eel associating hand with food

[thelizardkin]

I have a small snowflake eel he's about 5"-6" I have to hand feed him beacuse his food is too small for a hook and now whenever I put my hand in the tank the little sob won't leave me alone he's too small to be anything more than a nuisance but I'm worried about him when he gets bigger is there anything I can do to discourage this

 

[G4546]

Congrats on your little guy! as they get older their eyesight continues to decline if you start now with a feeding stick or something along that line he will take right to it but enjoy these times while you have them! tell us how it goes in the upcoming months

 

[thelizardkin]

Thanks I'll try to find a stick small enough and I'll defintly keep you updated I've had him for about 6-8 weeks I'll try and snap a pic next time he comes out and one other thing I know their relatively peaceful for eels but he's in my 420g reef and I was wondering if there's a way to keep him from going after my other fish

 

[JSeymour]

Definitely find a feeding stick and feed him 100% with the stick in the same spot every time. They quickly learn the pattern and will 'sit' and wait to be fed there rather than shoot around the tank trying to find food. This can also help with the predation of fish in the tank, as it should become a lazy hunter. You'll may still lose a couple fish. What are it's current and future potential tankmates?

 

[thelizardkin]

Wow ok this isn't gonna be fun let's see stocking wise I have
1 fox face
2 yellow tangs
1 blue tang
1 sailfin tang
1 purple tang in the overflow
4-6 azure damsels
2 large domino damsels
1 sweetlips
1 bluejaw trigger
1 lyretail anthias
1 hogfish
1 dragon goby
2 maroon clowns
That's all I can think of ATM I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff as for future fish I never really plan that it's more of what the LFS has that I like that is at least relatively reef safe

 

[JSeymour]

Wow ok this isn't gonna be fun let's see stocking wise I have
1 fox face
2 yellow tangs
1 blue tang
1 sailfin tang
1 purple tang in the overflow
4-6 azure damsels
2 large domino damsels
1 sweetlips
1 bluejaw trigger
1 lyretail anthias
1 hogfish
1 dragon goby
2 maroon clowns
That's all I can think of ATM I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff as for future fish I never really plan that it's more of what the LFS has that I like that is at least relatively reef safe

Purple tank in the overflow huh? On purpose, or did it jump back there? Just curious.

Over all, most of your fish should be fine. You might lose some azures or the anthias sometime down the line, but your tank is big enough, so maybe not. What species do you mean when you say dragon goby, Amblygobius semicinctus or Gobioides broussonnetii? If it's Amblygobius semicinctus, there is a good chance it will be eaten once your moray is big enough. Small, streamlined, bottom-dwelling fish don't typically mix well with morays.

 

[thelizardkin]

The purple tang jumped about a year ago and the tank is so poorly built that getting into the overflow is almost imposable without being inside the tank but he seems to be doing fine back there and the goby is Amblygobius semicinctus but it's a big one right now it's wider than the eel the way I see it if he starts to be a pain I'll take him back and get another small one or maybe a zebra moray

 

[jaa1456]

I would try and get that purple tang out of the overflow, if it dies back there it's not gonna be pretty

 

[thelizardkin]

I would try and get that purple tang out of the overflow, if it dies back there it's not gonna be pretty

He's been back there for over a year and if you have any ideas feel free to share the tank has 9" of clearance on one side and the other side is about 1' with the light on the access to the sump is about 1'x6" 30" deep and full of tubes here's a picture

 

[G4546]

Eeeek! Tight fit no doubt! :sad2:

 

[Woodchuck12]

For getting out the tang, you could try the fishing method. You could get a barbless hook and try to catch it. Just my 2 cents

 

[murdoch LFC]

Lizard could you fill in the weir with sand displacing most of the water and bringing the fish to the top,where he would be easy to catch in a inch of water.I used this method to catch my dumb clowns twice,then just syphon out the sand
john

 

[TJDaddio]

I have a tiny tiny eel as well, mine is about the width of a pencil and about 5" long at most. I use a fondue skewer to put the silversides on it and feed him. (I just don't tell people that when I have them over for fondue!) hehe