# Gymnothorax tile, freshwater moray eel.



## sick_lids (Dec 18, 2006)

i need some info on these guys, LFS gave me one cause they didnt have room for it. they said it is freshwater.

i need to know, what type of substrate i should use, sand or gravel?

what do they eat, i figure crustaceans and feeder fish.

any other info would be greatly appreciated!!! thanks in advance!!!


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## Barbie (Feb 13, 2003)

As far as I know, there is no freshwater moray. You might want to do a search on them. There are a large number of fish sold as fw morays, but they are actually saltwater morays that haven't yet migrated back out into the ocean after they hatch.

Barbie


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Is it the "snow flake" moray? As far as I know those are brackish water fish. You'll slowly need to acclimate it to brackish conditions for the longevity of the fish.


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## sick_lids (Dec 18, 2006)

i looked up "snow flake eels" on line, but mine dont look like it. well in some pics it does, but the actual snowflake eel is huge, mine is the smaller version of i guess those. this thing is like 18 inches long and has lived in a freshwater tank all its life and eats rather well. hides in its cave and pops out from time to time to grab food.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Gymnothorax tile is a brackish water species, I don't think they've been bred in captivity, so it has spent the part of its like in brackish water when it was first collected. It can endure freshwater for the short term if the conditions are pristine, but it will slowly waste away without the addition of sea salt to the water. There are sold locally in southern Ontario as "snow flake" morays, but they have no relation to the larger marine morays. These eels are much smaller and have much different needs.


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## PirateCrash (Jul 3, 2007)

It could be a mislabel.

I know for sure, my eel is a Peacock eel.


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## sick_lids (Dec 18, 2006)

alright, this eel is apparently brackish, so you guys were right, which is why i love this forum! so what im gonna do is keep him in the freshwater for now, but when i move i am going to set up a brack tank, i guess iwill have to buy some scats and some archers, do you guys know any other cool brackish fish i could add to this edition, i thought about just making it an eel tank, 55 gallon, will be moving within the next 2 weeks.


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## rogersb (May 21, 2007)

Not so high in cool points, but you could throw some mollies in there. They would be active and produce some fry that could serve as a food source for the other fish.


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## sick_lids (Dec 18, 2006)

rogersb said:


> Not so high in cool points, but you could throw some mollies in there. They would be active and produce some fry that could serve as a food source for the other fish.


yeah, thats a definate for sure. you know there arent a whole lot of cool brachish fish. other than puffers, there isnt really any colorful ones at all, and i cant use puffers cause the eel would surely try to eat one and cholke on it and die, which in turn would defeat the purpose for sure!


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## sick_lids (Dec 18, 2006)

rogersb said:


> Not so high in cool points, but you could throw some mollies in there. They would be active and produce some fry that could serve as a food source for the other fish.


yeah, thats a definate for sure. you know there arent a whole lot of cool brachish fish. other than puffers, there isnt really any colorful ones at all, and i cant use puffers cause the eel would surely try to eat one and cholke on it and die, which in turn would defeat the purpose for sure!


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

I would suggest you maintain the eel in its own aquarium, something 36" long should be okay. You can try to maintain it in a 55 long with some other brackish water fish, but the eels are very timid. You may also find one day that the eel decided to snack on his tankmates, you could maybe add a larger archer-fish, but I would be cautious when adding very active fish for stress/competition reasons. There are some interesting, large, brackish water sleeper gobies that may make good tankmates.


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