An Eel Tank?

[Jflip2002]

Ok, so some eels (like a snowflake) are known to be not to agressivem, and be kept in a community tank. Im hoping to put an eel with my porc. puffer named Diddy (yes, its more of a joke than anything lol). Right now Diddy is by himself in a 20 gallon tank, with some rock, and nothing else. I took the tomato out and put him with my 2 percs in the reef tank.

If well fed they are ok, I understand. But what about their escapability? Do I need to take special precautions? The only openings I have is for my biowheel, and my water heater shares the same opening. Theres a good 1" gap between the biowheel and the rest of the acrylic.

Do these guys actually try to escape through any openings, as if they were snakes? Id imagine theyd realize that theyre going wheres theres no water and they cant breathe, so theyd go back in! lol

[gogators]

Snow flake eels aren't smart enough to realize that there heads are out of water. You might want to stuff some filter foam or something in the gaps to prevent him from getting out. They are pretty hardy however, I remember once a long time ago finding my snowflake fairly dried up on the floor. Put him back in and within 24 hours he was swimming around again.

[Jflip2002]

Filter foam, perfect idea. That or I can make a small little screen out of typical vinyl screening material?. Something to not splash water everywhere!

[Cylenchar]

I have a snowflake named Erich(Harry Houdini's real name.....) I think that says all that you need to know about them escaping......

At one point he jumped out of one tank to the next.......

[reiple]

Strange. I have kept a Snowflake for over 4 years now (it saddens me. someone said their lifespane is a little over 5 years only!!!!!). And another in my sump for over 3 years.

In all my years keeping snowflake eels I only had one jump out. And this was during the time I unwittingly placed two together in a tank. The jumper (I called Hope) is now the one in my sump.

Any fish (and if they can physically) will jump out of a tank if the tank is undesirable for them. Wouldn't you run out of a burning house? Or go out for food if there is not enough at home?

Yet twice I had a tank crash (power was out) and while my other fishes died (imagine fishes with no diseases and in perfect health lying dead as the oxygen levels dropped) the eels just extended their head above water level.


So there. No cover on tank. Lots of LR for these eels to live and hide in. And feed them with what they want --- shrimps, squid and an occasional live fish (gulp!!!! feeder goldfish or carp!!!! the eel has a rush running after these). BTW my avatar is Faith. Over four years now.

[Jflip2002]

I was very close to getting a black edge lastnight. Well infact I did, but I backed out as soon as I got in my car. Im going to hold off until Im ready to upgrade in tank size for my reef, and transfer my non reef over to my 29G long.

[johnqx4]

Ok, so some eels (like a snowflake) are known to be not to agressive...
Don't bet on it... I had a beautiful SnowFlake (Flakey) that was nearly 30 inches long and more than an inch in diameter. He didn't mess with the lions in the tank, but if your hand came anywhere near, he could and would draw blood.

BTW, someone mentioned a 5 year life span... Flakey was nearly eight when he died, and that was from a house fire. He still seemed healthy as a horse.

3 or 4 silversides, 3 of 4 times a week (served with tongs of course)

Also, he never got out, but I always kept a trimmed egg crate on the tank. just a couple of bucks at the hardware store (Get the white ones, not that electroplate mirror finish) You can trim them easily with a pair of wire cutters (or heavy sissors).

BTW, he seem to enjoy the sound of classical music. When ever I put on a cd (Mozart seemed to work well), he would come out of hiding and swim circles around the tank. Most laugh, but it happened often and I took pictures.... sober sometimes!

[46bfinga]

silversides are not very healthy for eels or fish in general.they are ok sometimes as a treat or weening a particular fish into eating frozens but should not be used as a stable diet.when you get your eel,feed him fresh fish,scallops,shrimp.
and by the way you know that a blackedge is very aggressive and i would not trust him with my porcupine puffer,or put my hands in the tank.for a 20 gallon you should probably stay away from most if not all morays since they will outgrow that tank in a short time.if you want to spend 200 bucks find you a dwarf golden moray,it would work well in that size tank.or you could get a couple engineer gobies or maybe a green wolf eel.if your set on a snowflake then keep in mind you should buy the smallest one you can find and be prepared to upgrade your tank by the next year or so for the eels sake and the porcupine puffers..good luck

[jenajet]

I love my snowflake! That being said don't put them with small fish. He is only about 8 inches long still very small and I was told they would not hurt anything it couldn't fit in it's mouth. Well I am sad to say he killed my watchman goby. The goby was twice as thick *bodywise* as the eel but I was watching my fish and the eel came up and grabbed it by the head and well the poor thing was miserable so I put him and some water in the freezer, wasn't much more I could do. Soon after it tried to get my large skooter blenny also to big to eat but this time I managed to scare the eel off and moved him to the 90 immediatly. For now he is living with some damsels and a maroon and they pick on him and he chases them. They will be going in a fowler as soon as it is ready. If you get one make sure he is kept with much much larger fish than him. I used window screen to cover they back of my canopy but he has never tried to get out. Now when he was in my qt he would somehow get in the hob so yeah cover any holes.

[rjs5134]

I'm pretty certain a 20 gallon tank is way too small for a snowflake eel, too small for a puffer fish as well. Both will outgrow the tank in short order. Like johnqx4 testified, 30"+ is pretty normal.

As far as non-aggressive, I had a small 8" snowflake with a fairly large percula(atleast relatively speaking) and the eel while feeding, grabbed the clownfish by the belly and pulled him into the rock work. There was a clearly a struggle and lots of dusty sediment and the clown escaped back to his host anemone. While I reached for the net, the eel came out and was stalking the clown again. I quickly caught him and put him in the sump. BTW, I also lost a yellow headed goby, certainly in the belly of the eel. It's unfortunate, cause he used be my favorite "fish".

Yes, much like a snake, it WILL find every hole to escape.

[Geoff]

the only eel i trust with fish is the zebra moray. has the wrong teeth to be efficient at catching fish.

G~

[Buzzard]

The Dwarf Yellow Moray Eel (Gymnothorax melatremus) is reef safe, community safe and sutible for 20G aquariums. They don't get much longer than 12" and may be your only option for a tank that size.

[Jflip2002]

Im going to be switching my puffer to a 150g fish only. Im tempted to put a eel in there. IVe seen a black edge that looks real nice. Nothing up to date, however.