|
| The
Journal! |
| My experience breeding Green
Wolf Eels! |
| Preface |
A shot of the baby Green Wolf
Eels.
Green Wolf Eels
Congrogadus subducens (Carpet eel-blenny)
The
Green Wolf Eel isn't actually an Eel. For a period of time, the Green
Wolf Eel was unclassified. It was first thought to be an Eel (Which,
obviously, was wrong). Then, it was thought to be a Blenny. But since
then, it has been classified in the Family: Pseudochromidae
(Dottybacks), subfamily: Congrogadinae
March 1999 - First Green Wolf Eel.
It was small, about 5 inches or so long. Four months later it was about
a foot long.
Then
I got another eel slightly smaller than him. I had no way of knowing
the sex of either eel. But the first one definitly dominated the second
(I assumed for territorial purposes).
I had them both in a 20
gallon tank. Soon I transfered them into a 30 gallon. Just after I did
that, I noticed a purple/pink mass of round cells in the tank and that
the second eel was protecting it.
I went to a few pet stores and
they had never heard of someone just out of the blue breeding Green
Wolf Eels. A few of them even said that she must have been pregnant
when I got her. Well I kept a close eye on the eels' habbits and the
second time I knew my eels were breeding.
So, I looked around on
the net and in the stores for information about the Green Wolf Eel. I
found NOTHING. The closest I found was a site calling a specific eel
the Green Wolf Moray. There wasn't much information available about
this eel either. But I did take some not of the information that was
there.
Most Morays have a conception period of a few months. My
eels only had a conception period of a couple of days. Then she'd lay
the eggs and 14 - 20 days later they would begin to hatch over a 2 - 3
day period.
So, I decided to make a journal about my eels. And here it is!
My Journal starts below: |
| 1999 |
Water temp is kept usually
around 80 - 82 degrees F. Salt is kept around 1.022 - 1.024. PH Level
is kept around 8.4.
The female is darker than the male and thicker. She has larger fins too.
October 31, 1999 - Moved eels from 20 gallon to 30 gallon.
November 4, 1999 - Noticed purple egg bunch in tank (round mass of
purple eggs probably about 3 inches in diameter maybe a bit more).
(Female started eating a lot just before she had the eggs. (But the
male's stomach was the one that was bloated and big?) She stoped eating
after she had the eggs (maybe 1, 2, or 3 feeders at most). Became VERY
protective of eggs. Had them in back corner of the tank under a large
rock next to the filter and heater. Would not let me or the other eel
near or see the eggs. Wrapped around them TIGHT. VERY protective.)
Somewhere halfway through the cycle the believed to be male (other eel
in any rate) ate just over half the eggs. Still had a 2 - 2 1/2 inch
diameter mass of eggs. Each egg about 1 - 2 mm in diameter? Exposed
area perfectly round (could be a perfect circles but can't observe the
part thats hidden without disturbing them) I took the divider that was
in the 20 gallon tank and sectioned them off from the male. Water was
low enough to do this.
November 18, 1999 - They started hatching. Put the hatched ones
(approx. 8 - 12) into a 3 gallon bucket. The babies are about 3/4th's a
centimeter at the most, and are clear, with two large black eyes, and a
red center believed to be a heart.
Babies go back into the eggs constantly, maybe to eat and/or to hide.
November 19, 1999 - Put eggs and babies into 5 1/2 gallon tank. They
stay in groups at the bottom. Approx 90 - 120 babies now with more to
hatch. Tried to feed them filter food. Seem to return to the purple egg
sack a lot (maybe to feed and hide).
November 20, 1999 - First real feeding. (Approx 200 babies?) got brine
shrimp eggs for them. Seem to eat those just fine.
November 21, 1999 - Starting to turn a bit green (just barely) and have
a bigger pink in them (maybe stomach? or skintone?). Probably about a
centimeter now or maybe just a little more. Little Mikie died. (Named
postmortum) Some eggs turned white, more are clear, but most are still
pretty much purple.
November 23, 1999 - Eels lost their pinkish color inside (must have
been stomach. If so, I need to feed them soon). They're shaped more
like eels now. Second feeding. notable difference between fins and
bodies. Bodies even more green. Black in eyes smaller, now have
"silver" along the edges of their eyes. Approx. 5 large groupings of
eels "established" throughout the tank (some have sub-groupings): 1 in
the egg area. 1 in sponge filter. and the rest in various areas in the
tank (mostly in the corners). 1 larger "whitish" eel seems to dominate
the others. He moves aggressively through the groupings and the rest
get out of the way. Most of the eels seem to already have paired off!
(only 3 - 5 days old)
November 26, 1999 - Top eggs on the egg cluster turned pink. other eggs
look like they're decomposing some (more clear). Haven't fed eels since
24th and now most are hiding in the egg cluster.
November 29, 1999 - A lot of the eggs are turning pink. Some sediment
on the bottom of tank. Eels still stay in the eggs most of the time.
Possibly two dead. They are darker green now but still see-through, and
have the black spot on them at the end of their stomach area.
November 30, 1999 - First time cleaning the tank with a net. Took the
egg mass out. Still trying to hatch brine shimp -not too successful
with it. Eels' stomachs are small now, not very much pink in them.
Noticed that some will stay still through extended disturbance and seem
convincingly dead, but then they move. So I havn't attempted to dispose
of the dead ones yet in fear that I might get rid of some live ones.
December 1, 1999 - Still having trouble hatching brine shimp. Got
frozen baby brine shrimp. Looks like they're eating that. Some more
eels died because of lack of food. But if they eat the frozen ones the
rest should do fine. Don't think I'm gonna get my huge eel tank. :\
December 2, 1999 - Scooped out the majority of dead eels, which
happened to be a large majority of the eels, I've come to the
conclusion that there was WELL OVER 200 eels in the tank since I
estimated I reached the 200 mark halfway through the scooping (no i
didn't count them just took a visual observation). Probably about 50 -
100 eels still in the tank. The ones that did survive, for the most
part, look real good and are fairly green now. Still a few more dead
ones in the tank. Not gonna fool with them yet. Still pissed that I
lost so many since it could have been avoided if I was able to get them
food. Definitly gonna feed them more frozen baby brine shrimps tonight.
(Didn't think they'd eat frozen food.)
December 5, 1999 - Looks like even more died. A few are left though.
Just got done taking out most of the dead ones. I'd be surprised if 10
were left.
December 5, 1999 - Male went over with the female for about a minute
behind the rock. Looked like they could have been wrapped around each
other some.
December 6, 1999 - Only 6 left.
December 7, 1999 - Found more eggs in large eel tank. A SECOND
CHANCE!!!!
Temp in tank was about 75 degrees F this time Salt is a little lower.
December 8, 1999 - Bought divider right away for the 30 gallon tank so
the male can't get the eggs.
December 12, 1999 - Only 1 left from first batch.
December 19, 1999 - Noticed new eels in big eel tank. Much bigger this
time. May have been in there a few days. The eyes have already changed.
Have a small black spot in place where the others had a small red spot.
Many were swimming right in front of male eel. He didn't mind them.
They're swimming away from the mother area. Maybe the male raises them.
So I left a few in there this time to see what would happen. I still
removed the purple egg cluster from the main tank and put it and a
barnacle in with the babies.
I'm sorta playing with the idea that maybe these are from the first
batch and I never noticed them. But I'm not sure of that. Already have
the distinguished fins. |
| 2000 |
January 1, 2000 - Left on Dec
30th came back today. Male eel is over with female. She's acting
agressive towards him. Only see a few babies in the baby tank. They are
kinda fat, and about 1 1/2 centimeters long.
Either on the 1st or 2nd had another batch of eel eggs. This new batch
of eggs when we discovered it was real pink instead of purple and more
compact (squished together) than the others (they were more fluffy in a
pile) these are in more of a honeycomb form.
January 2, 2000 - 2nd batch of eels getting a darker green, heads are
sort of fat.
January 4, 2000 - Found random lifeform in the baby eels' tank. Kind of
frog shaped. EXTREMELY SMALL. They are clear/white, and have two big
bottom fin/feet that they're using to project themselves. Eels are
getting real dark. Their eyes are large and black. The random lifeforms
have a small narrow body with two fins at the bottom that they seem to
use to prop themselves up. They have black spots on those fins.
Newer eggs are now mostly of the purplish color, and have the standard
shape of the previous egg masses.
January 7, 2000 - Probably about 5 eels left. A lot of the other things
in there still. The eels have noticeable body "normal" body color.
Front of head is still somewhat rounded compaired to the older eels.
They're about an inch or so long now. Kinda fat. They do have a slight
point at the end of the head.
January 29, 2000 - I finally noticed the new baby eels. Some are
slightly larger than the others. The egg mass is EXTREMELY small for so
many eels that we found. Could have disintegrated some or the male
could have eaten it. These already have the distinguished eyes and are
slightly green. The male was eating a few of the babies as I was taking
them out. Many of the babies were hiding in the egg mass with the
mother wrapped around it. Most of the babies were trapped in the
filter. I was able to get most of them out fine. Some may be slightly
damaged from digging them out. others may have died from trying to get
them out or just from being in there. There were A LOT of babies this
time. Close to the number of the first. Well closer than the second
batch anyways. About 2 - 3 were left of the other babies. The new
babies are well developed (look like the later stages of the 1st
batch). Many of them swim constantly. A few of them are actively
hunting for food. I've noticed that the older eels stay calm and sleep
mostly in the dark. The babies that are still in the main tank actually
come out a minute or so after I switch the light off. Another thing is
that the mother was poking her head out when the babies came out, she
seemed to be looking in their direction and watching them. She was
disturb when I put the net in to get them. In fact she just came out
and did a quick circle around the rocks looking in various directions
(possibly for the babies - I can only assume that this is the cause
since she never comes out while she has the egg mass there, not even
for food, she'll come out slightly for food)
About a week and a half ago I transfered the last of the 2nd batch to a
ten gallon tank filled just over halfway with water.
The female is very protective and defensive and agressive while the egg
mass and the babies are in the tank. She only eats small quantites
while the egg is there too. I was feeding them fish one time recently
and one went back behind her rock and she actually took the fish, shook
it, broke it and killed it then pushed it out of the area.
Temp in main tank is reading 76 - 78 degrees and salt is about 1.027.
The baby tank salt is about 1.018 - 1.020.
January 31, 2000 - The male eel started breathing strange on the 29th.
Last night he started flopping around the tank and hit the top and feel
to the bottom. I thought he broke his back in the process, but he was
just dying. This morning I turned the light on hand his tail area was
flat, his gills were out, and his stomach was deformed and he was dead.
I have no clue why he died. Maybe he ate too many of the babies and got
poisoned? Some of the babies are still in the main eel tank. Half the
babies are dead now too.
About a week later I noticed that none survived.
March 8, 2000 - The female is still doing fine. It only took her a day
or so to realize there was no one else in her tank so she comes out
from the rock much more often. She's getting to be a little pig too.
She eats about 4 - 5 rosies or small goldfish a day, and most times she
wants more. She's still about 8 - 12 inches long but she's getting
thicker and I can see where the muscles are getting larger on her
sides. She stays a lighter, more "normal" shade of green now. I'm
debating on getting another male for her but I'm afraid that she might
kill him. So...I'll see what happens.
Journal Updates: The female Green Wolf Eel got a big green fungus
looking spot on the middle of her left side about the time that the
Ghost Eel died. It was confirmed that this was from the black and white
urchin that I transfered into the tank not from the Ghost Eel. The
green spot was getting bigger and had some white dots on it that
finally turned red and the area looked like it busted open. I was told
that it will heal it's self. I only moved the urchin in there
temporarily.
A couple weeks later: The Green Wolf Eel has almost completely healed
up now. She looks fine and is as active as ever!
September 22, 2000 - The female is now probably about 16 - 20 inches.
Hard to tell. Apparently they're a very hardy animal, her salt level
fluctuates anywhere between 1.024 - 1.030 (measure tops off at 1.030)
and it never seems to affect her. This change happens within maybe a
week.
She's also found a fun way to eat the crayfish! She pops their heads
off with her jaw pressure! One time she grabbed a crayfish wrong and it
grabbed her lip with it's pincher, she got mad and did a death-roll
with it, shook it a few times and when it stopped holding onto her she
got back some, went to the side of it, then shot out right at the side
of it's head and just like that she popped the head off. It wasn't the
first time she's done that. She's popped their heads off before.
Apparently she's realized that they stop putting up a fight without
that critical head part on them.
I've also noticed that she can produce a strong suction with her mouth
to bring in food. The head of one of the crayfish was sitting about an
inch from her and she just opened her mouth and suddenly, faster than I
could really see, the head was in the back of her mouth!
If anyone else is having trouble raising their baby Green Wolf Eels,
you might want to try keeping the babies in brackish maybe even fresh
water. And if possible try to keep the female with the babies as long
as possible. |
| 2001 |
January 17 2001 - A couple weeks
ago, I noticed that the tip of the fin on the tail end of the female
green wolf eel split and was turning black. It looked pretty hard too.
Well this worsened. Soon the black/brown coloration was about 3 inches
or so down her fin from the tip of her tail. The tip of the tail fin
rotted away and her body started rotting away too, becomimg white. The
white didn't look like a fungus. It looked like it was just her skin
under her scales. I tried to treat her but it didn't help.
Early this afternoon she died. She was found arched over one of her
rocks.
She had been having trouble breathing through this period and would not
eat. Her body was mostly brown toward the end.
So this concludes my Journal about the Green Wolf Eel. I just wish it
had some better results to it. |
|
