs at LFSs, but this should never happen in the home. It is just too expensive for them to keep them all in tanks that would be right for them, and they usually sell fish so fast they dont have to worry.

Also I really dont think that Moray will only be 1 foot long, it will probably get longer if kept in the proper conditions. I have seen numerous SnowFlakes that are easily 3 feet long. You can actually stunt their growth by keeping them in a tank that is too small. This will also cut their life short. I still say no smaller than a 90gal. They need lots of space and unless it will be a tank strictly for him I wouldnt get anything smaller.

Here are some links:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/encyclopedia-1.html
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=131

The second site does say you can keep in as small as a 50gal. but I wouldnt unless he is alone.
 

TKOS

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Feb 6, 2003
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And make sure to use Marine mix salt for the brackish conditions, not aquarium salt.
 

Seaman

Shrimp gumbo, shrimp salad etc...
May 22, 2004
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Im like air im everywhere (Dallas, TX)
labont865 said:
Well to tell the truth even the best LFSs dont keep their fish in ideal conditions. I have also seen 20gal. tanks filled with about 50 GSPs at LFSs, but this should never happen in the home. It is just too expensive for them to keep them all in tanks that would be right for them, and they usually sell fish so fast they dont have to worry.

Also I really dont think that Moray will only be 1 foot long, it will probably get longer if kept in the proper conditions. I have seen numerous SnowFlakes that are easily 3 feet long. You can actually stunt their growth by keeping them in a tank that is too small. This will also cut their life short. I still say no smaller than a 90gal. They need lots of space and unless it will be a tank strictly for him I wouldnt get anything smaller.

Here are some links:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/encyclopedia-1.html
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=131

The second site does say you can keep in as small as a 50gal. but I wouldnt unless he is alone.


I think he's reffering to Gymnothorax tile....not Echidna nebulosa, your first link is correct (G. Tile stays a lot slimmer. I think you could definetely do 2 G. Tile's and a couple gobies (big enough not to fit in the eel's mouth) or a couple of similar sized brackish fish in a 55g. The eel's dont have to eat nearly as often as fish, so for their size arent really THAT messy, or big waste producers.

I think you could get away with a 40g breeder as the smallest tank for G. Tile, as long as you are good on filtration (only because IME they dont move around ALOT, and for their length they dont occupy a lot of space), just make sure they have A LOT of hiding spaces, and from my experience they like hiding spots that are JUST barely big enough to fit in, if its tooo big or small it may not work. They are very weird....in the time I had mine in BW, I would have to adjust the salinity when he wouldnt eat. He stopped eating in FW so I moved him to low brackish, and then every so often he would slow down in eating and I would fluctuate the SG just a little, and then his appetite would be back The highest SG was around 1.018. I have also read about people having to fluctuate the SG every so often to stimulate its appetite.

Yes like TKOS said, make sure its Marine mix, Instant Ocean etc... And get a hydrometer (sp?) to measure the SG. Good luck!!


Also this is one of the better sites with care instructions:
Here
 

zekni

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ineedabox

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Jan 31, 2005
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riiiight here
well, i know where all you guys are coming from, and recently i found a good site (thanks for all those who posted links) with many different kinds of salt and fresh water morays listed, with their scientific names, lengths, and conditions. now i just dont know what to believe. buuuut, it's the best site i've seen so far, and it seems to be very up to date and descriptive, so i believe that one over the other ones. now, i think i could get away with a G. tile in a 40 gal, like Seaman said, now the only thing I would really worry about (because if it was too small for him, i could always move him to a bigger tank, i got that covered) is getting the right water conditions for him.

so, dont use aquarium salt eh? ill remember that one.

one more thing, i know that big atlantic morays, like gymnothorax funebris are very agressive and terrotorial, even against their own species.
Do you think a FW moray would be too?

BTW zekni, I think you're talking about a different species of eel than i am looking at, and there seem to be quite a few species of the "Fresh Water Moray"
 

Seaman

Shrimp gumbo, shrimp salad etc...
May 22, 2004
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zekni said:
Both of the fish commonly sold as "freshwater morays" max out at about 3'. They need a big tank. Mine often swims the entire tank. Good luck keeping this eel with other fish. It'll kill them whether they are too big to eat or not.
I currently keep mine in an 84 gal by himself with a feeder colony of guppies.

Check out these links:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/brackish/fwmoray.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwmorayeels.htm

You have the wrong moray, the most commonly sold FW Moray is the gymnothorax tile....the color is completely different than Echidna rhodochilus. The main difference is the E. rhodochilus is almost grayish white compared to the G. tile who is dark with very small yellow flakes, most sites I find have G. Tiles labled as E. rhodochilus including wetweb media, they also have G. Tile labled as Echidna rhodochilus. Zenki....is your eel the one in the first link E. rhodochilus, or the one in the seccond link G. tile? also has yours been eating....usually when they are swimming like you're describing (unless its at night) then they arent comfortable, either not enough hiding spots, or its time for you to go brackish...or perhaps upping the SG a little.


Just from my experience, G. tile is pretty reclusive, I litterally NEVER saw mine out swimming in the almost 2 years I had it, and he NEVER hurt a tankmate..I had him in with cories, otto cats, 2 small loaches and a spotted raphael (though I dont reccomend trying it) and he would munch down feeders, but leave everyone else alone...I'm sure it helped that they were a little too large to fit in the eels mouth. And no they arent really agressive at all towards each other, as long as they each have their own cave, they wont bother each other.

This is my old G. tile:


Just get a Hydrometer (thats how you measure the ammount of salt in the water "Specific Gravity") from the petstore and some Instant ocean salt water mix, you will make the salt water mix in a bucket and then add it to the FW in your tank, slowly...I would take up to 2 weeks from start till specifig gravity of about .016 - .018. Also wneh I said 40g i meant 40g breeder, which has a larger footprint than a normal 40 but isnt quite as tall. 55g or bigger would be ideal though, and would let you have some tankmates!!

Good luck!!


Quoted from wet web media:
"Gymnothorax tile (Hamilton 1822). Indo-West Pacific; Andaman Sea to Indonesia, Philippines. To two feet total length."
 
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