Eel, Reef Caution Fish

[zambavi]

Hey everybody. We had to break down our 75 gal reef to move across the country about 6 months ago...and are finally setting it up in our new home. We acquired about 150 lb LR from someone on craigslist, and it had a surprising hitchhiker on it: a snowflake eel. Since our son has always wanted one, and we cant get it out even if we want to, we have decided to attempt to build a reef that is compatible to him. We have always been very "strict" in keeping reef safe things, so this is a new experience which has also caused us to consider broadening our horizens to other reef caution fish like triggers, puffers, lions, etc. We have also combined some "critters" from a small tank we had set up to "get us by" un til we got our 75 back up and running...so here is what we have going on:

75 gal/55 gal sump fuge
2x250MH, etc.
protein skimmer TBD (going to replace the old one which is worn out, but will get something awesome with huge capabilities)
at least 200 lb LR (may add more)
Tunze powerhead

Already have (but can remove if necessary-except the eel):
chocolate chip starfish
red spiny starfish
long spine urchin
pencil urchin
spiny urchin
snails, hermits

We are wondering what kind of cleaner package we can have... we like to have have about 7 cleaner/fire shrimp, 5 peppermint shrimp, 1 coral banded (we like shrimp), 8-10 emerald & porcelin crabs, several misc stars like brittles, linkias, etc. We have read that the eel will eat all of these cleaners.

We want to have all types of corals. Are there any that are not safe with the fish we are considering?

Fish we have considered are: Lion, Puffer, Angel, Trigger, Butterfly and anything else you might suggest :D

What we are also wondering is if we have a bunch of fish that wont mess with our corals, but will eat our shrimp and crabs, what do you suggest for a cleaner crew? We have always been strong believers in having a fantastic cleaner crew to keep everything in line and have had a lot of success. We have read that people use various starfish to clean in situations where they have shrimp/crab eaters, but we are worried about getting stars that might mess with our corals?

Any suggestions would really be appreciated. Or any links to a great websight for learning compatibility would be wonderful too. Thanks a ton :D

[baitshopboy]

Thats awesome!!! Never heard of an eel hitchhiker. They are escape artists so your gonna want to seal your tank with egg crate or something. I had one and it was very peaceful. Never bothered anything and was the only fish that let my cleaner shrimp actually clean it. But they say it will eat anything that will fit in its mouth. I never had a problem though.

They are practically blind so they might bump into stuff and knock over your live rock so make sure its secure. Dont be surpised if it doesnt eat for a while. Mine didnt eat for a few weeks at first but then it was a pig when it started. Other than that have fun with it. Really cool creature. I named mine nessie.

[fivesmallworlds]

I had a snowflake eel hitchiker a while back too! It was awesome because I really wanted one but my wife (girlfriend at the time) hates anything snake like. So I got my eel and couldn't get it out... hehehe I was only running a FOWLR at the time though.

The eel and the lion will most likely eat your shrimp if they get too close and don't pay attention. The angel (depending on which kind) may nip at corals and the trigger likes to eat snails as a delicacy in my experience. BUT there has been some out there that I'm sure have kept all of the above in a reef with success. The key I think is to keep them fat and happy. If they go hungry that's when they start feeding on other tankmates. Lot's of feeding means you'll need a GREAT skimmer not just a good one.

For the lion you could easily get away with doing a fuzzy dwarf or even better a fu manchu as they stay small. Instead of the puffer maybe do a boxfish. Same general look but smaller mouths so less likely to feed on tankmates. As for angels I'd stick with one of the dwarfs for sure! coral beauty or flame angels usually work, but watch for nipping.

Good Luck!