Snowflake Eels...can you tell me a little about them?

[pittchic]

I have a terrible fear of snakes and my husband just bought a snowflake eel for our fishtank! It's very small right now, maybe 8 inches. What I want to know is...how big will he get and how long will it take him to get that big? Will it eat or terrorize our other fish (clowns, royal gramma, longnose hawk) or eat our shrimp and crabs?

I know they are known for jumping out of tanks, he's covering ours up as we speak. Is there anything else I should know about these guys?

 

[MarineFlake]

They are great escape artists, however, unlike your cold blooded air breathing land snake, once it 'escapes' it typically leads to death since it relies on water for its oxygen supply. I do not know anything about your setup, but I recommend returning it and looking into a white ribbon eel. They are far more successful in captivity and are very beautiful to look at. Check out

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2004/fish.htm

GL!

 

[Mad Mech Master]

I have a snowflake eel. So I will try to answer your questions. If you have others please ask.

It's around 4 years old and over 24".

It dosen't see very well, so it hunts by smell. I feed it shrimp, and I fear that your shrimp will be the first to be eaten. As soon as its mouth is big enough to fit the clowns, they will be eaten also.

I don't know your tank size, but I have mine in a 70 gallon, and this seems to be the smallest tank that it should be kept in.

My advice is to return it, as it will disturb the community, and grow quite large.

 

[mjvincent]

I have a snowflake eel. So I will try to answer your questions. If you have others please ask.

It's around 4 years old and over 24".

It dosen't see very well, so it hunts by smell. I feed it shrimp, and I fear that your shrimp will be the first to be eaten. As soon as its mouth is big enough to fit the clowns, they will be eaten also.

I don't know your tank size, but I have mine in a 70 gallon, and this seems to be the smallest tank that it should be kept in.

My advice is to return it, as it will disturb the community, and grow quite large.

Ditto, Eels imho should only be kept in a predator tank.

 

[zacdl]

Maybe exchange them when they get bigger for a smaller one?

 

[Hara]

I have had mine for a very long time, it is just under 3 ft in length. It is in an eel tank now, but I had it in my 175 gallon reef for quite awhile. It did not bother the other tank inhabitants, but it WOULD knock over rocks and corals. That is why I moved mine.