Help with snowflake eel

[Gil03]

Hi all, I just picked up a very small snowflake eel today from my LFS. It can't be that old it's still really small which was what I was looking for, anyhow I know they eat a variety of meaty foods and I'm looking to start him out on silversides. Question though do they sell real small silversides? And how often should I be feeding the little guy? Also any tips on getting the younger ones to eat something anything.

 

[Daltonbilecki]

If he doesn't eat silversides at first then feed live ghost shrimp. I feed mine every other day or every three days. If his food it too big you can just cut them into smaller pieces.

 

[flsvedlund]

My snowflake is pretty small, so I just chop up the silversides into pieces for him. He also likes frozen krill and frozen mysis which are both smaller.

 

[salty joe]

Make sure your tank has a TIGHT fitting lid or screen. Snowflakes have a bad habit of finding the smallest opening and getting out. When snowflakes get hungry they are even more apt to find a tiny opening and get out. As they grow they become surprisingly strong, so you need a good lid.

I kept one for 11 years on freshwater minnows. He got hungry one day and pushed his way out then slithered to the bathroom.

 

[hotelbravo]

i started mine on frozen ghost shrimp he ate it from day 1 with no fuss. i personally dislike silverslides and dont recommend them to anyone feeding their inhabitants

 

[salty joe]

How come you don't like silversides?

 

[hotelbravo]

many people have found that silverslides go bad quickly and many times are bad before you even get them yourself. its much safer and far healthier imo to just go to your fish market and collect all of the food to feed your tank. better foods to feed are oysters, clams, squid, shrimp, and even small fish like silverslide only not the frozen than packaged then shipped on a truck only to thaw and then be refrozen in the store and then frozen again by you and thawed when you want one to feed your fish.

i find just buying them fresh and cutting up and sectioning them out in individual containers such as pill deviders makes it bullet proof

 

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/fm/index.php

HTH.

 

[hotelbravo]

Check this out.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/fm/index.php

HTH.

that was a very good read thanks for posting that

 

[solanalgraham]

I have 2 snowflake eels, one is very small maybe 6" and the other is at least 12", so far I have gotten them to eat chunks of scallop that I got fresh from the seafood counter. I was just trying to figure out how often they should be eating and about how much?
Should I be keeping ghost shrimp in the tank for them to eat as they please?

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[solanalgraham]

This is the little one

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[solanalgraham]

This is the bigger one

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[Reef908]

I have 2 snowflake eels, one is very small maybe 6" and the other is at least 12", so far I have gotten them to eat chunks of scallop that I got fresh from the seafood counter. I was just trying to figure out how often they should be eating and about how much?
Should I be keeping ghost shrimp in the tank for them to eat as they please?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

I had a dwarf angler for a few years and fed primarily gut loaded live ghost shrimp (fed shrimp variety of nutritious food prior to feeding to angler). The ghost shrimp would only last a few hours in the salt tank in my experience since they came from a fresh water system. You'd have to get acclimated, or acclimate yourself the shrimp, for them to survive more than a small amount of time in your system. They are brackish species but still need to adjust if they are sourced from a fresh system. Also I was informed by a reputable lfs when I got the angler that the shrimp are not that nutritious which is why I gut loaded when he refused any food other than this shrimp.

 

[hotelbravo]

I personally feed new eels every day or multiple times a day and slowly over the course of 3 weeks or so, I cut their feeding down to 3 times a week then after about 2 months I feed them twice a week.

 

[EGS25]

thanks for the tips everyone! Can't wait to get a snowflake in the next few months