Feeding my eel video with a hungry trigger bringing up the rear

[fishoholic]

So as per my conversation with Brett on Tony's thread http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...t=59597&page=3 I thought I'd share a video of my eel eating and my trigger trying to get some too. The first video shows the trigger and the net but in the 2nd video I was able to hold off the trigger with the net far enough above the eel so that you can't see the net or the trigger. Also in the 1st video the eel gets most of the silverside but a small part of the silverside breaks off (and floats in the water by the eel) and then the trigger quickly eats it.

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[Delphinus]

Looks great. So often are you feeding, every day?

You know what's weird? Mine has really slowed down on the eating in the last month. Seems to be doing OK, was looking at some pictures from a few months ago and he's put on a lot of weight, so I guess all is well. But is definitely eating less. Up until a month ago it was every day, now it's more like every other day and even then sometimes it will just be one krill. I wonder if he's getting bored of that food but he shows no interest in silversides.

Although on the other hand where did you score those small silversides? Everytime I ask for small silversides at a LFS they pretty much reply with "here you go, here are your enormous silversides, now please be gone with you and your requests for small silversides". I SWEAR I used to be able to buy these little small silverside things ten years ago, now everytime I find them they are like bait smelts and minimum 3" long. Weird.

[fishoholic]

I bought a large 16 oz bag (ziplock freezer type of bag that they come in) of San Francisco bay brand silversides. Maybe I just got lucky in the fact that there are small ones as well as large ones in that bag. In my other tank my angelfish, grouper and lunare wrasse all eat the big silversides as well as my trigger and sohal in the reef tank will eat them too. So I thaw a chunk of silversides and pick out the small ones for my eel. Sometimes it's not a whole silverside but just the tail and back half of the silverside. I find my eel can only grab onto the tail of the silverside, so when I feed him I have to make sure the small tail part is facing down towards him. Once he's gotten ahold of the tail he is able to swallow it down, but if the silverside is to fat or if the head (or the larger side part) of the silverside is facing towards him he wont be able to grab ahold of it.

I pretty much feed him everyday one or 2 pieces of silverside. Usually once a week (sometimes twice) I only feed pellets to the tank, so on those days he doesn't get fed. However on those days he looks at me like "What on earth is this small brown stuff, where's my food Lady!" Right now my eel will only eat silversides, he used to eat mysis and some krill when I first got him but now he wont touch the stuff. I worry that he will get sick of silversides (maybe I'll try some clam in the future) but for now he still loves them.

[lastlight]

Thanks for posting those I loved seeing that trigger hussle over to try and steal a bit! I won't have any large fish in my new tank so maybe one of these eels would be a good idea. Are they safe with inverts?

[Jason McK]

Great Videos. Just wondering do you have the top of your tank closed off with a lid to keep the eel in?

I'd love to get a dwarf eel but don't want to cover the top of my tank?

Thanks
J

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Thanks for posting those I loved seeing that trigger hussle over to try and steal a bit! I won't have any large fish in my new tank so maybe one of these eels would be a good idea. Are they safe with inverts?

No problem, I had been wanting to post feeding time with my eel, I just never got around to it. You gave me the motivation I needed to do it
I know I have a pistol shrimp in my tank and my eel is fine with him. I had/have? sexy shrimp and a peppermint shrimp, however these shrimp are very good at hiding and I have no idea if they are still alive or not. I only see them 2-3 times a year so it's possible they are alive or if they are not it's possible one of my other fish (and not the eel) ate them. My eel will sometimes look like he's trying to nip at my smaller fish however he is pretty slow and he never gets close enough to them to even touch them. I have a green clown goby in the tank with him and my eel hasn't bothered him at all.

Originally Posted by Jason McK

Great Videos. Just wondering do you have the top of your tank closed off with a lid to keep the eel in?

I'd love to get a dwarf eel but don't want to cover the top of my tank?

Thanks
J

No lid. I do have a cap on my tank that is 7 inches tall



So maybe that helps, however my eel always stays close to the rock work (like he has to be touching the rock as he swims through the tank) and he has never tried to swim in the open or anywhere near the top of the tank.

[Jason McK]

Thanks Laurie, That's giving me some Ideas

J

[Delphinus]

You absolutely need a fence like Laurie's or a cover of some kind. Strainers in your overflow are a good idea as well if you use filter socks in at the sump entry point.

They WILL escape at some point. I can't be emphatic enough on this point. You'll have to take steps to ensure that they can't get out of the tank because if the "security hole" is there they will find it. If the worst that can happen is they end up in the overflow that's better than on the floor or stuck in a filter sock getting crushed by the incoming water. Or if there's no filter sock then no worries on the strainers in the overflow since ending up in a sump swimming around is still better than the alternatives. But they will find their way out of your tank sooner or later, you have to make it so they end up not dead when they do.

Other than this point they are a nifty addition and yes Brett they are totally safe with inverts although I would question the safety of shrimp if you ended up getting a shrimp eater like mine (maybe the bigger ones would be safe enough since they can see better than the eel and move faster than the eel, but smaller ones that could be swallowed in a single bite, I'd be nervous). But to give you an example the hermits and hitchhiker xanthids in my tank fear nothing, eel included.

The other potential drawback is the cost versus enjoyment factor. These are well-paid-for fish and if they decide to be social, you're golden, but if they decide to be shy and reclusive, you could end up spending $150-200 on a fish you see at best about 5 minutes per day when they come out for feeding and nary a glimpse otherwise.

So as cool as they are (and don't get me wrong I think they are the coolest little things), they are a carefully measured choice, IMO.

(Sorry to hijack there Laurie..)

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

Thanks Laurie, That's giving me some Ideas

J

No problem, Sarah aka Chaloupa gave me ideas back in March 2008 http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...lden+moray+eel it took me awhile to get one but I'm so glad I did

Originally Posted by Delphinus

(Sorry to hijack there Laurie..)

I agree with what you said Tony, and no need to say sorry, it's not hijacking when you're giving useful information that goes along with the thread Besides I believe I somewhat hijacked your thread which is what prompted me to start this thread in the first place.

On a side note I also think that these eels seem less likely to jump then most other types of eels and it also seems to help when you have a big tank for them to live in. That being said I feel better about keeping one knowing I have a "fence" (top cap) around the tank and gutter guard covering the overflow. Although my jawfish managed to get past the gutter guard and he ended up in the sump, so I'm not sure how effective it really is

[Myka]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!