Dwarf golden moray eel

Be102 · Nov 1, 2017

I have a new dwarf golden moray eel coming in on Thursday and was wondering about a few things.. How do I go about acclimating? just drip acclimating like normal? Whats the best way to seal my lid? I currently have two glass lids, I dont use and then two screen lids I made. Whats the preferred method of keeping a lid closed? Whats the best food to start to get it to eat?

Aaron Davis · Nov 1, 2017

Where you getting it from? I got mine from Colin at Zoa Collector. Super big help he was and mine is doing FANTASTIC! Drip acclimated mine for about an hour with 15mins with an air stone to help some gas exchange cause he came from Hawaii instead of going someone closer for a few days. Then I had him in an acclimation box for about 6 days. Could've used a couple days more, but he's doing great. Mine eats fresh shrimp and clams from the local grocery store. I heard squid is a big fav of these eels as well.

eatbreakfast · Nov 1, 2017

If it is being shipped, don't do a long acclimation, as that exposes it to dangerous levels of ammonia. During shipping respirated CO2 can't escape, this lowers the ph of the water. The lower CO2 in turn affects the ammonia,converting it to a non toxic form. However, once the shipping bag is open that CO2 can escape, the ph goes up, and the ammonia becomes toxic. Therefore an acclimation over 20min exposes the eel to gill damaging ammonia.

With adequate caves and hiding places, I have found golden dwarf morays to be pretty unlikely to escape, but either of the lid options will work.

Clams on the half shell, squid, krill, and shrimp have all been readily accepted.

sdcosta · Nov 5, 2017

When I first got my golden moray I had him in a 20 gallon QT with a full hood cover and duct taped any openings. Sure it looked terrible but it did the job. Now is in a 40b with a glass top, hasn't attempted to escape but I also have the water line slightly lower just in case because I sometimes see him checking it out. When well fed he is definitely less active and just sticks to his pvc pipe. Favorite food is clam and squid from the super market, sometimes frozen scallops.

Be102 · Nov 6, 2017

He’s coming in tomorrow; just drop acclimate him for a little bit?

eatbreakfast · Nov 7, 2017

Very little bit.

Be102 · Nov 7, 2017

So I received my little guy and he has been very interesting. He was fairly active in the bag, somewhat active in the acclimation and now not really active at all.. he’s wrapped up along my magnet. When I put him in my tank it was crazy I didn’t think he’d actually attempt to jump out so quickly!! He hit the water and went to pop right back out. It was quite something scrambling around the tank to put the lid on, whilst attempting to keep him in. Now he seems to be breathing funny (although I don’t know how they normally breath...) and just sorta wrapped up. Is he alright?

Aaron Davis · Nov 7, 2017

Mine attempted immediately as well, to jump out of the tank. However, I followed the advice of Colin from Zoa Collector, to place my eel in an acclimation box for nearly a week. I had some pvc in there for him to house himself in. For the first couple days, he was pretty stressed after the shipment, acclimation, then placed in the box. After a couple days, he began to calm down greatly. After 6 days, I let him loose in the tank. After he attempted to leap out of the tank, he swam straight down to the largest rock in my tank and chose his home. For the first couple weeks, he was barely seen. Now, I feed him every other day or so. I often see him sticking his head out of the liverock. Some days, I don't see him at all. I know though, he's very healthy. Takes a breath pretty much every second. When I first got him, probably due to stress, he was breathing very heavily and was taking breathes about every half second. Since you let him loose already, I would say leave him be. Don't want to tear your tank apart trying to catch him or stress him out any further. Maybe post a video of him later.

Good luck. How long did you acclimate for? I placed my guy in a bucket with the water and drip acclimated for approx an hour. I did 15 mins with an air stone to help boost some of the gas exchange from the water he came in with.

Be102 · Nov 7, 2017

Aaron Davis said:
Mine attempted immediately as well, to jump out of the tank. However, I followed the advice of Colin from Zoa Collector, to place my eel in an acclimation box for nearly a week. I had some pvc in there for him to house himself in. For the first couple days, he was pretty stressed after the shipment, acclimation, then placed in the box. After a couple days, he began to calm down greatly. After 6 days, I let him loose in the tank. After he attempted to leap out of the tank, he swam straight down to the largest rock in my tank and chose his home. For the first couple weeks, he was barely seen. Now, I feed him every other day or so. I often see him sticking his head out of the liverock. Some days, I don't see him at all. I know though, he's very healthy. Takes a breath pretty much every second. When I first got him, probably due to stress, he was breathing very heavily and was taking breathes about every half second. Since you let him loose already, I would say leave him be. Don't want to tear your tank apart trying to catch him or stress him out any further. Maybe post a video of him later. Good luck. How long did you acclimate for? I placed my guy in a bucket with the water and drip acclimated for approx an hour. I did 15 mins with an air stone to help boost some of the gas exchange from the water he came in with.

Everything is actually going well! He was a little shy at first. But then slithered down the my rocks checked them all out and then went head first into the yellow watchman and pistol shrimps tunnelwork! Shrimp came out one side and the goby dug his way out another but no casualties! The eel is now just hanging in the goby’s home. It’s cool to see all the other fish try to check him out as well. Like the clowns go by and then back away as they realize what he is.

Aaron Davis · Nov 7, 2017

Be102 said:
Everything is actually going well! He was a little shy at first. But then slithered down the my rocks checked them all out and then went head first into the yellow watchman and pistol shrimps tunnelwork! Shrimp came out one side and the goby dug his way out another but no casualties! The eel is now just hanging in the goby’s home. It’s cool to see all the other fish try to check him out as well. Like the clowns go by and then back away as they realize what he is.

Awesome! Glad to hear it. Mine is by far my favorite addition.

Be102 · Nov 7, 2017

Aaron Davis said:
Awesome! Glad to hear it. Mine is by far my favorite addition.

What do you feed your little guy? Any problem with any inverts with him? I’m curious about some cleaner shrimp..

Aaron Davis · Nov 7, 2017

Be102 said:
What do you feed your little guy? Any problem with any inverts with him? I’m curious about some cleaner shrimp..

I don't personally have any cleaner shrimp currently. I do however have a ton of hermit crabs and snails. My GDM pays no mind to them. I feed mine fresh pieces of fresh shrimp from the market, squid if they have it, or clams on the half shell. I do know of a couple people that have cleaner shrimp in their tanks with GDMs and have no problems.

Be102 · Nov 7, 2017

Aaron Davis said:
I don't personally have any cleaner shrimp currently. I do however have a ton of hermit crabs and snails. My GDM pays no mind to them. I feed mine fresh pieces of fresh shrimp from the market, squid if they have it, or clams on the half shell. I do know of a couple people that have cleaner shrimp in their tanks with GDMs and have no problems.

Im thinking about stopping by the store tonight to get him some food, what would you recommend first? shrimp seem easy enough. Just thinking of a few things that aren't going to be really expensive / go to waste. Do you suggest I use the freezer for any of the stuff? Im thinking if i get fresh shrimp or squid I can cut it up and then freeze some as I know it wont be too packed with junk. Im already tempted to get him a tank mate

Aaron Davis · Nov 7, 2017

Be102 said:
Im thinking about stopping by the store tonight to get him some food, what would you recommend first? shrimp seem easy enough. Just thinking of a few things that aren't going to be really expensive / go to waste. Do you suggest I use the freezer for any of the stuff? Im thinking if i get fresh shrimp or squid I can cut it up and then freeze some as I know it wont be too packed with junk. Im already tempted to get him a tank mate

I won't be feeding my GDM any frozen prepared from the store. Going to try to sick to the freshest food I can. I just go to my local grocery store and pick up 3 large uncooked shrimp from the meat department. Add a few clams to the order and some squid or octopus tentacles if they have it. I cut those up to small quarter inch pieces. Maybe a little smaller. I'll feed him one or two every other day. Sometimes every 3 days, depending on how hungry he is. Sometimes, he'll want more than one piece. I'll switch up the food he gets after each feeding. So if he gets shrimp one day, the next time I feed him, I'll give him something different as long as I have it. When I cut and prepare the food for him, I place the rest in a container or ziplock bag. I defrost it in room temp water in the bag, pull a piece out, and feed it to him on a normal skewer.

Be102 · Nov 7, 2017

Aaron Davis said:
I won't be feeding my GDM any frozen prepared from the store. Going to try to sick to the freshest food I can. I just go to my local grocery store and pick up 3 large uncooked shrimp from the meat department. Add a few clams to the order and some squid or octopus tentacles if they have it. I cut those up to small quarter inch pieces. Maybe a little smaller. I'll feed him one or two every other day. Sometimes every 3 days, depending on how hungry he is. Sometimes, he'll want more than one piece. I'll switch up the food he gets after each feeding. So if he gets shrimp one day, the next time I feed him, I'll give him something different as long as I have it. When I cut and prepare the food for him, I place the rest in a container or ziplock bag. I defrost it in room temp water in the bag, pull a piece out, and feed it to him on a normal skewer.

I didnt want to feed him anything frozen as well, sorry if that was misunderstood. Just that I would be the one freezing fresh seafood for him. So Im sorry I'm a little slow at this... so you get shrimp, clams (how do you choose clams? Half clams or whatever they're called?) squid , octopus, bring it all home, cut it all up small and put them in a plastic bag to freeze, then take some out and put some water in the bag and feed it after it defrosts? Correct? Honestly I just never really shop for seafood so dont really know how it all usually comes. Fish are friends not food

SashimiTurtle · Nov 7, 2017

Mine loves squid. He's in a 35g rimless cube with no lid. Plenty of caves for him to feel comfortable... so many I hardly see him any more. Inverts and fish are fine, I haven't seen him try and eat anything but what I give him.

Be102 · Nov 7, 2017

Robin Haselden said:
Mine loves squid. He's in a 35g rimless cube with no lid. Plenty of caves for him to feel comfortable... so many I hardly see him any more. Inverts and fish are fine, I haven't seen him try and eat anything but what I give him.

Just left the store; got my guy some fresh squid ; and three raw shrimp. As it was getting packaged it said “previously frozen” on the sign.. wasn’t too happy but I’ll be more cautious next time. So basically just slice it up and feed it to him? Lol I’m so new to this.

meir · Nov 7, 2017

Be102 said:
I didnt want to feed him anything frozen as well, sorry if that was misunderstood. Just that I would be the one freezing fresh seafood for him. So Im sorry I'm a little slow at this... so you get shrimp, clams (how do you choose clams? Half clams or whatever they're called?) squid , octopus, bring it all home, cut it all up small and put them in a plastic bag to freeze, then take some out and put some water in the bag and feed it after it defrosts? Correct? Honestly I just never really shop for seafood so dont really know how it all usually comes. Fish are friends not food

Lol tell that to the eel

Aaron Davis · Nov 7, 2017

Be102 said:
I didnt want to feed him anything frozen as well, sorry if that was misunderstood. Just that I would be the one freezing fresh seafood for him. So Im sorry I'm a little slow at this... so you get shrimp, clams (how do you choose clams? Half clams or whatever they're called?) squid , octopus, bring it all home, cut it all up small and put them in a plastic bag to freeze, then take some out and put some water in the bag and feed it after it defrosts? Correct? Honestly I just never really shop for seafood so dont really know how it all usually comes. Fish are friends not food

Do not put water in the bag to defrost the frozen cut up pieces of whatever. When I go to defrost the food I'm about to feed him, I remove the bag from the freezer, place it in room temp water with the zipper closed, and out of the water. You don't want to be re-freezing your fresh shrimp or whatever in water.

As for choosing food. I go with whatever I can get that's the most fresh. Shrimp, squid, clams. I try to get clams on the half shell, but if all they have are closed shell clams, I'll go ahead and get those as well and just crack em open myself.

Also; I'm completely new to this as well. I have however, literally looked at and done research on GDM for approx 5 months before getting mine. I've read alot on food, habits, methods of keep, etc. Alot of my info came from all this research and listening to the advice I was given, which is what I'm sharing. I am in no way, an eel expert. My eel though, obviously loves what I feed him and shows clear signs of good health. So I'm passing on what I've learned and know!

Be102 · Nov 7, 2017

Aaron Davis said:
Do not put water in the bag to defrost the frozen cut up pieces of whatever. When I go to defrost the food I'm about to feed him, I remove the bag from the freezer, place it in room temp water with the zipper closed, and out of the water. You don't want to be re-freezing your fresh shrimp or whatever in water.

As for choosing food. I go with whatever I can get that's the most fresh. Shrimp, squid, clams. I try to get clams on the half shell, but if all they have are closed shell clams, I'll go ahead and get those as well and just crack em open myself.

Also; I'm completely new to this as well. I have however, literally looked at and done research on GDM for approx 5 months before getting mine. I've read alot on food, habits, methods of keep, etc. Alot of my info came from all this research and listening to the advice I was given, which is what I'm sharing. I am in no way, an eel expert. My eel though, obviously loves what I feed him and shows clear signs of good health. So I'm passing on what I've learned and know!

So you cut a feeding up then freeze it in a bag and just defrost the bag. I got it?