The Freshwater Moray Eel (Gymnothorax polyuradon) is a wonderful aquarium inhabitant that is rarely seen in pet stores. When available to aquarists, it disappears quickly and happy hobbyists rush home with a fish they have no idea how to care for.
There are two main keys to keeping the Freshwater Moray Eel alive. First you have to have an aquarium set up so that the Eel will feel at home, and second, you need to provide a food that the Eel wants to eat.
Providing the food isn’t too hard. I recommend salad shrimp or ghost shrimp. However, if you don’t meet the first condition of making the Eel feel at home, having the right food won’t make any difference. This article is aimed at helping you create a home for your freshwater moray eel so that the two of you can enjoy a long companionship. (I wouldn’t try petting the eel though)
With my first Freshwater Moray, I watched the fish swim incessantly around the tank for 3 months until it slowly starved to death. It was a devastating moment for me. I’ve never wanted to bring a fish home to its death. It’s always been my intent to give any animal I bring into my house the best possible home possible.
When I bought my second Freshwater Moray, I was determined to keep it alive. I did so with the help of a lot of lacerock. This eel, like most others appreciates hiding places. Above all other things the eel wants a narrow area where it feels secure. Though lace rock can help accomplish this it also hides the eel from your view. Since most people, including me appreciate being able to see the fish they buy, I began looking for some way to keep my eel visible, while stile meeting its need to be hidden. What follows is the plan for a tank I created in order to meet both the eel’s needs, and my own.
The tank employs a raised-floor with access to main area of the aquarium. I have included pictures to help illustrate what this set-up entails.
The Set-Up:
This set-up is customized for a 20-gallon “high” aquarium, but you can use the same concept for any size tank. Obviously the first item needed is be a 20-gallon aquarium (24″l x 12 1/2″w x 16 3/4″h). You will also need 9-2 1/4 h” x 1 1/2 d” pipe cylinders. These will serve as the main pieces of support for the raised-floor. In addition, 4 T-Pipes (1 x 3/4″ and 4 x 1″) and one 12″ piece of sprinkler tubing are needed. The 12″ piece will serve as an extension from the raised-floor to a power filter at the top of the aquarium. It is important that this piece fit snuggly into one of the T-pipes at the top of the ‘T’. Since the 12″ piece of pipe will connect the raised-floor to a power filter, the other end of the pipe needs to fit snuggly around the intake pipe of your power filter. In my case I used a pipe with a diameter of about 1″. The interior diameter was about 3/4″ allowing a Marineland Bio-wheel ‘Mini’ filter to fit quite snuggly inside the pipe. Beyond these pieces of equipment, only one more thing is required. You will need a piece of glass cut to the interior dimensions of the aquarium. It is important that the glass be smaller than the inside dimensions of the aquarium. If it’s slightly too small, you will be able to work with it. If it’s slightly too large it will require getting the glass cut again.
The dimensions I provide are accurate, but they may need to be modified based on your tanks actual size. Of particular importance is the amount of silicon joining the corner of your aquarium. If there is too much, it will not be possible to put the sheets of glass in the aquarium. I would recommend cutting double-strength glass into two nearly even halves (11 3/4″l x 11 5/8″w; 11 5/8″ x 11 5/8″) This will allow you to more easily install and remove your raised-floor.
The most expensive part of this project is in fact the glass, since it must have 4 circle cuts made in it. Three of these cuts can be put just about anywhere you want. However, the fourth cut is important as it is where the 3/4″ T-pipe will line up with the overhead filter. For the MarineLand Mini I used, the center of this cut was 8″ in from the left wall and 1 1/2″ in from the back wall. (Note: It is possible to pull of the same set-up using a light plastic instead of glass, though glass is much sturdier) I have succeeded in using plastic intended for a kitchen fluorescent light fixture. Yes, I actually meant a “light” plastic. This type of item is routinely available at large hardware stores.) I would recommend cutting the glass into two even halves. This will allow you to more easily install and remove your raised-floor.
To begin, place the 9 pipe cylinders on the floor of the aquarium in 3 rows and columns. These will be used as the foundation for the raised-floor. I recommend siliconing the 4-t pipes into the raised-floor. However you attach them to the raised-floor, make sure that they stick out above the raised-floor. (They in fact will have to stick out from the bottom unless the cylinders you used were taller than the ones I used) If you do allow the T-pipes to stick out into the main tank, all the gravel from the aquarium will eventually find its way down the T-pipe and will fill sub-floor area, making it impossible for the eel to get from the bottom to the top. Three of the T-pipes (1″) will provide access for the eel to the rest of the tank. The fourth t-pipe (3/4″) is also very important. I will allow the filter to pull its water from the bottom of the tank. If this is not done, you will create a stagnant zone below the raised-floor, which could become lethal. For this reason, it’s very important to make sure that you position the T-pipe that will be connected to the filter in a place that will allow it to be connected to the filter at the top of the aquarium. Put a thin layer of gravel at the bottom of the tank, and then put the glass in. (While this is certainly not required, it does make the tank much more comfortable for the eel) The raised-floor should rest about 2 1/4″ above the actual bottom of the aquarium.
To connect the raised-floor to the filter, first insert a barrier to prevent the eel from swimming up the filter intake valve. In my set-up, I used the intake strainer from the marine bio-wheel to accomplish this. I inverted the strainer and inserted it into the bottom of the 12″ sprinkler pipe. I then inserted the 12″ sprinkler pipe into the back-left t-pipe. When doing this, the strainer should end up in the t-pipe. (The strainer is the aforementioned barrier that keeps the eel out of the filter if you didn’t get all of that)
After the floor is in, you can put some additional gravel down the t-pipes to the raised-floor, but it is sometimes difficult to get it to spread evenly over the floor. Next, you will probably want gravel on top of the raised-floor. When doing this I recommend that you don’t put too much gravel on the floor, as it will probably end up falling down the pipes, as noted earlier.
After doing this, you can decorate as you please, cycle the tank, and you’ll be ready to go. Just add your eel. The “Freshwater Moray” is actually not a freshwater fish. It will live just as well in either brackish or straight saltwater. Though I’ve heard divergent recommendations as to which water environment it does best in, I’ve had equal success with all of these water conditions. I do recommend adding a bit of salt, but a true brackish environment is not necessary.
Keeping the Freshwater Moray Eel
As far as tank mates go, you are somewhat limited. The eel hunts by smell, but if it bumps into a fish it can swallow, it will. Even larger fishes will sometimes show wounds from being bit in the night. I would recommend only using fish that are large and fast moving. Perhaps a scat, mono, or puffer would be a good tank mate if you were intending a slightly brackish environment. Tiger barbs, zebra danios, and other fast moving fish are good freshwater tank-mates. (However, I wouldn’t keep anything too valuable with the eel, even if you don’t think the eel will munch it…trust me on this one)
I hope that you are able to enjoy your freshwater moray even more after constructing this set-up. It allows the eel to be happy while letting you see it and show it off. And let’s face it, there is nothing cooler to show off to friends than a freshwater moray eel.
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Maureen Adams
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