Snowflake Eel in My Reef!

[Fish-guy]

So by feeding him guppies you're teaching him live fish are a good meal. If he wasn't going to eat your fish he will now. Lol. Btw there is no nutritional value to guppies.

 

[Gregcoyote]

They are escape artists. When mine got big enough he knocked a twenty pound top off the aquarium and died on the floor. They are pure predators, so don't be surprised about that. One of my favorite fish, but you have to deal with the fact that they are morays.

 

[Swicicki]

You can get him a school of chromis so he can "graze"

I used feed eels the cull from breeding chichlids

 

[All_fish]

How big is your tank?

 

[Big Tex]

My tank is a 75g reef ready, and about the guppies I just went with what the lrs was feeding him I can still swap foods, so should I cut up a silversides instead of feeding guppies? How about fresh muscles? I rather lose shrimp than a tang lol I plan to get a small school of yellow tail damsel maybe 5-7 and he can eat those if I go to long without feeding him. They're $3 fish, I just got 3/8" thick glass lids cut for my tank and they're within an 1/8" of the plastic edging I almost cant lift them up off the tank its a snug fit, and a heavy piece of glass plus my taos are sitting on top of them plus im building a completely enclosed canopy for my tank so I think I got the escaping thing down. What am I missing?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Just remember he's nearsighted and needs food within smelling distance. I am pretty sure he will accept a piece of thawed silverside. Get some hemostats so you can safely hand feed him.

 

[Gregcoyote]

When you get good at taking care of this moray, you could upgrade and try this one. 4' green moray shot on a night dive in the Caribbean. Check out the teeth. I first saw one of these in the movie The Deep. It scared me to death until I started seeking them out and even feeding them after I had some training in how to do it without getting bit.

 

[bribo12]

Haha upgrade to what a 5,000 gallon tank?? I read a story about some guy in the 80s who kept a green moray with 2 3 foot sharks an the moray bit one in half

 

[Gregcoyote]

They are spectacular hunting machines. This one could easily remove a finger or hand.

 

[Swicicki]

The snowflakes are a different genius than the" true" morays

Snowflakes naturally prey upon crabs and shrimp not fish. The the conical teeth or crushing shells not grabbing fish.

That is not to say they will not eat a fish if they can grab it. They are clumsy at chasing fish. They cannot see well and seem to hunt by smell . If lucky he may learn to leave "your" fish alone. I doubt he will mess with anything much bigger then his mouth.

 

[Big Tex]

The snowflakes are a different genius than the" true" morays

Snowflakes naturally prey upon crabs and shrimp not fish. The the conical teeth or crushing shells not grabbing fish.

That is not to say they will not eat a fish if they can grab it. They are clumsy at chasing fish. They cannot see well and seem to hunt by smell . If lucky he may learn to leave "your" fish alone. I doubt he will mess with anything much bigger then his mouth.

I did notice that, he was a very clumsy eater especially because I had to hold the guppy super still or he would spook.

 

[Swicicki]

He will outgrow the spooking thing but always be clumsy

He is a nocturnal hunter of crabs, when he catches a fish it will usually be when he stumbles across a fish sleeping in a hole.

 

[melosu58]

I fed mine cut up pieces ofshrimp for years and he did fine.

 

[Faucett]

I fed mine krill and he did great, but I got tired of him biting me while i cleaned the tank. What a pain haha. After a few months of having him he also ate two fire fish soooo... Enjoy

 

[Big Tex]

Im thinking of starting him on shrimp, gulf jumbo are pretty common around here and plentiful, pretty cheap too, I just dont want him to grow to fast, and be 3ft long in a year lol

On a side note, I noticed he squeezes into and out of every small nook and cranny in my rock work should I be worried about my frags? I hate waking up to overturned frags face down in the sand.

 

[Gregcoyote]

They are strong burrowers. They will move anything that's in the way when constructing several burrows. So yes, he might move a frag or two. Just watch him as he settles in.

 

[Big Tex]

They are strong burrowers. They will move anything that's in the way when constructing several burrows. So yes, he might move a frag or two. Just watch him as he settles in.

I did, and he settled in under the rock with the most below sand level clearance, lucky for me.

 

[Gregcoyote]

They mostly move around at night.

 

[Big Tex]

They mostly move around at night.

Yeah just tested that theory, turned my whites off and turned my blues to 20% and now he's on the prowl lol

 

[Swicicki]

Port photos when you have a chance