What to put in with a SF eel

kingsord0

New member
what fish would be ok with a SF eel. i have him in a 29 gallon tank(planing on upgrading so dont wory) with a dwarf angle, croim, and a hawk fish. anything ok. he is about 6'' max.
 
wow thats a small SFE (snowflake eel).
Can I make a suggestion, keep the eel by itself for a while and allow it to grow bigger. These eels don't compete well against fast swimming fish (meaning the food gets eaten by everyone else first), like a hawk and croim (whatever that is), so you'll have to ensure it gets fed by training it to stick feed.
SFE are crustaecen eaters, they primarily eat crabs, shrimp, etc, fish are a secondary food.
BUT yes those fish are fine, now my concern is your tank size. a 29gal won't hold those 4 fish for very long.
Have you read this article on keeping SFE?
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/fm/index.php

frank
 
I had a Sf moray and it took to stick feeding really easy. I would just put the food in tongs and wiggle it in front of his layer at night. He had a really hard time locating it without the wiggle because they have poor vision.
 
For a SF that small make sure you feed it atleast 3-4 times a week. A lot of those small SF don't make it.
 
Don't wory i am feeding him and he is ok with the other fish. I was just wondering if i could get a fish like a dragonet(I can get one taht is eating brine shrimp so don't wory about food for it).
 
Do you know if the mandarin will take other foods besides brine? If you don't mind hand feeding the eel, do it. Mine took to hand feeding the first day that I got him. They can't see well though so watch closely and make sure he doesn't bite your hand. It has never happened to me, but ya never know. Also, the mandarin is an extremely hardy fish andd is non-susceptible to alot of diseases. DO NOT put inverts with the eel, I have tried many a time.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6970923#post6970923 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Konrade
Do you know if the mandarin will take other foods besides brine? If you don't mind hand feeding the eel, do it. Mine took to hand feeding the first day that I got him. They can't see well though so watch closely and make sure he doesn't bite your hand. It has never happened to me, but ya never know. Also, the mandarin is an extremely hardy fish andd is non-susceptible to alot of diseases. DO NOT put inverts with the eel, I have tried many a time.

You should never feed a moray eel by hand, your talking a big chance of getting bitten. Always use a stick or tongs when feeding. Manadarin usually only eat pods, though some may eat flake, otherwise they usually don't make it. Certain inverts will work fine with eel others not as well. You need to know which ones to mix and match together.
 
I have a sf eel..with a lion fish... blue tang...clown... puffer... and it is doing just fine... but just a tip... your eel will probably grow out of your tank if you keep it for a while... they do get pretty big. so unless you are planning on upgrading your tank I would watch it.
 
what fish would be ok with a SF eel. i have him in a 29 gallon tank(planing on upgrading so dont wory) with a dwarf angle, croim, and a hawk fish. anything ok. he is about 6'' max.

your tank is raching capacity. i would not add anything else to it. I also strongly recommend seperating the eel. I personally dont advise one under 10" as they do have a high mortality rate, which I find odd as the larger ones are almost bullet proof.
All that aside, these animals produce huge amounts of waste so unless you are packing some serious filtration your nitrates are giong to skyrocket, and with a regular feeding schedule it will quickly outgrow your tank.
 
i bought my SFE at about 6". he was pencil thin. i fed it via stick 4-6 times a week, as often as it would take it. im not exactly sure, but i think i got it around june or so 2005. mine is now at least 16" and very very fat and happy.
 
You need to make sure an eel that small eats to capacity every few days or it won't get enough food to live. They require a LOT of food when that small.

A mandarin that eats brine will die too. Brine is not enough nutrition to keep the fish alive.
 
I have a SFE, I have had him for about 8 months captured him out of a huge overflow box at the lfs. When I pulled him out he was about 8' inchs and very very thin. He was so weak he couldnt even eat chunks of krill so I fed him brine shrimp enhanced with vitamins. He recovered quickly and soon started eating krill. I made the mistake and fed him with my hands and now he wont touch anything that does not come from a hand so i get bit by a 18' inch eel every couple of days.
 
"I made the mistake and fed him with my hands and now he wont touch anything that does not come from a hand so i get bit by a 18' inch eel every couple of days."

keep using the feeding stick, he will come around
 
I wouldnt keep a dragonet in anything less than a 55, there are some that have learned to eat frozen brine but they will slowly waste away under this diet. They need a large mature tank with lots of live rock and copepods.

" only feed mine with the stick... and he is about 16-18". do they develope sharp teeth ever?

odin1, does the bite hurt?"

they have like mouse teeth they are small and blunt as they are mainly crustacean eaters, but they do hurt and if the eel is large enough are quite capable of doing serious damage.
 
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