Yellow Headed Moray

[SeaWeedPuffer]

Can anyone tell me anything about these eels? I have searched google for any kind of information about yellow headed morays and all I get is pictures or a site telling me someone saw one on a dive they went on in hawaii. Any information would be helpful. I saw one of these little fellas in my LFS and I dont want to buy it without knowing anything about it.

Would it be compatable with a 5-6" volitan lion and a 5" porcupine puffer? It would have plenty of rocks to hid in and around.

Thanks in advance!
Kevin

[Triggeraddict]

I would stay away from them. They are notorious for being pretty vicous especially to other fish in their tank. Their scientific name is Gymnothorax fimbriatus and they grow to 30 inches. I know we used to have some in a shop I used to work at and we had to keep them in their own tank with a very secure lid. When food hits the water they are generally cruising the tank trying to figure out where the food is coming from and they will bite fish if they run into them. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck.

[SeaWeedPuffer]

So basically what they do is, smell food in the water, swim the tank until they find it and if they happen to run into, say a lion, instincts will cause it to bite? That sucks, this is a cool looking moray. I have a feeding stick, if I fed it first with the stick, could that help in avoiding this situation? Or is it probably safe to bet it would be unavoidable?

-Kevin

[SeaWeedPuffer]

Thanks Triggeraddict, when I searched for yellow head moray, it came up with a different scientific name. I did a search and ran across this website:
http://animalatlas.com/encyclo/marine/eels/leopard.php
Basically the jist of it is it says this for "Social Behavior":
Sociable and peaceful, can be considered a community fish as long as the tankmates are not small enough to eat!

I talked to the owner of my LFS and he was telling me that it is a mean fish, but I looked at the tank he had it in and saw a tomato clown a goby or two and a small tang swimming around with the eel being probably 8-10". Is that set up only working because its a fish store and those fish aren't going to be tank mates for long or is the eel just "mean" to those fish who are mouth sized?

I dont really like taking advice from the internet (websites) and I REALLY dont like to take advice from my LFS so any help from you guys is greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Kevin

[SeaWeedPuffer]

Does anyone have any experience with these eels?

-Kevin

[wadesnug]

I ran into one a few months ago and as you said, couldn't find any info on it. I agree they are a really cool looking fish. The one I saw had escaped from his tank and was swimming around in the filter lines going from tank to tank for food. They are pretty agressive compared to a lot of eels, but I don't see any problems with him being in a tank that his mates are quite a bit larger than him...ie can't fit in his mouth. Once in a while my eels will go into a frenzy and nip at anything they bump into, but the Lions zip away rather than sit and get bitten. I would say, go for it, just keep your eyes open and make sure you have lots of places for him to hide!

Wade

[M.Dandaneau]

With many eels in a "community" tank you're often stuck with a paradox of a problem.
IF you keep the eel sufficiently well fed, it will often ignore any other larger tankmates, but by keeping it this satisfied, you're also taking a very good chance on it eventually developing fatty deposits on the liver and other internal organs that will drastically reduce its' lifepan to only 6 or 7 years.
Feeding lighter will ensure the eels long term health but place other fish in the tank in higher jeopardy.
A feeding stick, feeding the eels first and often will keep most of them literally peaceful.....they soon know that they don't have to rush out for food and will wait for you to feed them in their cave or caves, to the point they will rarely bother other fish in the tank.
If you get lazy, busy or skip a few days, the eels will return to more predatory ways (often to usually nocturnal) and WATCH YOUR FINGERS! (trust me on this one...it REALLY hurts!)**grin**