FRESH WATER SNOWFLAKE EEL

[TONSOFOSCAR]

Has anyone kept a fresh water snowflake eel(GYMNOTHORAX TILE)? I had one before but, he died and got white stuff all around him . How do you take care of them?

[Vitaliy]

I believe they are brackish water...

[piranha45]

They are not freshwater fish. They require large quantities of marine salt in their water. see here
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmorayeels.htm

[GTS]

They are not freshwater fish. They require large quantities of marine salt in their water. see here
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmorayeels.htm


Listen to p45..

As you can tell by the number of posts he has, he happens to know everything.. :hitting:

LOL but he is right. They can live in freshwater when they are young for a short time but will soon require a brackish enviroment.

[Veneer]

That WetWeb Media article is slightly misleading in that G. tile, across most of its range, is typically a denizen of estuary mouths (occasionally foraying into full fresh and marine waters); however, optimal salinity brackets remain uncertain (and likely vary between regional populations).

Aquarists have had success with all of the following salinity ranges:

- 1.008-1.012
- 1.005 +/- 0.003; "absolute min. 1.002"
- "when adult: 1.015-1.021"

[piranha45]

I bow down to veneer :)

[rayman45]

listen 2 him !!

[dodgefreak8]

I know alot of these guys have way more knowledge than I do but i have had one for about a year and I just keep him in freshwater with about a tablespoon of salt per 10 gallons of water. My eel is very active and eats great but if I had it to do over I would have never bought this fish if I had known they were brackish. although a short life with me is better than the pet store that I rescued him from.

[TONSOFOSCAR]

I was just wondering if the eel is brackish or fresh. Some say they do best in a marine tank but, one the guys at my fish store has had one in a display tank for over 3 years in a completley freshwater tank. He feeds it shirmp and sinking pellets. Believe me i've seen it. I just dont kno why it wont work for me? And how come the eel gets that white coating all over his body. Thanks for all the info so far

[Vitaliy]

I was just wondering if the eel is brackish or fresh. Some say they do best in a marine tank but, one the guys at my fish store has had one in a display tank for over 3 years in a completley freshwater tank. He feeds it shirmp and sinking pellets. Believe me i've seen it. I just dont kno why it wont work for me? And how come the eel gets that white coating all over his body. Thanks for all the info so far
When I was working in a fish store about a year ago we got a few of these guys and put them into a freshwater tank and they all died by the end of the day.

[froggyman]

i completly agree that they must be put in brackish water for optimum health

[guesswho2005]

That WetWeb Media article is slightly misleading in that G. tile, across most of its range, is typically a denizen of estuary mouths (occasionally foraying into full fresh and marine waters); however, optimal salinity brackets remain uncertain (and likely vary between regional populations).

Aquarists have had success with all of the following salinity ranges:

- 1.008-1.012
- 1.005 +/- 0.003; "absolute min. 1.002"
- "when adult: 1.015-1.021"


Just a wondering the Bumble Bee Grouper and the FW Austrailian Sword fish are they in a simliar situation. Seem they are climatized to FW but will they live FW perm???

[AmazonPredator]

As far as I know the bumblebee grouper is completely marine and should never be in fresh. As far as the freshwater snowflake moray, we have one at my work right now and I was asking about their care to my boss as well. She was telling me that at the very least they need hard, alkaline water, brackish being ideal. I've had one or two in the past and they met the same fate...turned white and went down very quickly. I think what makes them so difficult to acclimate to captivity is that they come from so many varying degrees of water types that they don't do well if not placed in the same type of water they were caught in. I've heard of specimens being acclimated to fully salt and fully fresh. Probably the best thing to do would be vary the salt content of their water with each water change, eventually converting to complete marine after several months.

[nativelover]

I was just wondering if the eel is brackish or fresh. Some say they do best in a marine tank but, one the guys at my fish store has had one in a display tank for over 3 years in a completley freshwater tank. He feeds it shirmp and sinking pellets. Believe me i've seen it. I just dont kno why it wont work for me? And how come the eel gets that white coating all over his body. Thanks for all the info so far

the one at the pet store might not be the same kind...
here check it out...http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Moray%20Eel.htm

[TONSOFOSCAR]

nope the eels are exactly the same

[Kutty]

They're like scats (Scatophagus argus); juveniles live in fresh and brackish water but when adult move on to marine water.

[wolverine]

I wish I had read this stuff three weeks ago before I bought my (fresh water ) snowflake eel the guy at the pet store promised me this eel would live for many years in fresh water

[horndevl]

yes i killed one too :( :( a snowflake and f/w didnt work. i even have salt added to tanks, made me mad as hell listening to the pet shop..then they got another one went in to checkon him he died too.., :( :( :( :cry: :cry:

[davo]

i was always under the impression these were a completely saltwater fish, but i think some morays spawn in freshwater then gradually move to see. i dont think the snowflake does though

[riskistang]

I had 2 of them...returned them due to them attacking most of my hish....Cool, might get a tank for just them one day....But it will brackish like is should be for these fish :thumbsup: