Snowflake Eel in Reef?

[pterois]

I may have done a boo-boo. Christmas week I moved my Snowflake from the 30 gallon to the 55 gallon. What a job that was! The 55 has nothing added but this eel and LR plus LS. It's just been cycling since Nov 1. All water parameters are great. He's fat and happy in his new cave.
My question is: This is supposed to be my first reef tank. Does anyone have a snowflake eel in a reef tank and should he be there?
This is the only item my teenagers asked for, and I'd hate to break their hearts.
Thanks,
Angela

 

[ivanfj]

A snowflake is fine in a reef tank as long as there is no small inverts in the tank and your rock is perfectly stacked together. Snowflakes tend to knock off your rock if they are not stacked tightly and you probably have to glue or use epoxy to secure your coral on your rock.

 

[eaglefan]

I have a buddy with one in his reef tank and hasn't had any issues to date. But I would do what ivanfj said and secure all your rocks.

 

[jserpe1947]

It'a a compromise. My Snow flake eal is now over a foot long and I eventualy had to move him to another tank. I wanted to have a lot of small fish and shimp in my Reef and you just can not keep the two in the same tank.

 

[scott9311]

When I originally started this hobby (obsession?), I bought a 55 gal from a friend which had a Snowflake, and a couple of larger fish. He told me he couldn't successfully keep any inverts (except for a cleaner shrimp) or small fish because the eel would eventually eat them. Another thing you may want to consider is to make sure you have a glass top on your tank without any holes. The eel likes to swim around the surface at night, and if there's an opening... it will find it and escape. And since eels don't have opposable thumbs... it won't get too far.