snowflake eel compatability

[daveinkeswick]

Hi all
Firstly, thanks to everyone who replied to my newbie questions whilst I was getting my tank set-up.

Second, I have a 50 gallon tank, the only inhabitants so far are 2 med percula clowns, 6 blue leg hermits, 6 turbo snails and a brittle starfish. Plus an unidentified crab that hitched on LR.
I really like snowflake eels and would love to place one in my tank. My LFS has a couple in right now, about 8 inches long. I have read up a lot about em and it seems that 50% of people keep them in their reef tank with small fish and have no problems with the eel tryin to eat the other inhabitants, even cleaner shrimp!! The other 50% of people have had bad experiences and have had to get rid of the snowflake in the end.
So what do people think? Is it just a chance that you have to take?
My tank stock when complete would like to be:
2xperc clowns (have already)
1xsnowflake eel
1xflame angel or coral beauty
1xfirefish or neon goby.


If you have a snowflake eel, please pass on your wisdom.

Thanks
Dave

[prodman]

You should be fine snowflakes are not fish eaters.

[Travis L. Stevens]

given the adult size of the eel and the size of the tank, i just dont think you should add anything else but the eel. Though the eel will probably not eat your fish, it commands a lot of respect when it moves around your aquarium

[shealygg]

Hey Dave, I agree w/ prodman that "snowflakes are not fish eaters" ...AT LEAST INTENTIONALLY! This is where I can speak from experience. I have a 125g w/ 2 clowns, a YT, and a PT. I also have a shrimp or two and various other cleanup hermits and snails. My snowflake was really great in this setup for awhile. But, he became less and less reclusive, which on one hand was great, b/c he was much more active and visible and was fascinating to watch. But, come feeding time, he KNEW! He would hover around the algae clip and be right in the mix when I dropped in pellets or flakes. Intimidated the fish. I target fed him krill at a different time.

The problem w/ snowflakes is that they do not see very well. I do not believe that a snowflake would ever intentionally bite a fish, although there were many times that I did see him nip at a tail.

My most convincing argument to you is this....I awoke one morning to find one of my clowns acting strange. Upon further investigation, I noticed a wound/injury midway down torso. The clown looked really bad, so isolated her to the QT and began an antibiotic treatment. As the clown healed, the wound began to clear up.....such that you could see COMPLETELY through her. I freaked thinking I should just put her out of her misery. My LFS told me to give her a fighting chance, which I did.....she completely recovered, but I am ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that it was the doing of the snowflake during the night. The size of the wound was very similar to the size of my eel's bite.

So, now I have moved my snowflake to a smaller tank in my sons' room and they love him. I would just caution you based on my experience. I know lots of people have success w/ a snowflake in their main tank and that's what I was banking on. Another thought....if you're planning for your tank to be reef, your snowflake could cause problems for your rockwork also. They like to burrow under the rock and make little caves. This will eventually lead to avalanche! HTH

[daveinkeswick]

shealygg- Thanks so much for taking so much time to give your response and share your experiences. The info that I've gained from you is that: YES, a snowflake will probably be ok when its small and kept well fed, BUT, when bigger and hungrier may take opportunistic swipes at any fish unlucky enough to swim by. I'm gonna have another think about this one, its a shame b/c I think they're awesome creatures, I even re-styled my rock last w/e to make lots of hiding places for it!!

Travis - I think you have a valid point also, I may need to think about a bigger tank in 6 months time.

I'll let you guys know what I decide, it'll probably take me a few weeks.

Cheers

Dave

[shealygg]

Hey Dave....one more thought to you....my snowflake wasn't that big...definitely not grown or mature. He's still probably only 10" at most. Don't know if that helps, but felt I should share that after reading your most recent post.

[daveinkeswick]

Thanks Greg!
I'll keep it in mind.

Bye 4 now
Dave

[jeffb3t]

as a former snowflake owner, yes, they can be kept in a 50 gl. I kept one in a 55gl. Mine got to about 14 inch and would feast on anything it could catch including unsuspecting fish even though it was well fed. With something that aggresive, keeping some of the really pretty fish might be hard. but never the less, a beautiful eel and fun to watch.

[CletusKlump]

a zebra would be a safer bet, exspecially when they get larger

[tanker]

Originally posted by prodman
You should be fine snowflakes are not fish eaters.

HAHA. My old snowflake will disagree with this. Years ago I had a SF eel and he ate everything, shrimps, crabs, all my damsels, including a marron clown.

[Nuhtty]

Check out Uropterygius concolor...ghost eel