Serpents of the deep. Aggressive carnivores that swim with an eerie serpent-like movement and sit with jaws agape displaying gnarly rows of teeth that are ready to latch onto any unsuspecting prey that may swim by and entice this animal's extremely well-developed sense of smell. Eels are among the virtually fascinating marine animals for many of the reasons mentioned higher up. However, non all saltwater eels are suitable for home aquariums, and the ones that are, require specialized care.

In this article, we are going to explain how to treat eels suited for life in a marine reef aquarium besides equally accost some of the common myths that surroundings this particular family of aquarium pets.

For marine aquariums, two families of eels are represented in the hobby and regularly bachelor for purchase. The largest is the Muraenidae family, or "Moray Eels," which include pretty much all of the eels nosotros have come up to know: Snowflake, Green Moray, and even Ribbon Eels all come from this family unit. The second is very specific: "Garden Eels" come from the family Congridae and are even more demanding when kept in aquariums than their larger, more than aggressive cousins. I personally have only seen two species of Garden Eels available for sale, the Spotted Garden Eel (Heteroconger hassi) and the Excellent Garden Eel (Gorgasia preclara).

Moray Eels

Moray Eels – Family Muraenidae

The biggest misconception with Moray Eels is that they are all extremely ambitious and will completely clean out your aquarium of other inhabitants likewise equally pose a risk to your fingers during feeding time.

While this is truthful for many of the Moray Eel species, in that location are a few exceptions. These "reef safe" eels primarily prey on crustaceans and take rounded, molar-like teeth that help when feeding upon hard-shelled crustaceans. You take much less risk of a serious injury if bitten and they tend to leave other fish, corals and invertebrates alone when kept fed and salubrious.

Snowflake, Zebra and Chain Moray Eels are among the "pebble-toothed eels" and make for smashing aquarium inhabitants. The second group of Moray Eels commonly found in our hobby is "fang-toothed eels" which take precisely that: numerous precipitous teeth designed to shred and tear casualty apart. This grouping includes many of the more than fascinating eel species, but they are also difficult to keep in most habitation aquariums.

I say this for a few reasons. First, they pose a risk to your wellness. If bitten by a fang-toothed eel, it is nearly impossible to remove the animate being without harming and/or killing information technology. Even subsequently death, their specialized jaws volition stay latched on and must be manually pried off. 2d, they grow quite large. They may get more than ambitious or even dice if they are not provided the proper living conditions for a large beast. Lastly, they volition brand quick work of whatsoever other fish in your aquarium and must therefore be kept in a species-only tank. That's why, in my stance, we should leave these animals in the sea or the capable easily of defended, expert aquarists willing to provide the type of environment these eels need to thrive in captive intendance.

Dragon Eels, Light-green Moray, Yellow-Head Moray, Jeweled Moray, Tessalata and Golden Moray are all considered fang-toothed eels.

Snowflake Eels

HABITAT

Eels are well-known escape artists. Many hobbyists have stories of eels flapping on the flooring or getting caught in a small opening of their aquarium chapeau. If you lot're going to continue a saltwater eel, be sure your aquarium is secure and that your lid fits tightly so the eel cannot escape.

Moray Eels can go quite large. The largest tin can grow to over 12 feet long!

Fortunately, pebble-toothed eels popular in our hobby do non abound that large, but many can grow up to 30 inches or more than. Exist certain your aquarium is large enough to accommodate a full-grown adult eel. Many sources claim 40 gallons is the minimum tank size suitable for these types of eels. I disagree: I recommend no smaller than 75 gallons to accommodate an adult eel. This gives you lot enough space to create a natural habitat for the eel plus provides a footling animate room for other tankmates.

An eel'due south natural hangout is within a hole or crevice with merely its head visible, gently swaying with mouth agape. Yous must therefore create a habitat inside your aquarium to accommodate this natural, rhythmic behavior. Secure aquarium stone together using epoxy to build an aquascape that features large caves and/or crevices. You can also identify 2 to 3 inch diameter PVC pipes under your sand to make it easier for your eel to couch. This will let your eel to observe a safe burrow in turn making the brute comfortable and more likely to thrive in your aquarium.

Shop Frozen Fish Food

FEEDING

Eels are carnivores are should receive a varied diet of large meaty chunks of food. Juvenile eels accept to be weaned off of live foods in order to take dead or prepared foods. This will allow you lot to provide the varied diet eels need. Prepared diets are much more than readily available and healthier compared to the aforementioned species of live feeder fish or shrimp, day in and day out.

It is best to use a feeding stick or tongs to keep your fingers far abroad from the mouth of the eel. They take poor eyesight and information technology is difficult for these animals to distinguish a finger from a shrimp. This is why you hear well-nigh people getting bit by eels in their aquarium—it's simply a case of mistaken identity! Beginning by feeding the eel with the live food it is used to, only attached to a feeding stick or tongs. This will go the eel used to eating from the tongs. Then slowly switch out the alive food for prepared $.25 of meaty food.

Here is a list of foods that are excellent for eels. Don't exist agape to visit the seafood counter in your local grocery store! Yous tin store cutting-up bits of nutrient in your freezer. Call back, diversity is always all-time.

  • Squid
  • Shrimp
  • Crabs
  • Octopus
  • Krill
  • Silversides

SPECIAL Intendance

Eels practise not take scales. They excrete thick mucus over the entire surface of their body for protection. While this is extremely effective against parasites and infection, information technology makes eels very sensitive to many aquarium medications. It is therefore all-time to avoid medications altogether with eels.

Although they are hardy aquarium animals, eels can fall victim to poor water quality. If you find an infection on your eel, more often than not poor h2o quality is the culprit. A serial of h2o changes and the use of chemical filter media to improve h2o quality tin speedily reverse the furnishings of an infection.

Keeping more than one eel in an aquarium is possible, but at that place are some obstacles. Y'all need to ensure your aquarium is large enough and contains multiple burrow locations. An developed eel will become territorial over its established couch and surrounding area. It is wise to innovate multiple eels of the same size at the same time for all-time results. Consider your aquascape home sweet home for your eel. Adult eels can be clumsy and inadvertently rearrange rocks and corals. This isn't much of a problem with smaller eels, just it is something to keep in listen if you lot are planning on adding one to a mixed reef aquarium.

Garden Eels

Garden Eels – Family Congridae

Garden Eels are among the most peculiar aquarium animals because of their unique behavior. These gentle carnivores live in groups and dig burrows in soft sand beds with their tales. Ane burrow per eel is the norm. They residual in the burrow with half or more of their body exposed, swaying in the current like a blade of sea grass keeping a watchful eye out for both predators and casualty.

They are cowardly creatures that retract into their burrow when anything comes too close—with the exception of zooplankton and fish eggs, its favorite food choices in nature. A Garden Eel spends its days waiting for the next colony of zooplankton to pass. In the evening, it completely retracts into its couch to go some beauty rest.

With a maximum size of 12 to 16 inches, these eels are the perfect size for home aquariums. They adopt to be in groups and so the general rule is three or more than in whatsoever one aquarium.

Garden Eels

HABITAT

Garden Eels require a deep sand bed that can accommodate its natural burrowing habits. Eight inches is generally considered the minimum based on virtually of the information bachelor from experienced Garden Eel keepers. Utilize fine-grade sand for the majority of the sand bed. Top the fine sand bed off with a ½ inch or more of coarse sand or crushed coral in society to go along the fine sand from bravado around your tank.

For space, yous will need to provide plenty of open sand bed for the eels to burrow. Since these eels prefer to be in groups, you lot should provide at least ane foursquare pes of sand bed per eel. This will brand for a minimum tank size of nigh 40 gallons. While it is possible to go along them in smaller aquariums, the frequency of feedings and the large amount of food put into the tank can quickly plough this into an unsuccessful venture for nano hobbyists.

A gentle current along the sand bed is required in order to assistance deliver food to your colony of eels. Garden Eels never actually leave the couch except when in search of some new real estate or when quarreling with others over the local beauty queen. Past waiting patiently on the sandy bottom, these eels will prey upon zooplankton and small organisms that float by in the electric current. If nutrient is out of reach from the burrow, the eel volition only let the food pass by uneaten.

Garden Eels

FEEDING

Once established into an aquarium, Garden Eels accept been reported to have a wide diversity of prepared aquarium diets. Newly introduced or young Garden Eels will accept alive alkali shrimp and can easily be weaned off of this live diet by slowly mixing in prepared aquarium diets over time.

Zooplankton, Oyster eggs, Fish eggs, Copepods, Mysis Shrimp and Cyclops are all perfectly suitable foods for Garden Eels. The trick here is delivering the nutrient in adequate amounts without fouling up your h2o quality.

Since they are total scaredy cats, spot feeding is impossible. Yous must evangelize the bits of food via a gentle current to allow the eels the opportunity to naturally choice out the nutrient from the balmy current around their couch. This process needs to exist repeated a few times a twenty-four hour period in order for the eels to obtain enough food. This procedure will inadvertently atomic number 82 to excessive waste material in the aquarium. Plenty of mechanical filtration and a strict maintenance schedule are required in gild to keep proper water quality and provide sufficient food.

SPECIAL CARE

Most of the detail needs of these animals revolve around its specialized housing and feeding habits already discussed.

In terms of being reef safe, Garden Eels volition not harm coral or invertebrates, simply keep in mind their required habitat varies dramatically from a typical reef tank full of alive rock. The easiest approach would be to keep them in a species-specific aquarium. If you've got the coin and space for a tank large enough to house both a deep sand bed and a rocky reef for your corals, that would be OK, as well.

Since Garden Eels are timid animals, they can fall victim to larger carnivorous fish fairly easily. Big aquarium fish like tangs and angelfish may startle and crusade them to retract into their burrows. This makes it difficult for the eels to obtain enough food in an aquarium with larger, more aggressive fish. These larger fish would exist best kept in another tank and only smaller, peaceful fish with your Garden Eels.