Feeding a Snowflake

[ouchthathu]

I have a small (about 6" in length) snowflake eel in a tank with school of anthias. I feed the anthias small amounts 3 times a day (they just pick it off the top and it never drops to the bottom of the tank).
Right now I'm feeding the eel a small peice of silversides about the size of his head once every other day. Unfortunatly every time I feed the Anthias he comes out looking for food so I'm trying to gauge how much is too often and how much is too little in order to keep him "happy" without fattening him up too much or starving him enough to go after my anthias.

 

[1911_guy]

IMO, I would feed the anthias once a day or just feed both every other day.

 

[sebae09]

anthias "like" to be feed small quanitys often, i would say possibly feed the anthias and snowflake 2 times a day. just half what you would normally feed the snowflake so he gets the same ammount just in twice a day increments.

 

[wanabebell]

the snowflake needs more than silversides
silversides should be a small part of his diet
his main should be shrimp squid and scallops and then silversides
sfe are crustacean eaters not a fish eater like a hawaiian dragon.
But you can feed a silverside here and there

 

[who dey]

I used to feed mine krill using chop-sticks!

 

[bellanavis]

My snowflake eats anything that hits the bottom of the tank, I feed my fish every other day, sometimes every 3 days, and hes fat and happy.

 

[ouchthathu]

thanks for the tips. I didn't even think about feeding him Krill or squid. I always thought eels were fish eaters. Thats the joy of these forums... we learn something new every day!.
thanks

 

[kvbrett]

My eel (about 10") is shy and hides when we open our tank canopy. Our clown seems to get all of the shrimp that we try to feed the eel. We use tongs, but the eel does not come out at all to get the shrimp...so they float up and the trigger nabs them. We have had both fish for 2 weeks and both are alive. Any ideas? Will the eel come out and get food if he is hungry enough? THANKS

 

[sik05rr]

my snowflake is alittle over 24" and eats like a mofo (3 whole large shrimp) every 2-3 days or so. him and my proky puffer fight over the food!

 

[ouchthathu]

Originally Posted by kvbrett
My eel (about 10") is shy and hides when we open our tank canopy. Our clown seems to get all of the shrimp that we try to feed the eel. We use tongs, but the eel does not come out at all to get the shrimp...so they float up and the trigger nabs them. We have had both fish for 2 weeks and both are alive. Any ideas? Will the eel come out and get food if he is hungry enough? THANKS
That can show you how different a fish's personality can be... Our new SFE comes out as soon as anything hits the top of the tank. You could have JUST fed him and see him with a full belly and he still comes out as soon something touches the water. If I just splash the water, he comes out. I think he learned the behavior from the anthias which are fed top water foods twice daily. He is now joining them in the feeding frenzy (which is like watching sharks attack)
We are feeding him daily now with a blended mix of silversides, krill and squid but he seems to really love the freeze dried bloodworms that I feed the anthias. He'll ignore all other foods in favor of the bloodworms at the top.

 

[alexrex20]

i just feed my eel damsels. 5 a week keeps him happy

 

[fish-man-t]

my sf eel loves krill 3-5 pieces every night and he is happy! but sf eels are pretty much blind you no? got mine almost eating out of my hands good luck

 

[sebae09]

Originally Posted by alexrex20
i just feed my eel damsels. 5 a week keeps him happy
thats going to get expensive, but anyways i need some info on the snowflakes because im getting one tomorow. how big around do they get as an adult? im makeing my own rock with a cave for him and need to know how big the hole needs to be. and how many inches a year do they grow? the one im picking up is probbly 7IN long. have any of you guys had any trouble getting them to feed? i dont want to mess up and kill him. but im truly sorry for hijacking this thread i just need help. thanks

 

[shaunda]

I feed my sfe krill soaked in garlic. When I started I had to put it on the end of a skewer and put in front of him. I have slowly moved the skewer closer to the top of the tank and he smells the garlic I believe and will swim out to get it. I almost have him coming all the way to the top and I believe I will eventually get him to eat of my hands. I also feed him silversides about once a week and he goes crazy for those. I saw a sfe at my lfs and it was as big as my arm. It was amazing!!!! I asked how old it was and he said 10 yrs.

 

[skyman]

I am having trouble getting my SFE to eat. I have tried soaking krill and maosis shrimp in garlic. Usually when I feed the fish the pink tail trigger will eat it all. The SFE will poke his head out of the rock and appear to look around but never come out. I have tried feeding him with tongs (purchased at LFS) but as soon as I put the tongs in the water the trigger will dart to the food and take out of the tongs. The pink tail is about 5" long and the SFE is about7"-9" long. Sometimes the pink tail will pick at him than all the sudden the SFE will turn and chase the pink tail around the tank for several minutes. Any advise?

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by sebae09
thats going to get expensive, but anyways i need some info on the snowflakes because im getting one tomorow. how big around do they get as an adult? im makeing my own rock with a cave for him and need to know how big the hole needs to be. and how many inches a year do they grow? the one im picking up is probbly 7IN long. have any of you guys had any trouble getting them to feed? i dont want to mess up and kill him. but im truly sorry for hijacking this thread i just need help. thanks
i hate damsels!

maybe you can wipe out the population!!!!!

 

[shaunda]

I would suggest feeding your trigger right before you try to feed sfe. That way he will be busy eating his food while you put the krill right in front of the sfe. They are almost blind so you may need to put it right in front of his face for the first few weeks. I had problems with my wrasse and clarkiis snatching the food of the skewer before the sfe would get it so I started dropping in their pellets on one side of the tank and feeding the sfe on the other while they were busy. Hope that helps.

 

[skyman]

Thanks I will try that

 

[dmc888]

I have a small 7 inch sfe. I have to pick thru the krill to find a piece that will fit down his little throat. I tried some bigger pieces but it was having a hard time eating it.
When i feed the fish i dip the freeze dried krill in the tank for a while and even let the fish nip at it a little and take it right out then let it soak. That leaves some scent in the water. Then i feed the fish their flake food. The sfe usually is sticking his head out when the fish are going nuts eating. I then grab my skewer thats actually two skewers wire tied together and stab the small krill under its belly going thru the top. That holds pretty good and doesn't fly off from the powerheads. I send the krill straight towards him maybe a inch away and he jerks it off the stick. He prefers to strike at it .
Also i dulled the skewer to be safe.
I feed him every other day. So far just one maybe two small krill.
I tried some zoe supplement today and my snowflake went nuts attacking my threadfin butterfly because he was in the way. No damage done since his mouth is so small. They hate each other. The butterfly is a pig and chases the eel around the tank either trying to nip at him or to steal his krill. I'm sure once he gets bigger the butterfly won't mess with him.
The butterfly is ridiculous how hard he tries to grab the krill off the skewer even after being fed. So i dip the krill on the left so he chases it, then quickly dip it to the right where the eel stays.
The eel might be scared of tongs they are kind of big. I would try a skewer.
I was beginning to hand feed him but i noticed when he is not hungry he bites the feeding stick so i figured that could be my finger and stopped hand feeding.