snowflake eel

[seamonkey]

I have a 12 inch long snow flake eel in my 55 gallon tank and was wondering if any body else has had expirence with these kind of eels. He seems to get along well in the tank but he has some sort of a problem with my large damsel.

[seamonkey]

Its not the best picture but you can see him in the right hand corner.

[steve1s]

Actually it is the damsels that will usually have the problem with the eel. They will for the most part try to scare it off and sometimes dive attack the eel. Most times there will be no injury to either party and the damsels will tail slap the eel.

You should also be aware the the eel will get quite large, over 2 ft. In a 55g you might want to reconsider that. They will tax the bio load as it's feeding requirements increase, not to mention the size constraints of a 55g.

Cheers
Steve

[newby]

I had read that eels were not compatible with clown fish, but I see you have one in your tank. Is the snowflake an exception to the compatibility rule, or is your snowflake still too small to be problem?

I really like both species and was wondering if the following would work:

in a large tank, around 100 gal., preferably wider than 4", I was hoping to create a cave area for a snowflake on one end of the tank, and put some anemones at the other end for clown habitat. My hope was that the two would then stick closer to their respective homes and maybe the snowflake wouldn't eat the clown(s).

[steve1s]

As long as the eel is properly fed then it should not cause concern with any animal in the tank. It can actually co-exist with skunk cleaners believe it or not.

The only way this can really be accomplished is to feed the eel whenever it wants and to the point of satiation. Meaning until it stops accepting food and is not really given food types that will make it consider other inhabitants as a nice between meal snack. Genearlly squid and octopus are the best bet. Urchin if you don't have a live one... :wink:

The one drawback to your idea is the anemone will not tolerate the ensuing nitrates that a well fed eel will produce. As well one of the drawbacks to a reef tank. If not fed well they roam alot, when fed the right amount you have nitrate problems.

Just a thought... :D

Cheers
Steve

[newby]

Thanks for the info. Maybe I could just get a collar and leash for the eel :wink:

I can tell now that in the long run, I may get addicted and have to set up multiple tanks - there's just too many amazing fish/inverts/corals :!: