Eels

[Frank_Farmakis]

ive always been interested in unusual creatures and i was wondering if there are any eels that can be housed with fish and inverts??

[leebca]

I don't know of any marine eels that don't eat fish and/or crustaceans. Most are too large for the home aquarium, even though they are sold to hobbyists when they are short and the hobbyist is unknowing of what to expect.

In large aquariums (100+ gallons) some of the shorter ones are kept for quite some time. The fishes they are kept with are large and very assertive or aggressive fishes. A properly fed eel usually won't attack a much larger fish.

[Ninong]

ive always been interested in unusual creatures and i was wondering if there are any eels that can be housed with fish and inverts??

I guess that depends on the size of the eel and the size of the other fish in the tank with it. Gymnothorax melatremus, the dwarf golden moray eel has a maximum adult size of only 10" TL and no thicker than your finger. It would probably eat ornamental shrimp, if you have any in the tank with it, but I don't know what fish it might eat other than really small, bottom-dwelling fish. I have read reports of hobbyists keeping this species without problems.

The other moray species that is quite popular is Echidna nebulosa, the snowflake moray eel. This is a much larger species than the dwarf golden moray, reaching a maximum adult size of approximately 3-feet. Most specimens in the trade are only half that size, or smaller. From fishbase: "Feeds mainly on crustaceans. Safely kept with small aquarium fishes (Ref. 9710)." Ref. 9710: Lieske, E. and R. Myers 1994 Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.

According to reports on the boards from people who have kept snowflake eels, they are not likely to eat other fish tankmates unless those fish are small. In other words, don't trust it with fish that are small enough to gobble up. It's primary diet in the wild is crustaceans and you may have to feed it live crustaceans to get it to begin eating in captivity. There are a couple of other species that are similar in size to the snowflake moray but they, too, will eat small fishes and are more aggressive than the snowflake.

I'm not recommending either of these species, I'm just telling you that some people have kept them with relatively few problems in fish-only aquariums. Of the two species, the dwarf golden moray looks like the safest bet. I have seen this species in more than one reef aquarium.