want a snowflake eel

[puffer9006]

i really want a snowflake. i have a 72g reef with alot of fish. my smallest is a mandrin also have a couple small damsel and a bar goby. i have no cover for my tank. what should i know about them. are they hard to feed. what do they need to be feed. any help is wanted. thanks

 

[astross89]

I know that you will need a tight cover... they're escape artists!!

 

[marine fanatic]

1. Strong chance of trying to escape....a cover is strongly suggested.
2. Can eat inverts if you have any.
3. Love to hide in caves and will move things around so have a solid foundation if you have LR.
4. Can be very aggressive even against small fish.
5. Messy eaters, always clean up excess food after they eat to prevent water quality issues.....don't leave it to a clean-up crew since the SFE will probably eat them too.
Sorry I sould not be more specific, short on time and just voicing a few of my thoughts from experience.
But lastly, they are VERY cool animals

 

[nereef]

a cover of some kind would be wise. they aren't naturally fish eaters. you can tell by the morphology of the mouth that they eat crustaceans, and this is what they should be fed. i don't see the eel catching a damsel or a bar goby, and your mandarin is actually quite unpalatable.
i would feed frozen shrimp etc to the eel with a feeding stick.

 

[marine fanatic]

Originally Posted by NEreef
a cover of some kind would be wise. they aren't naturally fish eaters. you can tell by the morphology of the mouth that they eat crustaceans, and this is what they should be fed. i don't see the eel catching a damsel or a bar goby, and your mandarin is actually quite unpalatable.

Sorry, let me elaborate a bit better.....aggressive towards smaller fish not as in eating them but being food protective. Some SFE's can be aggressive towards smaller fish when it's feeding time and can cause fish to stress out and not want to eat. Mine did this too for a while until I taught him where the dinner table was.
Plus. SFE's cannot see very well and will sometimes mistake a small fish for a piece of food....it may be rare but it has happened.

 

[puffer9006]

so will ghost shrimp be alright cuz im feeding my fuzzy darf lion that. and what cover can i use to not effect the light from coming through because i have lots of coral. lastly i have a clam should i worry about the sfe eating that.

 

[nereef]

i agree with what marine fanatic has said (i wrote my 1st post before yours was up yet).
ghost shrimp will be okay if you gutload them first (feed the shrimp something nutritious and then feed the shrimp to the eel).
egg crate will work for a cover.
sfes probably won't eat non motile inverts.

 

[puffer9006]

Originally Posted by NEreef
egg crate will work for a cover.
what is a egg crate waht does it look like. i hear people talking about it but i dont know what it is. a picture would be good.
and thanks for all your help guys

 

[jam1e]

snowflakes may eat clams . it's a hit or miss situation .. I've owned two and ended up selling one becuase it got too big but I still have the other in my 90 gallon .. about 1' right now ..

 

[nereef]

i don't have a picture of egg crate, but i can try to explain. it's white, plastic, and is a grid pattern. it is used in lighting for fluorescent ceiling fixtures. any hardware chain store should have it. just ask for "egg crate for lighting." the advantage is that most fish won't escape through the small holes in the crate, but it doesn't interfere with 02 exchange or lighting.

 

[puffer9006]

ok i think when the snow clears up ill go to home depot and pick some up. thanks for your help.
one last thing what can i feed the ghost shrimp to gut load them. im going to buy in bulck of 500 from the lfs i work at becuase they dont carry them any more. just going to through them in a used tank i have.

 

[puffer9006]

bump