Snowflake Eel

Snowflakes grow fairly rapidly and have a nice sized appetite, not oly that but they are VERY messy eaters. I understand you wanting one, because I did, was fun feeding it by hand too, but they are nearly blind and can actually bite the hand that feds it and have VERY dirty mouths, almost poisonous.

Your clowns will not be safe when this eel is large enough to consume it, this eel is nocturnal and will venture out and nab any sleeping fish it can swallow, mind you it can eat something twice the size of it's head or better, knocking it against rocks to break the prey apart into an easier meal to swallow, hence the messy eater part.

Mine even ate one of my cleaner shrimp even though it would let them clean him, I guess he got hungry one night and. . well, he had an expensive shrimp snack.

It's a neat animal to have but really requires you to have fish that are much larger that it cannot swallow, even if the clown seems out of reach it's not, the eel swims straight up and accross the tank if it feels like it and you will also need to keep in check water quality when housing such an animal. Mine would come to the surface to take food from my hand at about 8 inches long.

I wouldn't add anything. The tang won't be happy in the long term, and adding an eel would completely overstock the setup, as would even the smallest lion. Sorry.

No, really, the tank is full. If you trade in the tang, you could go with a dwarf angel that would not outgrow the tank or stress. Crustaceans are an optin, depending on what else you have in there already.

Sally's are territorial. If the CBS molted, the sally would definitely take it out, simply to avoid the fights down the line (CBS tend to be aggressive to other crustaceans as well). I've kept sally's with a variety of decorative shrimp, like blood reds and cleaners with no problems.

Your clowns will not be safe when this eel is large enough to consume it, this eel is nocturnal and will venture out and nab any sleeping fish it can swallow, mind you it can eat something twice the size of it's head or better, knocking it against rocks to break the prey apart into an easier meal to swallow, hence the messy eater part.

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Actually, snowflake morays are in the Echidna family, which eat crusteaceans, so fish are not in any danger.

Mine even ate one of my cleaner shrimp even though it would let them clean him, I guess he got hungry one night and. . well, he had an expensive shrimp snack

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As I said before, they eat crusteaceans, so any shrimp, crab, etc. are not safe.

As Orion said, your tank is overstocked, so you shouldn't add anything, and the tang will need more room.

There are some species of lion that are suitable for a tank that size (barely, though) but your tank is already too crowded, plus it would eat your smaller fish.

Actually, snowflake morays are in the Echidna family, which eat crusteaceans, so fish are not in any danger.

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Heres a quote from a site. .

Diet & Feeding: A carnivore, this eel's diet consists mainly of crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs, as well as sea urchins, but it may eat smaller fish if the opportunity arises.

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and another..

They tend to be less aggressive than other members of their families and will often leave other fish or eels in their enclosures undisturbed. In the wild they eat sea urchins, crustaceans, and occasionally, small fish.

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and another..

The Snowflake Eel is safe to house with any fish it cannot easily swallow... The wild Snowflake Eel is a nocturnal predator, ambushing fish and crustaceans.

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So yes indeed it may prefer crabs,shrimp and the like, it will indeed take a fish should it find one sleeping in your tank and it is of the right size, I was just advising that it is a possibility as they are not entirly restricted to crustacea and she has some small fishes.

You're right, but in general you don't have to worry about it.

Your clowns will not be safe when this eel is large enough to consume it, this eel is nocturnal and will venture out and nab any sleeping fish it can swallow, mind you it can eat something twice the size of it's head or better, knocking it against rocks to break the prey apart into an easier meal to swallow, hence the messy eater part.

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The clowns aren't in a lot of danger, there is a chance that it could happen, but it usually doesn't. If you feed it enough it shouldn't be to big of a problem.

This eel generally will not disturb or be disturbed by other tank inhabitants, and can live communally with other eels as well

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Enter a few of the non-fish eating Morays; particularly the delightful species of this article's focus, the Snowflake Moray, Echidna nebulosa. It doesn't get too big, grow too fast, generally harass other tankmates (unless they're crustaceans...),

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Snowflake eel specimens are by and large "live and let live" re their fish companions, but not always. I have archived on our site (www.WetWebMedia.com) a few instances of "Snowflake treachery". Such is definitely not the case with crustaceans. Echidna nebulosa's diet IS mainly crabs and shrimps in the wild. They will assuredly eat yours in captivity. Other non-vertebrate livestock is in no danger.

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Again, it is very rare for the eel to eat fishy tankmates, but you're right, it does happen.

You can see the crushing, holding pillar-like teeth of this crab-eating species... Very different from the "fang" toothed piscivorous species of moray eels

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Snowflakes aren't biologically suited for eating fish, unlike the piscivorus eels.

Must have never seen the appitite of a full grown (4-5') snowflake morey