Info needed on Snowflakes

[cagrn]

If I can ever get a proper fitting cover ( I may have to get it made since I can't find one ), for my 35 gallon hex tank, my step son wants a snowflake eel.
I know nothing about eels other than they are escape artists.
So, I have a few questions.
Should I put it in a 35 or not?
If yes, should I put the eel or fish in first, or does it matter?
Other than the obvious " very carefully ", how do you clean up the tank without getting bit by the eel?
How do catch them if you have to move them into a bigger tank?

 

[k-rok]

Hello,
I've been interested in Snowflake Eels for a long time - and just got my first one last week. I had to actually glue the plastic covers onto the glass tops so there would not be a gap in the back of the tank. Of course I have tubes for my filters running into the tank there so I just cut out slots in the plastic so they would fit and still leave no possible escape routes for my eel. I'm not sure if it matters about putting fish in first or not. My eel is all by himself for now, but I don't think he will bother any fish I put in as he was in a tank full of smaller fish when I got him. He has a piece of LR that has caves in it that he stays in most of the time. I don't think they will try to bite you if you are in the tank unless they think they are being fed. I feed mine with one of those grabber things - he will strike at the end of that occasionally but only because he's looking for food. As for catching them - I bought the piece of LR that he lives in so it was easy. I would probably get two nets and put the nets together and trap him in there so he can't jump out. Oh, and about a 35gal. tank - I would think it to be too small. It would work if it is a small eel - but they get around 3' long so I don't think 35gal. is enough for an adult eel. Good luck!

 

[stacyt]

A really small SFE might work for a while in a 35. My LFS gets them in about the size of a pencil sometimes. I purchased mine about that size, and kept him in a 37 gallon for several months. It didn't take him long to outgrow that tank however. They grow rather quickly if well fed, and taken care of. Eventually mine was moved into a 175 bow front, and he was really active moving about the entire tank.
Generally SFE's do not bother fish. They eat crustaceans in the wild. If fed properly most will not bother any of it's tank mates.
Unless you hand feed the eel, something I do not recomend. Than he shouldn't associate your hand with food, and most likely will not bite. Mine never has bothered me. Usually when I clean the tank he heads for cover, and will disappear until I am done.
Moving the eel can be a pain. I usually use a net, and a large container. After all the LR is removed from the tank I place the container in, and use the net to coral him into the container. Than I lift the container out of the tank. When they get full grown you'll need a large container.

 

[blizz75]

If ur going to put one in the 35, then you should not get any other fish and then should upgrade to a 75g after the eel has grown to around 20" or so.
You dont need a tight fitting lid just make sure that it covers the WHOLE tank. around any filters, pumps or skimmers as mine escaped through a small whole where my skimmer hangs on.
Get lots of rock because they love to swim through it, dig under it and sleep in it.
Feeding, i reccomend soaking your food in fresh garlic. Feed twice a week while he/she is young and once a week when full grown. Feed anything fresh, no pellets, flakes, brine shrimp or freeze dried foods. Shrimp, crab meat, fish fillets ( freshwater ), mussels, octo, squid, clams, silversides and etc. MIne loved them all and lived healthy for almost a year
Keep no inverts ( except urchins ) that are valuable in price or to you. He may eat them may not, but its a deff. a chance. I kept mine w/ hermits that were smaller than a .5" and they were fine.
do ALOT of water changes if your going to put one in the 35 as mine was quite messy and really messed w/ my water quality in a 29g. and i highly reccomend a skimmer because if will help the tank alot.
As for feeding and cleaning, i would use a feeding stick because i dont like putting my hand in my tank when i dont have to but they are very docile and alot of people feed them by hand. I did mine a couple of times and he never bit but i may have been lucky so be careful and use your best judgement. and same for cleaning mine always hid when i put my hand in the tank.
If you get a larger tank then keep fish that are bigger than its mouth. They swallow prey so if they cant fit it in to swallow it then prob. wont go for it.
And lastly to transpot it you can use a jar, net anything really,

 

[sw65galma]

Just so you know a good size SFE bite doesn't really hurt that bad...it's a little pinch...They got 1 buck tooth in the middle...I hand feed mine all the time.err should I say I get bit a lot lol...they can't see for nothing..

 

[rufone]

I had a snowflake for almost 6 months before he escaped and dried before I could find him. I had several other fish, and had no problems. Did not find him that messy with just a cheapy filter. I bought feeder fish and froze them as I couldn't count on the store having the smaller ones. I just thawed them out and gave them to him. They can not see very well at all. When I get the new tank set up we want to get another one

 

[blizz75]

Alright Rufone, freshwater feeders are bad for them, not good at all. Cagrn please dont feed these and Rufone reconsider and do some more research. Also how can u say that they were not messy with a cheap filter. Did you check your levels weekly?

 

[scsinet]

I'm on my 4th in as many months.
Eel #1: Nice little guy. About 12 inches long. Swam down my overflow pipe, into the wet/dry, navigated his way through the bio-balls, into the sump, into the sump drain, and into my Iwaki intake. Buh-Bye.
Eel #2: Satan. About 10 inches long. Attacked and nearly killed a beautiful Red Coris Wrasse...(a huge fish compared to the eel). In fact, eventually killed him because his wounds never fully healed. Returned him to the lfs after the attack, traded him for Eel #3.
Eel #3: Dumbarse. Lived in my tank a whopping 8 hours before he litterally did exactly the same thing as Eel #1. To this day I cannot come to terms with such a coincidence.
Eel #4: SoSo. About 12 inches long. My overflows are now secured, so I haven't had the pump problem again. My new Wrasse is a Lunare, who he has nipped at at least once. He also chomped off half of my Lion's tail, which has grown back.
The thing about the way they hunt is that they can't see what they are hunting, so they'll clamp down on a fish 3 times their size. Also, if you stick your hand in the tank, they just smell meat and may bite you, but like Galma said... it really doesn't hurt so bad. The big problem is feeding time. If you just throw food into the tank, the eel will go into a smell-driven frenzy and could very easily bite down on your fish. In my FOWLR, the eel is the smallest thing in there, but that doesn't stop it from happening. You really need to feed the eel by hand or tongs separately to keep him distracted while you feed the rest.
Frankly though, I wouldn't even attempt one in a 35... too small. True you can sell them/trade them as they grow, but a juv. snowflake will outgrow a 35 in a matter of a month or less.

 

[cagrn]

The SFE at mt local LFS is a small one, 6-8 inches. It amazes me at the reports that they grow so fast. I was more worried about one escaping than outgrowing the tank too fast.
I'm starting to think that maybve its not the best idea until I get a much larger tank.
I really don't want a snowflake, but like I said my stepson does. I would prefer to save up and get a Dragon Eel. The only thought there is do I want my first eel to be such an expensive one if I've never had one.
Blizz75, if I still was to get it, I cant buy frozen silversides to feed it?
Thanks all for your advice.

 

[sw65galma]

Originally Posted by cagRN
If I can ever get a proper fitting cover ( I may have to get it made since I can't find one ), for my 35 gallon hex tank, my step son wants a snowflake eel.
I know nothing about eels other than they are escape artists.
So, I have a few questions.
Should I put it in a 35 or not?
If yes, should I put the eel or fish in first, or does it matter?
Other than the obvious " very carefully ", how do you clean up the tank without getting bit by the eel?
How do catch them if you have to move them into a bigger tank?

I got a snowflake for a year before getting my Dragon...Of course i've had many years of Sw experience and many tanks.
You don't want to just jump into eels with the most expensive one.

 

[cagrn]

If you read between the lines that is what I was saying. I'm not going to jump out and pay hundreds of dollars for something that I don't know how to care for. I'm still not sure I want to pay 20 or so for a snowflake if its going to need a new tank before I learn enough about its needs to care for it properly.
Thanks again though. I am following a lot of threads that I've seen some of you in before. I'm trying to laern as much as I can from all of you.

 

[blizz75]

No you can feed frozen silversides im refering to those little packets of frozen entrees or whatever, the food packaged is so small. But if it was fresh when you bought it like anything from the supermarket then you can feed frozen, thawed of course, sorry for the confusion
And as for snowflakes, if you have a stable system snowflake are pretty easy to keep, was my first fish