Some questions about eels

Ribbons have TERRIBLE survival rates. The only way I'd ever order a ribbon is if it was ordered from Live Aquaria's Divers Den, so you know it's eating, and if it was the first fish put in to a cycled tank... I hope you've researched Ribbons if you're going to give one a try! Not saying you couldn't handle it Bela, I'm just saying I'd stick to a snowflake or two. It would be pretty cool to have a few small snowflakes!

 

FlyingMoray had a dwarf golden (I think) for sale a while back.  I was thinking about putting it with my snowflake but my tank was being flakey and I was out of $$.

 

Eels are incredible fish and make fantastic aquarium specimens (unless you get a ribbon or snake eel). They can survive almost anything and are amazing to watch. Some things to know about them though is that they HAVE to have lids because otherwise you'd have a half-dead eel on your floor in the morning. Make sure all your rocks are stabilized because they constantly move through them and they can get crush by unstable rocks, and that despite their sedentary lifestyle, they are huge waste-producers! Don't feed them everyday, they don't need it. Those are just things I wish someone would have told me when I got my first eel. That first one convinced me to get two more!

 

Bela,

There are many great eels out there. The real question is how big of a tank are we talking and how agressive do you want it to be? Eels can vary greatly in agression that is why it is important to figure these things out first.

Joe

 

I had a foot long snowflake eel last year for a few months. VERY interesting animal. The thing about the lids is VERY true. Mine jumped out twice, the second time he died. The first time, I found him in the morning and amazingly he was alive. It is awesome to watch them "hunt" for their food. Ensure you don't have a fish too small in the tank either. It will have no problem eating it as a damsel found out. I may look into getting a small snowflake when I get back...

 

I had a 3 foot snow flake (Joel has him now) he was great very active always swam around and I could feed him by hand he got along with every fish. Even a small maroon clown. He didn't eat snails or hermit crabs I was even able to keep a cleaner shrimp with him until I put a trigger into the tank. I plan on adding a snow flake when I set up a softie only reef next summer

 

I personally like the zebra eel.  You don't have to worry about their tankmates as they are crustacean eaters.  Having said that he/she have left the cleanup crew alone (snails, hermits, brittle stars, etc).  The only thing I would be worried about are some different types of crabs, emerald, porcelain, etc.  But if you are looking at a trigger you would probably have the same problem. 
The golden dwarf would be another favorite due to their smaller size.  They can be quite aggressive but with their smaller size they don't seem to bother anything. 
After the first couple of days and knowing that they have found a home, I have never had a cover on the aquariums where the eels have been keep but they need to have a place where they can get their entire body in and feel secure.  For the golden dwarf, a large conch shell worked well and for the zebra, when we aquascaped we left a tunnel through all of the rockwork that the eel could easily move thru.  HTH

 

Bela,

With that size of tank, you can do just about any eel. Do not get a dwarf angel if you plan on getting any eels or other big fish. You need to have all of your fish in the tank be about the same size so nothing will get eaten. Almost any eels of the gymnothorax genus are very active and great eels for an aggressive tank. As for clean up crew, about the only thing you can get are some of the very large hermits. They do a great job of scavenging for leftover food though. Your main clean up crew will be a large skimmer. Golden dwarf morays are probably not something that you would want to get either. They stay small and would most likely be eaten by any larger eels. They are best for reef tanks and smaller fish only tanks. My all time favorite eel is gymnothorax miliaris they are very colorful and if you find the variety that is not all gold, they are cheaper. With eels, just like fish, you want to keep them all similar size and not mix sizes. They are known to eat other eels that fit in their mouths. Snowflake eels are nice in that they can be mixed with some of these more aggressive eels as long as they are the same size. Zebra eels can not be mixed with these aggressive eels. Different species can be mixed with some exceptions like I just mentioned as well as mixing other very aggressive ones with non-aggressive ones. Just remember to make sure everyone is the same size. And with fish, if it can possibly fit in an eels mouth (they expand twice the size) they will most likely eat them at some point.

Joe

 

Bela,

They will work with angels just not the dwarf ones. The large ones would make fine tankmates. I think it sounds like you are on the right track. Snowflakes are very cool eels and pretty mellow compared to most. Tangs would be fine with all eels as long as they are large enough to not get eaten.

Joe

 

Last week there was an awesome large blue angel at aquatic enviorments for around 150. Hon at Sea of Marvels had a nice big tesselata (sp?) eel. Not sure of the price.
Ive have a 4ft leopard eel with a large scopas tang and yellow tang for years in a 75. I've had this eel with a fimbriated and snowflake eel with no problems although they were similar in size. I had a ribbon eel but had to feed it with shrimp on a stick to keep it alive... very tedious. I've always wanted a green moray but they get very large, around 6ft. They had a nice one at the mall of america aquarium.