Snowflake Moray Eel Advice

[TheSwampFox]

I woke up this morning to find my snowflake eel I had just purchased (4-5" and thick as a pencil) had squirmed his way into the overflow box and then proceeded to get sucked into the sump.

He appears to be ok and is swimming/acting normally...

I used gutter guard such as this:

except over the big holes there is a fine mesh that came with it. I used clamps to attach it to the overflow box and cut it to fit. Do you think this ought to be enough to discourage him from attempting to "ride the water slide" again?

Last thing I want to do is spend another 2 and 1/2 hours searching/rescuing him.

 

[TheSwampFox]

hoping to hear an opinion before bedtime... any takers?

 

[nonstophoops]

hoping to hear an opinion before bedtime... any takers?

You are probably in bed.....but it should work. Is that guard plastic?? Eels are notorious for being able to get into really really small places if they want to, so you may have problems. Just keep your tank as fully covered as possible and you will be fine.

 

[dgk9723]

dude wow this is my second snow flake eel, one recently got into the over flow box and straight into the pump chamber where he was decapitated and woke up to a sump tank about to overflow, wow i was mad.... he was about the same size to 4-5 inch, its alright they are known for this with many different ways of escaping but damn what a way to wake up

 

[TheSwampFox]

You are probably in bed.....but it should work. Is that guard plastic?? Eels are notorious for being able to get into really really small places if they want to, so you may have problems. Just keep your tank as fully covered as possible and you will be fine.

Yes, it's made out of plastic. The meshing behind it is also really fine. And it looks like it worked as he is still here this morning.

 

[nonstophoops]

dude wow this is my second snow flake eel, one recently got into the over flow box and straight into the pump chamber where he was decapitated and woke up to a sump tank about to overflow, wow i was mad.... he was about the same size to 4-5 inch, its alright they are known for this with many different ways of escaping but damn what a way to wake up

I would make sure that anyone who has an eel puts some sort of cap on the intake of their pumps. Something like a sponge filter or even the plastic grating type ones just so no animals can be killed like that. It also helps captures big particles floating in your water that could eventually build up in the pump itself.

 

[TheSwampFox]

one last question about my snowflake.

I've read online only to feed them when they feel like eating... obviously my goal is prepare him meals instead of always buying live food for him but for now I have him on Ghost Shrimp... what should I prepare for him at this size that he would be able to eat? Or should I continue to feed him ghost shrimp until he gets bigger?

For reference, the ghost shrimp ALMOST look to big for him to eat haha.

He damn sure ate 10 of them the first night he was in the tank though. It was cool watching him hunt them.

 

[nonstophoops]

one last question about my snowflake.

I've read online only to feed them when they feel like eating... obviously my goal is prepare him meals instead of always buying live food for him but for now I have him on Ghost Shrimp... what should I prepare for him at this size that he would be able to eat? Or should I continue to feed him ghost shrimp until he gets bigger?

For reference, the ghost shrimp ALMOST look to big for him to eat haha.

He damn sure ate 10 of them the first night he was in the tank though. It was cool watching him hunt them.

You should get him on a variety of foods. You can cut most anything into manageable pieces. I would feed with a feeding stick so that you don't leave uneaten food in the tank.

I would recommend silversides, krill, raw market shrimp, scallops, clams, squid, and other marine fish. You can buy all of these except silversides and krill from grocery stores. Just make sure you get raw ones. Get a bunch of each at once, and cut them into suitable pieces. Then soak this mixture in a vitamin (selcon, zoecon, or comparable) for 30 minutes. Then ziplock bag up into single feedings and freeze. You can then pull out one feeding and let thaw when you need it. You will figure out what one feeding is pretty quickly. This is what I did with my Snowflake Eel and he was very healthy. I fed him about every 3 days.

You can still feed the ghost shrimp occasionally as a treat, but they are a pretty expensive thing for the staple of their diet and you have to go to the store all the time.

 

[TheSwampFox]

You should get him on a variety of foods. You can cut most anything into manageable pieces. I would feed with a feeding stick so that you don't leave uneaten food in the tank.

I would recommend silversides, krill, raw market shrimp, scallops, clams, squid, and other marine fish. You can buy all of these except silversides and krill from grocery stores. Just make sure you get raw ones. Get a bunch of each at once, and cut them into suitable pieces. Then soak this mixture in a vitamin (selcon, zoecon, or comparable) for 30 minutes. Then ziplock bag up into single feedings and freeze. You can then pull out one feeding and let thaw when you need it. You will figure out what one feeding is pretty quickly. This is what I did with my Snowflake Eel and he was very healthy. I fed him about every 3 days.

You can still feed the ghost shrimp occasionally as a treat, but they are a pretty expensive thing for the staple of their diet and you have to go to the store all the time.

I heard that. We bought 24 more today until we knew what else to feed him. I'll get silversides, krill and a vitamin to soak it in as soon as I can.

 

[Chaz88]

I feed mine mostly shrimp and tilapia. I like the individually flash frozen shrimp in the sip lock bag, it is easy to thaw one at a time. I use the individually wrapped frozen tilapia. I use a sharp knife to cut off a small strip to thaw and keep the rest of the piece of fish in a sip lock bag in the freezer. That kind of tilapia is often on sale in large bags at Walmart and the grocery store.