Snowflake eel experiences

[fishoholic]

I was thinking of getting one but a friend of mine mentioned that they eat small fish. I had always thought snowflakes were one of the types of eels that normally wouldn't eat fish. Now obviously I wouldn't trust one with tiny goby's but I thought fish that were over 1" would be fine. I did a lot of reading when I googled snowflake eel eating fish and of course got many mixed reviews. Wet web media swears they do not eat fish (only crustaceans) but there was a few threads people posted that said the eel ate their fish.

The snowflake eel I was thinking of getting is 6" which is still pretty small. It would go into my 80g, which makes a good tank for an eel because it doesn't have an overflow for the eel to get stuck in and has an egg create cover. My main concern is that I have a small 1" thornback boxfish and 2 wrasses which are about 2" in size. Obviously I don't want them to get eaten.

Any thoughts? What has been others experiences?

[Gizmoh]

I had a snowflake for a number of years, very entertaining. Unfortunately mine learned to lift my lid and one day was just gone. (I blame the cats or it's teenage rebellious attitude). I did have it eat a damsel, it took a very long time, but if they are hungry enough they will eat anything they can catch, IMO.

[Coralgurl]

I had one in a tank with only a cuc, was about 12" long. It would come out when I fed it, I cut its food into approx 1 cm cubes, sometimes bigger and it would take a couple of chomps to eat. It also wouldn't eat everyday, so I think if you kept appropriately sized fish and kept the eel fed, it likely would leave your fish alone. Also, eggcrate holes would likely be big enough for a 6" eel to get through, you would need screen instead.

I liked my eel but just sold him. The fellow who now has him (fishyfishy) has him with other fish.

[Flash]

I was going to buy one... then we watched him eat a baby clown fish.. and it escaped the tanks at the store 3 times before i banished him to the sump he couldn't get out of and I decided I liked my little fish too much!

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

I was thinking of getting one but a friend of mine mentioned that they eat small fish. I had always thought snowflakes were one of the types of eels that normally wouldn't eat fish. Now obviously I wouldn't trust one with tiny goby's but I thought fish that were over 1" would be fine. I did a lot of reading when I googled snowflake eel eating fish and of course got many mixed reviews. Wet web media swears they do not eat fish (only crustaceans) but there was a few threads people posted that said the eel ate their fish.

The snowflake eel I was thinking of getting is 6" which is still pretty small. It would go into my 80g, which makes a good tank for an eel because it doesn't have an overflow for the eel to get stuck in and has an egg create cover. My main concern is that I have a small 1" thornback boxfish and 2 wrasses which are about 2" in size. Obviously I don't want them to get eaten.

Any thoughts? What has been others experiences?

ive had a few of them and ive had them in reeftanks my experience is they do and will eat fish.

during feeding time they are completely dumb and being almost blind doesnt help , ive never seen them hunt fish or stalk them but ive seen some snaps during feeding time.


i lost a huge female clown when i placed an elegance next to my snowflakes lair and the clown got territorial with the eel, well you can guess who won, the female was eaten and the elegance destroyed.


if you have fast moving fish, ones that arnt aggressive and you keep the eel fed well and he has a good lair to hide out in you should be fine as a juvie. when they are young they are out more and free swimming they tend to break out when young and curious. as they get older they look at different things for food and they get a bit territorial with their cave and dont come out as much.


i love them im thinking of getting one my self, becareful when feeding though as soon as food hits the water they know it their smell for meat is unreal ive been bitten by one and when they bite they twist and their teeth are like steak knives lol so not good to get bit on the wrist like i did....people will think you tried to do yourself in lol

if you get one laurie i bet it will be one of your faves they are very personable when young hanging out in weird places making caves throughout, i made a maze of pipe under my rockwork and sand for him to cruise around, most times people didnt even know he was in my tank he loved to cruise around the pipe sticking his head out here and there:P

[badfish!]

I've got 2 (one I'm babysitting). The one I have in my reef tank ate my arc eye hawk (I think anyways), despite my best efforts to keep him well fed. The one in my pred tank ate all of the mollies I put in there for the stone fish (another fish I'm babysitting). I had a horned cowfish and it was too big for my eel to eat (I think once they get up close to a fish, if it's too big they realize it pretty quick and wont really eat them). Your wrasses should be fast enough to avoid being eaten, unless they sleep in the rockwork and not the sand, then when the eel gets big enough, they could be potential meals. My eel constantly tries to eat other fish when I'm feeding because he smells the food, but most of my fish are too big for him to eat. I have a red scooter blenny in with him, and he hasnt been eaten yet. If you do get one I agree with Denny, he will quickly become a fave, they have awesome personality, my will beg for food, and if the silversides dont defrost fast enough, he swims to the top of the tank and pokes his head out of the water, but he's never tried to escape and I only have eggcrate on the top of my tank (he's also around 12", so if he was determined, I think he could fit through the eggcrate)

[2bafish]

Mine never ate fish or even crustaceans. But he does get fed every other day. Hes very aggresive during feeding time. So far he killed 2 clownfish by confusing them with food. Just took a bite out of them during feeding cause he is pretty much blind. Very nice looking eels imo. And a interesting addition to the tank.

[paddyob]

Ask your bosses. They are knowledgable folks at AI.

Originally Posted by fishoholic

I was thinking of getting one but a friend of mine mentioned that they eat small fish. I had always thought snowflakes were one of the types of eels that normally wouldn't eat fish. Now obviously I wouldn't trust one with tiny goby's but I thought fish that were over 1" would be fine. I did a lot of reading when I googled snowflake eel eating fish and of course got many mixed reviews. Wet web media swears they do not eat fish (only crustaceans) but there was a few threads people posted that said the eel ate their fish.

The snowflake eel I was thinking of getting is 6" which is still pretty small. It would go into my 80g, which makes a good tank for an eel because it doesn't have an overflow for the eel to get stuck in and has an egg create cover. My main concern is that I have a small 1" thornback boxfish and 2 wrasses which are about 2" in size. Obviously I don't want them to get eaten.

Any thoughts? What has been others experiences?

[subman]

One of my favorite's of all time....but as mentioned their brain shuts down at feeding time and they bite at anything close. Like Denny mentioned they are mostly blind so its the smell of food that gets them going. When I had mine it was all large aggressive fish so i never lost any but sometimes they would have scrapes on them that looked like eel teeth marks.

If you get one I would target feed it first then everyone else in the tank.

[monocus]

mine has never eaten any fish(4 years)-even with all my small fish.he likes clams ,prawns,oysters and especially,king crab(eats better than i do)he does tend to jerk and tear when he gets food so make sure you use a feeding stick.a more gentler moray is a zebra.mine is a very delicate eater and doesn't snatch at his food (sometimes hard to feed as all my other fish like to steal its food before he can get it)