DDiver January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 so i recently aquired a golden dwarf moray from a member...he did fine for about 2 weeks without causing any trouble..then one day one of my helfrichi firefish(i had a pair that would never leave each other's side) had two scrapes marks on both sides of the fish that look definitely looked like it was made by the eels jaw..i am thinking the eel came across it when the lights were out in the rocks which is where the helfrichis usually sleep and tried to chomp down on him..obviously the fish was lucky and he got away..the eels mouth is reletively small so it was probably hard for him to get a good grip on the fish let alone swallow it whole...anyways the fish was out and about for the next two days and then the third day he went missing and i figured it was just hiding in the rocks until my girlfriend convinced me to just break the rocks down just to make sure...well i did and there it was at the bottom of the pile dead..it looked like someone else finished it off and i'm thinking it was my pistol shrimp.. but thats not the end of it..today a member came by for some frags and i was telling him about the eel and it popped up in my head that i had not seen the other remaining helfrichi the whole day which was odd because he is usually out from the rocks..so i didn't think much of it cuz i thought it was just spooked and hiding since i was messing around in the tank so i went to work...while i was at work it came to me that i didn't notice the eel today either and he usually pokes his head out from the rocks when i feed the tank and thats when i realized that the worse had probably happened..so when i got home from work a little while ago i stuck some squid in there which is what he eats and can sense as soon as i put it in he would always come out...this time nothing no sign of him anywhere..so after about an hour after the lights when out i took my flashlight and shined it through the rocks where he usually sleeps i saw part of his body so i tried sticking the squid in there again near where he was..he still didn't come out..after 10 minutes he finally came out..the whole point of me doing this was to get him out to the point where i could check out his belly to confirm my suspicion..he came out just enough for me to see that there was a big purplish bulge in his belly which confirmed my suspicion that he ate my other helfrichi....i am very angry right now and thats why i felt like i needed to vent..i have had the pair for a year..i bought them when they were just starting to be collected again and very expensive..$170 a pop to be exact...it just pisses me off that i have had them for that long and thats the way they went out...never went carpet surfing like they are prone to do in an open top tank but instead got eaten by a dwarf moray that is suppose to be relatively reef safe...and i was even feeding him every day..obviously not enough.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtfleming January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 I dont think I would have put an eel in with to expensive fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dschflier January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 I second that but it is a bummer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sturnmeyer January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 So sorry to hear that Billy. We were fearing the worst as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 not to add fuel to the fire, but eels eat fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 Man I thought the golden dwarf was supposed to leave most all fish alone. I think I might have done the same as you with out thinking, sucks both the eels and the fire fish are gorgeous fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 Sorry for your loss, Billy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHUBAKAH January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 If it were me, that eel would be sushi real fast. Sorry to hear he got the other one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver January 11, 2009 Author Share January 11, 2009 I dont think I would have put an eel in with to expensive fish well the guy who i got it from said he had it in his tank with a little goby and the eel never bothered it...and he was only feeding the thing every few days...i feed the eel pretty much everyday but apparently he has a high metabolism... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver January 11, 2009 Author Share January 11, 2009 Man I thought the golden dwarf was supposed to leave most all fish alone. I think I might have done the same as you with out thinking, sucks both the eels and the fire fish are gorgeous fish. the funny thing is the guy i got it from originally wanted to trade the eel for the helfrichis but they are next to impossible to catch without breaking the tank down so i ended up just buying the eel off him cuz i always wanted one...but i agree they are both awesome..i wanna be mad at the eel but i can't be because its not his fault..its my fault for putting him in there...i'm gonna leave him in there because he is just way too cool but definitely a lesson learned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver January 11, 2009 Author Share January 11, 2009 If it were me, that eel would be sushi real fast. Sorry to hear he got the other one. or EBI as the japanese would call it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fosterspike January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 so sorry man, that sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 It needs to said that no matter how good the description of a species behavior is there is on occasion a wayward fish who will defy the norm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkb8 January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 Major bummer, sorry to hear of the losses. I briefly researched that eel too and saw no indications that it would be predatory like that. It brings up one of my favorite issues - we do all this research to be sure everything is right and all our livestock will be happy, but those darn fish just don't seem to be reading the same stuff we read .... I hate when that happens. Every day I am more convinced that the stuff we read on the internet about fish behavior/compatibility should only be relied on as very vague generalities and hearsay. It just seems so hard to predict ... Maybe post this on some other forums too, like RC, so it can at least serve as a warning of caution to others who may try the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver January 12, 2009 Author Share January 12, 2009 (edited) Well like zygote said eels Eat fish..no matter how reef safe they are it is their predatory instinct and I never put it pass him to not or at least try to eat my fish but I just didn't think he would considering I was feeding him everyday.. Edited January 12, 2009 by DDiver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexicanjavafish January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 aw im so sorry that happened... ....eels scare me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver January 13, 2009 Author Share January 13, 2009 U wouldn't be scared of this guy..he's teeny tiny.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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