Fimbriated Moray co habitation

[Steve C]

Hi

What's the general consensus on fimbies and other tank mates. I have always fancied one. The current tank is a 180g, containing a 22" white eye moray, a blue throat trigger, a miniatus grouper and a scarus quoyi parrot. Is it likely to take chunks out of fish?

Thanks

[xkon]

I have had my pair for about a year and a half. They have never went after larger fish in my tanks. However they are still not fully grown and I have heard this is not typical of them so if you want to go forward with caution. Also, mixing them with a different type of eel I have not had success with.

[Steve C]

Ok so a bit risky then.

Could you go into a bit more detail around the other eels. It was always my intention at some point to do a biotype based on images and videos on documentaries I have seen to set up a Fimby and group of white eyes together.

[Cliving1]

I think an eel is like any predator, at the point it can fit a fish in its mouth it will. At least that has been my experience with eels. I have not had the fimbriated but eels are predators. I think zebra eels have a better chance in community tanks from what I have read.

I personally have never had more than 1 eel, and that would kind of freak me out! Two underwater snakes haha, could be risky!

I am always up though for people trying something new. If you are going to do it, do it the right way. Have the right tank size, tank mates, and good hiding for the eels.

Good Luck!

[Megistos]

Depends a lot on the size of the other fish, but if the fimby can eat them, I would expect it to happen eventually. There are always exceptions, but this species has a very nasty reputation for a reason.

[xkon]

Ok so a bit risky then.

Could you go into a bit more detail around the other eels. It was always my intention at some point to do a biotype based on images and videos on documentaries I have seen to set up a Fimby and group of white eyes together.

Before I got a second fimbriated eel, I had just one in the tank. I tried to add a snowflake eel with it. The snowflake was smaller than the fimbriated, but not that much. The fimbriated went after it almost right away and would strike at it so it was removed from the tank.

I got another fimbriated eel. When added to the tank, there were no issues. The new one even went into the same hiding spot. After a few months there was slight aggression towards each other. More just standing their ground and they would stay on separate sides of the tank which went away. I attribute the mild aggression to having a smaller tank size. They are now both in a 135g and swim around together

[Steve C]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Yes I appreciate they will eat anything they can fit in their mouths and in that regard the same as any predator and the fish I already have. The grouper will absolutely eat anything it can fit in, sometime items it can't ��.

Xkon, it would seem would seem there is an issue with territorial aggression with other eels, although in your expearence mild? There is a risk. I will give it some thought. Out of curiosity how big where they before you moved them into your 135?

[xkon]

In my limited experience, mixing eels different kinds of eels does not work out. I know it can be done and many do, but that is just what I have found. Maybe megistos will add something more, I believe he has kept quite a few kinds of morays.

I got them at about 8" or so. I just recently moved them to the 135g and they are about 18-20" now is my guess.

[anbosu]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Yes I appreciate they will eat anything they can fit in their mouths and in that regard the same as any predator and the fish I already have. The grouper will absolutely eat anything it can fit in, sometime items it can't ��.

Xkon, it would seem would seem there is an issue with territorial aggression with other eels, although in your expearence mild? There is a risk. I will give it some thought. Out of curiosity how big where they before you moved them into your 135?

Eels are a bit different in that they are strong enough to tear fish to pieces in order to eat them, even if they won't fit in their mouth.

[Megistos]

In my limited experience, mixing eels different kinds of eels does not work out. I know it can be done and many do, but that is just what I have found. Maybe megistos will add something more, I believe he has kept quite a few kinds of morays.

In my experience it seems to be that most morays will generally not tolerate visually similar species (e.g., M. pavonina wouldn't tolerate M. lentiginosa or G. meleagris), but I haven't tried keeping multiples of one species in a tank. Very different-looking species have tended to get along ok (except with G. moringa, nothing gets along with those). A large tank will reduce the chance of problems, though I'm not sure how significant the reduction will be.

[Steve C]

I have kept a couple of species together in the past but I think ill give this one a miss.

[xkon]

Yeah I think that would probably be the best option. I don't see the eels getting along. If you got the eel small enough there might be a chance but I don't think it's worth the risk