eels

im considering getting a snow flake el and a banded snake eel would the be okay keeping them in a tank.
can i get some info on the snake eel please.
 

splatee

Member
What size tank are you planning on keeping them in? I would not keep them in anything smaller than a 100 gallon. The banded snake eel will get around 30 inches and snowflake around 24 inches. Also make sure that you have a secure top on the tank, they will try to get out. I use egg crate on ours.
 

omots

Member
You were giving the facts on the question of the banded eel:
Banded snake eel (Myrichthys colubrinus)
To my knowledge, the general data on the Banded snake eel is that it likes to burrow into soft substrate, remaining hidden during the day and then come out at night to hunt. They will bury themselves into the substrate with just their heads sticking out. They can burrow very fast and do it with the tips of their tails, also would go even head first at times.
Banded Snake Eels are a member of the Ophichthidae Family, the Snake Eels.
They feed on small fishes and sometimes invertebrates (shrimp, squid, and chopped fish). Food is found mostly through their sense of smell. Their eyesight is poor (but they are not blind) so watch your fingers! You must give them plenty of room, a place to hide. It may be necessary to offer foods to this eel with a poker. Place the food right in front of the eel's mouth.
A word of caution for those considering purchasing this eel, I found that most sites listed this eel with varying common and scientific names. The true Banded Snake Eel is Myrichthys colubrinus and it should not be listed as a Moray. There is a Banded Moray (also called Ringed Moray or Girdled Moray), but it's scientific name is Echidna polyzona (another reference says Echidna pozyzona). Most of the sites selling a "Banded Eel" listed it with a scientific name of Echidna polyzona or pozyzona, so buyer beware!
The Banded Snake Eel will get along with other tank mates as long as they aren't small enough for it to eat.
And saying that the banded burrows into the soft substrate, the sand bed has to be deep for these eels will usually stay near the bottom of your tank, burying themselves into your tank's substrate.
On the idea of a DSB will also depend on if you be able to collect yourself the right banded snake eel for they differ somewhat in size due too the different regions they hale from. So in saying that, you can be extremely lucky and get one that will grow no larger then 2.5' or you can be very unlucky and get one that could grow as large as 6.5'
Sea Snake venom are Neurotoxic (affecting the nervous system) classified in the group Proteroglypha and sometimes Myotoxins (affecting skeletal muscles) with a fatal dose being about 1.5 milligrams. Most Sea Snakes produce an average of 10-15 mg of venom so they should always be approached with caution.
Long term, a 95 gal tank with these two eels will not work out so well, your one eel that will leave the other a long. The teeth of the banded is for taking bites out of fish, it could one day, what if a year from now or longer, it could one day take a bite out of the snowflake eel.
Hope this helps you>
You seem to only want some one to agree with your idea. I told you of the facts, you can do what you want or accept that long term in a 95 gal tank in which is not ideal and too cramp for those two eels together for in due time, the banded eel will take a bite or two out of the sfe. If you wish to attempt this, then have a much larger tank with lots of LR with hiding places and be sure to keep well fed the banded for Its teeth are to take bites out of fish if it needs too to when its hungry enough.
 

sulley

Member
i agree with omts ...why a snake eel? you will need a DEEP and i mean DEEP sand bed. they burrow all day and come out at night. i would go with one or the other. with those two if u would be lucky that is all u would put in. with the snowflake hiding in the rocks and the snake eel in the sand it will look like an empty tank. get one ot=r the other and some fish. the fish though decide on some you want then ask if they will fit. JMO though it is your tank
 

doglvr

Member
We had a Snowflake Eel, and I would agree that these two eels would not be a good match in your tank. Our snowflake tunneled in the LSB all the time, as well as through the LR. Snowflakes are beautiful and I think you will find having just one eel is enough. At roughly 18" mine would eat 4 whole raw shrimp or 10-15 silversides, every 2-3 days. Feeding 1 can get costly & they won't let you get away with just a silverside diet....mine would refuse them after 2-3 feedings in a row and I was off to the store for shrimp. When he was small 6-8" and only ate 1 or 2, the market gave them to me because they didn't weight out. At 18" your buying by the pound. Feeding two eels could be costly and eventually they will start competing to be first for the food stick/tongs.
Instead of two eels, get one and a very cool or unusual fish. Our snowflake lived with a lionfish:
Telling me its feeding time in this photo:

Relaxed & enjoying the view in this one:
 

walleye

Member
i have 2 eels in my tank. i have a snowflake and a ghost eel, they get along fine. the funny thing is i have them in with a marble shark and when i feed the shark silver side the snowflake chases him around to steal food, my eels eat silver side and shrimp.
 

omots

Member
walleye, yes, its one thing to have your two eels together then a sfe with a banded snake eel for your two eels, I say a tank size of not smaller then a 110. Still, your the possibility of one eel taking a bite out of the other eel. But this happening with your two is unheard of pretty much, but the likely hood of it ever happening, are slim. The banded snake eel will in short order in a matter just the first 1-3 years, the banded eel will take a bite out of a sfe.
 

walleye

Member
omots. your right his tank is to small but what i was saying there are other eels you can keep together that are pretty cool. i had a green wolfe eel i know its not a eel but she was neat. she laid eggs in my tank for 6 months then she got egg bond and die. there are alot of peaceful eels you can get.
 

sulley

Member
i know omtos. this guy has forgotten more about eels tonight then alot of us will learn in a lifetime. the question was about keeping THESE two eels together. and i agreee with omots that it should not be done. withoout a question two different types of may live together without a problem that though was not proposed. in that size tank i would go with one eel and some fish. the owner of the tank has to let us know where else he may want to go with this and then we can help him better
 
I HAVE ALREADY desidied on getting a banded snake eel i whant one because there so cool i whent to a local fish store and the hade one i also like how it mimics the banded sea krait
 

omots

Member
No one said that your couldn`t have a banded snake eel, you requested facts on this type of sea creature and was giving it and with that was told that it not be a good idea to have a sfe as a second moray inhabitant with this type of species, the banded snake eel. You can have the eel, you just need to look out for what other inhabitants your too chose from.
But do understand this, you cannot try to keep so small a fish in with this eel, for if hungry, it will take it or even bite out at any larger fish. It not mean that this snake eel would eaten the fish it bites, for often i hear that another said that their eels had bitting one of their fish.
You can however try and take a look at the Banded moray (Gymnothorax rueppellii) and it grows to as large as 30-32" and feeds on fishes and crustaceans (small fiddler crabs), mainly at night, its a rather nervous and aggressive species, least of all when it becomes a full grown adult. But then most eels if not feed well enough will appear to be as an aggressive species.
 
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