New Snowflake...Quick Question

thoroughbred

thoroughbred

Member
So I bought a new Snowflake Eel yesterday. Hes about 14-15 inches long, very healthy looking at the store and eating well. I brought him home and he swam around the tank exploring most of the night. I woke up to find him in the PVC house I made him in the sand. He looked good but when I check on him an hour or so later he seems to only be breathing out of one gill. His neck is pumping and the gills working on the one side but on the other the gill is closed and hes not moving that side of his neck. Whats going on?
Tank Params:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 5
PH: Between 7.8 and 8 (how can I get it higher)
Temp: 80
Sal: 1.025
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Thoroughbred
Do you know anything about him only breathing out of 1 gill?
no sorry but im sure someone here does just hang tight
 
thoroughbred

thoroughbred

Member
So I went and closed the blinds on the window in my room. Came up half an hour later and he was breathing through both again. I opened the blinds back up, left and came back and he was back breathing through 1. So light may have something to do with it. And even thought hes breathing through 1 gill his breaths arn't fast or labored...wierd. I'm not running my lights at all right now. I have had a problem with diatoms in the past so I'm leaving my lights off until I do a few water changes with R/O water. Just thought I would through that out there.
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
snowflake eels r very tough species. i hv one that triple in size in 8 months. i wish i didnt buy him bc he eats everything. they r not very good at seeing as far as i know.
 
rumrunner

rumrunner

Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
snowflake eels r very tough species. i hv one that triple in size in 8 months. i wish i didnt buy him bc he eats everything. they r not very good at seeing as far as i know.
Bye everything do you mean your other fish? If so how big is your eel and how big were your fish? I'm just asking because I just got a SFE yesterday and would like to avoid that problem.
 
miamireefr

miamireefr

Member
do's and don't from my exeperience so far with my sfe.
current size of my sfe is about 22-24" but has ceased in growing length wise but now accumulating mass and looking tougher because of it.
His friends in the tank.
2.5" falco hawkfish, shy hamlet, and a flame angel.
Do's:
feed a variety of meals to him throughout the week if you can.
shrimp, clam, squid, silversides. simply mix it up
I feed mine every 3rd day. Mon, Thursday, Sunday, etc etc.
Make sure tank is covered. They venture off at night as you already saw. They do it alot and it's usually when lights throughout the house are completely off.
Feed him first and use I use a claw stick to feed him his food so he doesn't mistake my fish as his meal when he begins to go in a slight frenzy.
Don'ts for me.
no feeding live neck clams, they make a mess and I have him in a mixed reef. don't need him knocking

[hr]
over.
no emerald crabs..he had a 10 dollar meal on me.
I highly suggest imo not to feed this eel anything live if you plan to hae small animals with him because that alone increases his agressiveness to hunt his prey rather than be spoiled knowing it can be fed to him by a stick. Enjoy him. Aot of people say they are common imo once they come of adult size still can be enjoyed for their beauty.
Nick
 
rumrunner

rumrunner

Member
Nice post Miami, I have had mine for only 4 days now and have fed him twice. He is a greedy eater and so far has had a meal of krill and one with octopus and mussel meat. It is still tricky feeding him since he gets worked up when food is in the water. I am trying to feed him in the same spot near his cave that he has settled into so that he doesn't keep flying around the tank during feedings. But so far so good. I am constantly checking my tank though to make sure he hasn't escaped somehow.
 
zeke92

zeke92

Active Member
i wouldn't keep it with very many small fish. but some people have succesfully kept them with small fish by keeping the eel well fed and it didn't bother the other fish.
i read alot about these once for abou 3 days and never read anything about breathing out of 1gill...
 
thoroughbred

thoroughbred

Member
I haven't seen him breath out of one gill since that day so I'm not too worried and feeding him more often has seemed to help his temper
. Hopefully Bozo and King (clown fish), don't go on the menu any time soon.
 
rudedog40

rudedog40

Member
Keep a watch on him. I think my eel ate my new firefish goby. I just got him this past Saturday. He was out swimming in the open water, then Sunday, I never saw him. My daughter found him that night hiding in a hole under one of my LR. Monday, he stayed out most of the time schooling with my other fish, and eating well. Tuesday night was the last time I saw him. I've looked everywhere I can see, and have fed the tank twice. If there was food, he'd always come out to eat. HOWEVER, I've also noticed Mr. Eel hasn't come out of his hole since then. He normally pops out anytime I feed the tank, and usually wants a krill at least once a day. The goby was fast, but if eel-boy grabbed him, I imagine he won't be hungry for a while. Interesting thing is, I don't see any remnants of the goby anywhere. I would think I would find some pieces of him. My SFE isn't that big, and couldn't eat him whole.
 
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