Freshwater Snowflake Eel

[juliemichelle]

I am hoping you guys can help. I fell in love with an eel at my LFS. I figured I bring him home and search the internet to find out more information--but all it says is about saltwater eels. I know that I have to hand feed him krill twice a week. He is now squiggling over my 55 gal and seeming to live happily with my convict cichlids. How else can I keep him happy? My ph is at 7.0, and ammonia is at 0 ppm. I was thinking of naming him "Elly".

 

[e-cat]

if its any thing like my snow flake moray eel you dont want too be feeding him by hand, there bites are suposed too be pain full and infect easily.

 

[juliemichelle]

My LFS guy said that if I was a wuss (which I screamed while petting a hedgehog because he hissed) I could use a straw.

 

[e-cat]

dont forget too keep your tank coverd very well, theres some info that might help you http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmorayeels.htm
you wouldnt be considerd a wuss, but he a idiot that knows nothing. i use a hagen multi-tool too be my fish.

 

[e-cat]

heres some more http://aquarians.net.tripod.com/FishGuide/morayeel.htm
and
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/sharks_eels_loaches/eels_moray.htm

 

[juliemichelle]

I just added 3 tablespoons of salt to my tank and bought a hampster tube so that my eel can hang out but still be seen.

 

[cdawson]

Snowflake morays ARE SW, they should start off in BW (using synthetic marine salt, not aquarium salt). So if you've bought it already, go get yourself a hydrometer and a bag of instant ocean. Raise the salinity slowly through each water change. These fish are NOT FW and will not survive for long in FW. So if you're not prepared to take care of it properly return it immediately and scold the pet store owner for selling it to you with bad info.

This is the site to go by
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmorayeels.htm

 

[e-cat]

good points cdawson, not too mention that the convict cichlids wont like the high ph and the salt it there tank but they will pic on the eel or if there small the eel might eat them.

 

[juliemichelle]

There are such things as freshwater eels. On one of the other recommended sites that someone added a link to stated that there are FW eels. Also I bought this eel from the same store that WOULD NOT let me buy a puffer because they're BW. And gave me a lecture about stores that do crap like that. :?

 

[e-cat]

sea how wetwebmedia has freah is quote ans brackish too marine in brackets, the fish in those pics are brackish too marine there is no true fresh water snowflake eel, do you have a picture of it?

 

[Allivymar]

There are semi-freshwater eels, but the snowflake (if it is a true snowflake and not just a cool name stuck on by the lfs) is a reef associated eel and consequently a brackish/SW fish. You can read up on the snowflake here: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Echidna&speciesname=nebulosa

Now it may not be a snowflake; if it is a FW eel, its prob part of the Anguillidae family. That being said, even that family winds up in SW; they start in FW but migrate to SW to breed and die. More info here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/anguillids.htm

More info here as well: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmorayeels.htm

 

[Terry]

I don't know much about eels, except jellied eels ( being a cockney). But isn't a snowflake eel part of the conga eel family.
if this has already been said, sorry i have just jump in without reading the other post.

 

[cdawson]

The snowflakes (like said on wet web media) is the eel that "doesn't exist", there are too many bloody names for that eel. It's one eel that's been improperly identified several times. The FW moray, which again is a bad name because they are in actuality marine fish. I really don't get why anyone puts the FW in front of these names. Anything that I've seen named FW 'anything' has in actuality been brackish to marine.
Juliemichelle: yes there ARE FW eels, but what I meant is that there aren't FW morays. Your LFS probably had such a hard time selling those eels they'd do anything just to sell them. I've actually heard of another store doing exactly the same thing to another user.

 

[AtodaJ]

http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/sharks_eels_loaches/eels_moray.htm#top2

This site is selling FW Snowflake Eels. Are they swindling customers? 8O

 

[juliemichelle]

No picture. He is light tan with yellow/lighter tan spots, his nosrils have little outtie flares and a big mouth! I fed him last night and he ate 2 krill out of a set of salad tongs. (did I mention a big mouth) I'll see if I can get a picture - but he hangs out in a cave and only pokes his head out when I walk by. He wouldn't eat if he wasn't happy - right?

 

[juliemichelle]

Also, he looks more like a snake (no fins) and when he swims his tail looks slightly ruffled. I keep looking at the recommended sites and his dots don't look like snowflakes - just dots.

 

[AtodaJ]

Does he look like this:

http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aquarium/gymnothorax_tile.htm

 

[e-cat]

thats what my guess your eel is but gymnothorax is brackish to marine and labled wrong on that site like many others.

 

[e-cat]

No picture. He is light tan with yellow/lighter tan spots, his nosrils have little outtie flares and a big mouth! I fed him last night and he ate 2 krill out of a set of salad tongs. (did I mention a big mouth) I'll see if I can get a picture - but he hangs out in a cave and only pokes his head out when I walk by. He wouldn't eat if he wasn't happy - right?

try giveing your eel octopus and squid my snow flake moray eel love it.

 

[juliemichelle]

He does look like a "gymnohorax" but he is a lot lighter. Picture coffee with lots of cream.