Snowflake eel In reef tank, good or bad?
 

Not sure if I'm in the right forum but lately I've been thinking about adding a snowflake eel to my reef tAnk. My tank is stocked with corals of different varieties but I'm curious to peoples opinions and experiences with this eel.

What size is your tank I want an ell so bad as iv had 4 in the past but I only have a 30 gal

Currently I have a 90 gal reef tank now

There is a member on here, who has a standard 120 4x2x2 and had a huge snow flake in his tank for the longest time. CPROWLER

IMO they are not good in a reef tank, they are like crowbars swiming through your rock, if your rock work and corals are not 100% solid and unmovable they'll knock it all over. Less of a concern is the waste, they eat a lot and poop huge turds. Ive had a few eels and have tried in a reef a couple times. That being said if you cement your rock work together, dont mind a few broken corals and have a killer skimmer go for it.

A great alternative to a snowflake would be a dwarf golden/yellow eel, they are very chill, much smaller and very cool. Oh ya as with any eel you have to make sure the tank is escape proof, they are escape artists.

I've been keeping snowflakes for about 9 years. I'm on my second one which I've only had for a little more than a year. The first one died last year and was around 8 years old (it had a tumour growing just behind its head for a year prior). I've kept them in a 120gal reef since 2006 with only a few issues. My advice is pretty much the same as everyone else's: Build your aquascape out of only medium to large size rocks. Volleyball size or bigger works well for me. Fasten/cement all of your coral well. And forget about keeping any small slender fish, shrimp or crabs. You'll also need an adequate skimmer.

I personally love having them in a reef tank because I don't have to worry about them picking at or bothering any coral unlike butterflies, tangs, clowns, gobies, angels etc. My clownfish is actually much worse than the eel for pushing coral and sand around. Perhaps I'm just lucky but the one thing I haven't had an issue yet that is always brought up is the whole escape thing. Knock on wood but after 9 years in an open topped tank I've never had an eel jump out.

Thanks for the info and replies guys. I never thought about upgrading my skimmer to account for waste. More research is still
Required on my part but it's good to have info
From those with experience

ya that who is was whatcaneyedo thanks man

I should re phrase something I said there. I don't want to promote keeping an eel in an open topped tank... never mind about my situation. In small store holding tanks I've watched them slip from tank to tank when many were placed in a row, I've also seen a few dead ones on the ground and I've heard plenty of jumping stories.

If I do get one I'm would make my take escape proof to protect
The eel and my investment