Picking out a Snowflake Eel

[thoroughbred]

Can someone tell me what I should be looking for when I buy a Snowflake eel. I know what to look for in fish but eels are kind of different haha. So what are the signs of a healthy eel?

 

[crimzy]

Watch it eat. Check the health of other fish in the tank. See if the eel is reluctant to come out of hiding. Make sure the eel's color looks right.

 

[florida joe]

you really need to have your lfs put your eel some place that allows you to check the entire body for sores, scrapes and torn or infected fins. if you see any of these hold off on buying it untill it heals

 

[nereef]

an eels body should be thicker than its head. if the head is bigger, than it's starving.

 

[thoroughbred]

OK well I went to the store and according to what you guys are saying its about half and half.

The eel was is this hollow rock so the owner took some food and lured it out. It got about 8 inches out of the rock and went back in. But it did eat the food. The color looked good. But I didn't have a chance to check over its whole body. It was nice and thick from what I saw though so that part is ok. Sadly its in a tank with a dying grouper, the owner told me it came in 2 weeks ago and refuses to it. Its big and looks HORRIBLE. The eel never came out of the rock so the guy will call me back when he comes out.

I hope the grouper doesn't

[hr]
up my eel cause I went to 3 stores and this one was by far the best.

 

[aquaknight]

Alright here's another question, at my LFS, they have 3 SFE's, 2 togother with smaller fish, and 1 SFE with some tangs and angels. The solitary snowflake is always out swimming the holding tank back and forth end to end. The 2 together just hanging together in some PVC. They look about the same color/size wise, which would be the one to get? I would think an active eel would be cool, but would he wear himself to death?

 

[grabbitt]

Active eels are always more entertaining to watch, but they're also the ones that try to explore.
In other words, make sure you have a tight lid on your tank or he'll find his way out.

 

[aquaknight]

Good point, you know, thinking about it, I wonder how he is still in the holding tank actually. They're like 2 15gal acrylic tanks divide by drilled piece or arcylic. The only thing keeping him in the front is the front brace, probably a 3" or so acrylic euro brace. Though all the SFE's are babies, maybe 8" or 10" long, about an index finger thick.

 

[grabbitt]

I wonder how they keep their fish in the tanks quite a bit.
One time when I was walking through the isle looking for a new addition. A mystery wrasse jumped right out of a little 3 gallon cell and right onto my foot... I wasn't sure if I should put him back in the tank or just throw him in my pocket with a handful of water and run