Feeding a Snowflake Eel

B

BlueOSO

New member
Hey everyone,
I got a snowflake eel a week ago and he has surprisingly been eager to eat the frozen shrimp i have since day 1. However, this enthusiasm concerns me. From what I've read, they should be fed 2-3 times per week. Today I fed my BTA a larger piece of the same shrimp, and as it was still eating it, the eel got really excited and after three stings it finally backed off, but is still trying to find a way to get the shrimp, even after I fed it a smaller piece to make it happy.
My question is, are these eels known to actively search for food even when they just ate? I wonder if the LFS didn't feed him at all. Also, how much is too much to feed, and how can I avoid feeding conflicts in the future?
My clowns are doing a poor job of guarding their BTA I might add...
 
How big is it? Little ones like you usually find offered at your LFS are usually pretty small and need to eat more often. The 2-3 times a week thing is for an adult. If it's 10" or less, I would feed it every day, feeding small chunks (no bigger than a pencil eraser) until it turns away. Also, you need to vary the diet - shrimp, squid, scallops are all good. Avoid krill.

What kind of clowns do you have? They could be in danger from this eel when it reaches adulthood. The BTA is more a danger to the eel than the other way around, although eels are messy eaters and could pose a problem for water quality that could negatively affect your anemone.

To avoid feeding conflicts, always feed the eel on a stick and make sure it's full before you feed the other fish meaty foods.
 
That makes sense, right now he is about 6 inches long. Do I need to feed him all three of those or could I alternate between shrimp and scallops? The clowns are a pair of saddlebacks. I thought 4-5 inches would be big enough but if its not, I am setting up a 75g soon and was planning on moving everything into it, but I could leave the clowns if need be.
So the eel will stop searching for food when it is full?
 
Feed them at the same time. I assume when you feed the eel he snags the food and goes into cave or rock crevis. While he is there eating feed the anenome. I have kept several snowflakes with clowns never a problem. I have a 8 year old eel I got in college. Up until a year ago I fed him 1 shrimp a week. He was a great size, had great color and was never hungry enough to eat my clowns, firefish or shrimp which he could of done no problem. He moved to my dads house and is on his feeding schedule. With my new eel I feed krill, squid or clams a couple times a week. And they will also eat Rods and LRS reef food a couple times a week. I also soak their food in a multi vitiman. My snowflake noweats looks very obese. I should cut down on the feelings.
 
Mine grew relative to how much I fed him- he grew much quicker at first when I was feeding him like you are now-when I slowed down to 1-2 times a week (silversides/shrimp) and he stayed healthy and didnt grow as much.
 
I had one once, and fed him pieces of shrimp, scallop every day. He also liked the best shrimp money could buy; Blood, Skunk, Coral Banded, Peppermint, etc. :furious:
 
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