How often do you feed your eel?

gomrjoe

gomrjoe

AC Members
May 22, 2006
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Miami, FL.
I recently acquired a snowflake eel, I have had him about a month and am trying to get it on a feeding schedule that won't let him grow too fast. I had one about 8 years ago but he only lasted about 2 months because he got caught in my filter. (old tank)

I have read that eels have an almost unquenchable appetite, that if you feed, they will eat. Right now I am feeding him one silverside (lancefish) every other day, and am wondering if that is enough, too much, or what?

When I bought him, he was probably about 9 to 10 inches long.

How often do you feed your eel? Or what would you recommend?

My tank:
100 gallon tank
2.6 wpg pc lighting
35 gal wet/dry/sump
Protein Skimmer
UV Sterilizer
1 yellow tang
1 pac blue tang
1 reef chromis
3 lyretail chromis
2 spotted cardinal fish
1 lawnmower blenny
1 snowflake eel
current cleanup crew: 25 turbos, 25 blue leg hermits
Inverts: star polyp, yellow colony polyp, encrusting
coral, 1 sand star
 
yay a topic with my specialty.

if you want to push it, try twice a week with the largest silversides you can pull out. should be enough.

he can be pretty violent with a lack of feedings though. take caution.

oh and contrary to popular belief, they do get full sometimes.
 
I have noticed that right after I feed him, he is definitely still hungry, because that is when he is most agressive. He has turned an eye at two of my smaller lyretail chromis! They swim pretty fast, so he doesn't get that close really, but still he does show interest in them!

After about 15 minutes or so, he regresses back into his cave and just looks around at everything. For the most part, he is pretty well behaved, he has found a nice crevice in the bottom corner of my tank.

I love watching my Yellow Tang, she is the most agressive towards him, she is constantly extending her fins and swatting at him, she wants to make sure she shows him who is in charge of this tank! My Pacific Blue Tang on the other hand could care less about him.

From what I have been reading, it doesn't seem to make sense to keep them happy by feeding them, because they will just grow bigger, faster, thereby increasing their appetite, making it a viscous circle.

I have another question for everyone... can someone elaborate further on the truth or myth as to why snowflakes are NOT reef safe?? I cannot see him harming my corals, he doesn't move around the rocks or anything, my rock is very secure, and the crevice he has chosen in my tank is out of the way. If someone could elaborate further on their behavior and how it might harm a reef tank and inhabitants, it would be appreciated.

thanks,
 
i've wondered why they arent reef safe too. i mean i can understand the the rockwork might shift if they where to dig into the sand beneath a rock. As long as you maintain routine feedings they are'nt as violent as people believe. i have never had an attack on other fish. Once my eel finises eating he usually retreats back into his little crevice.
 
I have a 29 gallon salt water tank which houses my Snowflake Eel. I feed my eel whenever it tells me it's time to eat. My eel comes out of its cave and darts at me if I come near the tank, it will stay out for awhile, looking impatient. I thaw out some shrimp and sure enough, it's gone in seconds. My eel has a behavioral way of letting me know its feeding time, usually once or twice a week I feed it 2-3 shrimp (like the kind you get at the grocery store, cooked). Hope that helps!

vteel
 
Don't feed your eel cooked shrimp. The nutrients are lost when they are cooked. ( Just like when we boil vegetables first instead of eating them raw or steaming them. ) Feed fresh/frozen.

I feed my SFE about every 3 days until it stops eating, which is usually after 3-5 pieces of squid, shrimp, scallops depending on the day. It pigs out a little more with the squid, so I have to keep count.

I hope I can refer to this here. A good book I have found and refer to is Phil Purser's Keeping Moray Eels in the Home Aquarium. I was actually told it was a great book by someone on here back when I first joined. It was worth getting. It talks about feeding, overfeeding, powerfeeding - ehich no one should do to an eel, and covers many other things about Morays.

Enjoy the Eel!
 
I just checked out germanman's website, and his "Predator Tank video" :eek:

He refers to his deceased Frogfish that lived in his tank with his SFE. No wonder its dead, they are in a 20 gallon tank. Anyone who knows anything about eels, even as little as I do will tell you 20 gallons is too small for an SFE, let alone to add a frogfish in there.

I started out with my SFE in a 35, and that was a was of those, with the intent to move it when it got big enough things. Well, I have only had it since the end of October, and although it seems perfectly happy and is growing well, well colored, etc., I can't keep it in the 35 knowing that I want it to live a long life. It will be rehomed in my new addition of a 55 gal shortly. Morays can live for 10-20 years if well cared for. Their predatory nature requires that they have ample swimming room for their nightly prowls. There is no way that this eel can swim around enough in a 20 gallon tank.

Dude, rearrange your tanks and put it in your 55 if you want it to live a long healthy life.
 
how does the tank being a 20 gallon lead to the death of a healthy fish? u know nothing of my upkeep so please dont judge. unless u have all the facts.
also u state the tank is to small for the eel and thats why the forgfish died...if ur going by that id imagine u meant that it died of water quality issues...if so u dont have any idea of the water quality and i can assure u, even though im sure ull beg to differ, that it is always more than prime condition. i have and am currently keeping very difficult animals in my aquariums and although there is a general idea of how "u must" keep animals that isnt always true, if anything in my career as an aquariums service master and zoology/ aquatic sciences major i have learned that things always vary due to procedures. also the forum rules exclude personal attacks and i have taken ur comment as such and would appreciate if u kept ur comment to ur self regarding my aquariums and ur lack of knowledge on my procedures and background.
 
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I just find it funny that a person with 6 post that knows nothing about any of us or how we keep our tanks would come here and attack one of the more knowladgeable members. PLUS look at the eel it is in no way shape or form to large for a 20.

Thank you all and I will end my rant now, I just hate it when people do this crap without asking about the setup or takeing into concideation the size of an animal. For all this guy knows it has a nice new bigger home for when he grows up.

JOE
 
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