Golden Dwarf Moray.

[Mark_OR]

I've been trying to find info on this fish via the net, but haven't been very lucky. So, I figured I'd ask here. I know they stay very small, and seem to very very good eaters form the start. Can anybody give me any other information? Tank size, multiple eels in the same tank, lighting prefrences, substrate, ect ect? Anything else that maye be helpfull.

Thanks

Mark

[Dlckwood]

They go for $250 and the marine center is selling one.
DLCKWOOD

[Triggeraddict]

Honestly there is not a lot of info because of their price tag. They are a gorgeous fish and I would love to have one but the adult size is only 9 inches I believe and that little thing could probably slip out of even the tiniest of cracks and then you have a dried up 250 dollar fish. Not a risk I think is worth taking. They stay small and min tank size is 20-30 gallons. They are primarily fish eaters in the wild so should be fed some small fish meat along with some crustaceans. I don't know about mulitple eels and again with their price tag I don't think many have tried. I think I have heard of people keeping them in pairs but not entirely sure. That is about all I can think of right now. As I said I have never kept one so don't know a ton about them. Hope this helps.

[Mark_OR]

Thanks for the replies.

I knew they were expensive, a price I'm willing to pay. I was planing on running a 20gal hooked onto my big system, but, I think I'll use a 29gal if the minnimum is 20.

[M.Dandaneau]

Many eels are a paradox, right from the get go, and when you hang a high price tag on to boot, it gets even more confusing.

A few species are somewhat famous as cannibals on a regular basis, while in many others several can be kept together as long as they are close to the same size.

Even in the wild, it's not uncommon for two or three different species to be found sharing an area, or even the same cave, but the downside is that their body shape lends itself to being folded upon itself in the stomach, thus an eel could concievably consume another of similar or greater length if it was much thinner, such as a Gmnothorax sp. and a ribbon eel.

We've had 5 eels in our 300 for over a year with no problems between them.

Mike

[Tetraodon]

The golden dwarf moray (Gymnothorax melatremus) is actually a crustaceans eater, not a fish eater. It has conical teeth instead of the needle like teeth most moray have. It is sometimes confused with the golden/yellow variant of the G. miliaris (Goldentail Moray around here). Except that the G. miliaris is a fish eater and gets a lot bigger than the gold dwarf moray.

Since it's a crustacean eater, plan the tankmates accordingly. It is also very secretive and you probably won't see it much during the day. I find feeding it before lights go off helps having it coming out during daytime a little bit more often. Still, most of the time I only see its head poked out from somewhere. It seemed to like shrimp, squid, scallop, and mussels. Just cut them into small pieces and target feed it.

Agree with Triggeraddict on the tank size, 30g is fine. In too big of a tank (say +125) with lots of rocks, you probaly will have a harder time spotting it and/or target feeding it.

HTH