Ever seen a Gymnothorax javanicus?

[Oompa Loompa]

Take a look about these Gymnothorax Favagineus (Tesselata/Honeycomb) you would change your mind (It's not my video)

You've converted me... these are some very nice looking tessies! I like the ones with finer spots much better than the ones with the larger spots on them... black and white fish in general don't appeal to me but every once in a while a fish will come around that makes me change my mind!

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

You've converted me... these are some very nice looking tessies! I like the ones with finer spots much better than the ones with the larger spots on them... black and white fish in general don't appeal to me but every once in a while a fish will come around that makes me change my mind!

Juv. and Sub adult Tess will have larger spot pattern, the pattern will change to small black spot with ages.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Juv. and Sub adult Tess will have larger spot pattern, the pattern will change to small black spot with ages.

Most people don't keep their big eels to adulthood though, probably why we don't see too many nice looking ones

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I used to have a debate to choose between Honeycomb and Japanese Dragon Eel.
I decided to keep a honeycomb instead the dragon, I still see Dragon eel for sale from time to time but I don't have an urge to get it because I love the look of my Tess

 

[Oompa Loompa]

I used to have a debate to choose between Honeycomb and Japanese Dragon Eel.
I decided to keep a honeycomb instead the dragon, I still see Dragon eel for sale from time to time but I don't have an urge to get it because I love the look of my Tess

I love japanese dragons, they're absolutely stunning. Favorite eel of all time is the fangtooth though - super rare eel, $1,500-$1,800 moray. Worth every penny IMO. Actually, no - they're not rare in the wild, just rare in the hobby because there's no collectors up there. Giants are awesome too, another personal favorite

Tessies are definitely beautiful, you've just got to get a nice looking one though

 

[LadAShark]

I haven't seen any others that look that great. But then again, that was under professional LED lighting - which probably looks better than the sunlight on a dark reef. I personally think that eel looks much nicer than the tessie, I am not a huge fan of tessies actually. Not that I wouldn't get one, but they're not super attractive IMO. Japanese dragons, undies, fangtooths, greens, giants, goldentails, whitemouths, etc - all nice looking eels. Some of them run over a grand though, lol. Check this out:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1033/1414532352_bd8bbd52e3.jpg

Ever see the video where that one took off the diver's thumb? I'm sure you have, Animal Planet always shows that video (or they used to, back when they played stuff about animals). Yeah, if you get bit you're pretty much screwed. If they get a good hold on you, one twist and your arm's dislocated - not something to play around with. Very beautiful animal though, if I could get one and provide it with a proper home I would in a heartbeat. I agree, on the list of tanks I need at some point!

Yeah I have seen that video. While I feel bad for the diver, he did make severe mistakes. What he did was no different from starting a feeding frenzy with sharks. He might have even gotten off lightly.

 

[LadAShark]

Take a look about these Gymnothorax Favagineus (Tesselata/Honeycomb) you would change your mind (It's not my video)

Are you implicitly telling me to build a bigger tank and get both? If I wasn't worried about them fighting and killing eachother, I would.

 

[LadAShark]

Most people don't keep their big eels to adulthood though, probably why we don't see too many nice looking ones

Tessalatas need 1000+ gallon tanks. They are a close relative of the giant moray, and grow just as big. And if you look around online you won't find a recommended tabk size bigger than 300 anywhere. The suggested tank size is 180 gallons on LiveAquaria for goodness sakes. It can grow to 3 meters, or close to 10 feet, just like giant morays.

I used to have a debate to choose between Honeycomb and Japanese Dragon Eel.
I decided to keep a honeycomb instead the dragon, I still see Dragon eel for sale from time to time but I don't have an urge to get it because I love the look of my Tess

Yeah dragon eels look really really cool. Tess's are nice too, but they can grow three times as long as the dragon eel.

I love japanese dragons, they're absolutely stunning. Favorite eel of all time is the fangtooth though - super rare eel, $1,500-$1,800 moray. Worth every penny IMO. Actually, no - they're not rare in the wild, just rare in the hobby because there's no collectors up there. Giants are awesome too, another personal favorite

Tessies are definitely beautiful, you've just got to get a nice looking one though

Yeah the fangtooth is a pretty cool eel.

I've realized an issue with keeping giant eels however, and it's that tessalata's/giant morays only have the potential to grow huge, they're not guaranteed to grow to 9-10 feet. Most stop short. Perhaps that could be circumvented by feeding a very high protein diet with plenty of supplements.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Tessalatas need 1000+ gallon tanks. They are a close relative of the giant moray, and grow just as big. And if you look around online you won't find a recommended tabk size bigger than 300 anywhere. The suggested tank size is 180 gallons on LiveAquaria for goodness sakes. It can grow to 3 meters, or close to 10 feet, just like giant morays.


Yeah dragon eels look really really cool. Tess's are nice too, but they can grow three times as long as the dragon eel.


Yeah the fangtooth is a pretty cool eel.

I've realized an issue with keeping giant eels however, and it's that tessalata's/giant morays only have the potential to grow huge, they're not guaranteed to grow to 9-10 feet. Most stop short. Perhaps that could be circumvented by feeding a very high protein diet with plenty of supplements.

Yeah, as with most animals - people buy them because one day they want them to get big - it's popular with monitors. But when their monitor that's supposed to hit 6 feet in 2 years stops at 4-5 feet altogether, they sell it. The truth is most animals don't hit the maximum size, just because of genetics. Lots of places where you see the "size" listed is telling you the absolute maximum size. Although you could probably feed a regular high-protein diet and get the eel a bit bigger.

I definitely think that's true about places that sell tessies. Nobody seems to want to recommend anything bigger than 180-300 gallons for the fish - which is surprising because LA lists a 500 gallon minimum for the queen triggerfish. The genera; rule with morays is that the tank has to be as long as the maximum size of the eel and half as wide. So a tessie really needs a 10x4 or 10x5 tank to live comfortably for life - at 4 feet of height you're looking at a 1,200 to 1,800 gallon aquarium. That's no joking matter, that's a BIG tank.

However that is a bit odd because I've never seen a tesselata eel larger than 6 or 7 feet, and that was like a 10 year old fish. I don't think they really do get to 10 feet very often, if ever. But giants - I have no doubt they get big enough.

Zoodiver kept a giant and a tessie in the same tank, just saying

 

[LadAShark]

Yeah, as with most animals - people buy them because one day they want them to get big - it's popular with monitors. But when their monitor that's supposed to hit 6 feet in 2 years stops at 4-5 feet altogether, they sell it. The truth is most animals don't hit the maximum size, just because of genetics. Lots of places where you see the "size" listed is telling you the absolute maximum size. Although you could probably feed a regular high-protein diet and get the eel a bit bigger.

I definitely think that's true about places that sell tessies. Nobody seems to want to recommend anything bigger than 180-300 gallons for the fish - which is surprising because LA lists a 500 gallon minimum for the queen triggerfish. The genera; rule with morays is that the tank has to be as long as the maximum size of the eel and half as wide. So a tessie really needs a U10x4 or 10x5 tank to live comfortably for life - at 4 feet of height you're looking at a 1,200 to 1,800 gallon aquarium. That's no joking matter, that's a BIG tank.

However that is a bit odd because I've never seen a tesselata eel larger than 6 or 7 feet, and that was like a 10 year old fish. I don't think they really do get to 10 feet very often, if ever. But giants - I have no doubt they get big enough.

Zoodiver kept a giant and a tessie in the same tank, just saying

Yep. Well, most of the estimates for sizes of tanks are accurate, except for a handful of creatures that people just seem to refuse to label properly.

But size wise, yeah tessalata's and giants are comparable: either could tear the other one apart. I guess to get a nice large tess I'd have to go around diving to find one that's huge, and then capture. Too much effort it seems.