Snowflake eel... liver deaseas??!?!?

[Watercity101]

Ok so I've been researching stuff about my Snowflake eel its been almost 3-4 weeks since we had it. So when i was researching it said This -"The feeding of freshwater feeder fish (goldfish, rosy reds, etc) will likely cause liver disease if it is fed to the eel. Therefore, such feeding should be avoided." :mad2:" IS THIS TRUE???? With that.. (kind of hard to believe:sad1, not that i fed it live fish YET.. i've been so far feeding it shrimp and silver sides. But later on Im gonna start feeding it live fish. BUT IS it true that Feeding freshwater goldfishes or Rosy red can cause it to have liver disease? (PLEASE HELP):blown:

 

[E36328i]

Yes, freshwater fish are lacking in essential acids and other nutrients marine fish need to thrive. If you want to feed live, you should feed marine fish. Some people have had success rearing Mollies that are acclimated to saltwater and fed a nutritious diet with marine foods and enriched with vitamins (Selcon, Vitachem, etc). I am not sure of the long-term effects of feeding mollies as I don't think there has been a lot of research into it..

Always feed your fish a varied diet. So if you're gonna feed live, don't feed only the same things.

 

[Kynigos]

Freshwater fish, especially goldfish are not just non-nutritious they're downright bad for marine fish. They can cause the fish to develop fatty liver which can lead to infections. If you're going to feed him live use damsels. Mollies are better but still not the best.

I highly highly doubt a snowflake will go for a live fish anyway. They have teeth evolved for crushing and eating invertebrates and rarely go for fish. What is likely to happen is the goldfish will eventually die (fairly quickly, but frankly I'm not sure how long it will take as I've never put a goldfish into saltwater) and if you don't get it out it will ruin your water chemistry as it slowly rots.

If you do teach your snowflake to eat live fish it may turn into a fish eater meaning you wont' be able to keep it with small fish anymore. Since this is a reason people pick snowflakes that may prove a problem. he won't differentiate between "feeder" fish and the $80 dwarf damsel you have in the tank.

 

[namxas]

Why on earth would you go BACKWARDS in the fish's care? Most folks are thrilled when they get their fish weaned onto frozen/fresh foods. It makes it easy to provide them with the varied diet they require for good long term health.

Not only is there an issue with the improper fatty acids, but the flesh from FW fish, esp. those from the carp family (goldfish, rosy reds) contains high amounts of thiaminase, which inhibits the predator's thiamine uptake. This results in disorders of the central nervous system. This usually presents as cessation of feeding (anorexia), clamped fins, and an early death.

And +1 on the fact that SFE's can and will eat tankmates once they get some size on them. Live feeder fish are good practice for this behavior.

 

[Watercity101]

So instead of goldfish:fish1:, i can feed them once in a while some
Live, saltwater (Damsels)?
They would be healthier than Goldfish

 

[namxas]

You could try, however, the damsels will soon learn how to avoid the eel. They have poor eyesight (but a great sense of smell), and damsels are quick. I've had some that even a scorpionfish couldn't catch (they knew just how far "safe" was). However, the eel may indeed catch them sleeping, and if you're reason is watching them eat something live, this defeats the purpose.

If you want to use live feeders, I recommend fiddler crabs or live shrimp (gut loaded) as they are closer to the SFE's "wild" prey.

 

[olemiss reb]

Why do you prefer it to eat live rather than frozen? IF it eats them, it will be at night and you will not see it. I keep damsels in my g. moringas(aggressive fish eater) tanks simply because they are small, fast and hard to catch- meaning I have to replace them less often. Damsels vanish during lights out and I assume the eels are eating them but I have never witnessed it. As mentioned earlier crabs and shrimp would be better live foods for a snowflake.

 

[Kynigos]

I agree completely that there is almost no chance of you actually seeing the eel eat any feeders. I've kept many aggressive feeding eels and I fairly consistently get damsels to clean up the mess they make when they eat. I have only seen two damsels eaten even though they eventually all disappear. These are also active, piscivorous, sometimes aggressive eels that haven't allowed any pelagic fish to live with them long term. The odds of you seeing a snowflake eat a damsel, even if you have trained it onto live feeder fish is about nil.

Go with crabs or even shrimp. A big snowflake can crush a crab making a nice loud popping sound.

What are you looking for with the tank? Do you want a community of fish, or predators or just an eel? If you really want aggressive feeding fish there are other options for you than a snowflake eel and there are a lot of people on this board that will be glad to help you get a stocking list that will make you the happiest and the fish happiest.