Is snowflake eels reef-safe

[mikeabuoy]

My lfs said yes but I don't trust my lfs
(You shouldn't trust your lfs either)

 

[Downbeach]

As long as you don't have any ornamental shrimp, i.e. Skunk, Coral Banded, Blood, etc.

 

[RyanCSGO]

My coral banded used to chase down my snowflake. That shrimp is nuts.

the only think my eel ever ate that I didn't want him to eat was emerald crabs, and that was my bad decision to put those in with him.

 

[Mini-30]

I'd be a lot less concerned about my reef/corals and more worried about my fish. Eels in general feed on fish in the wild.

 

[Mistborn]

How big is it? I got mine when he was about he size of a pencil. He's about 2ft now and he's always been target fed by feeding stick. Has never bothered any of my fish, but any shrimp or small crustaceans will become food. Snowflakes have pebble like teeth so they naturally eat those types of things. Good luck if you get it! I love mine.

 

[Downbeach]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/fm/

 

[GroverSenpai]

I don't think they'll attack fish, my local aquarium has the bigger ones, G. Favagineus and the other, yellowish brown fat one, in a tank with Anthias. The current Indian Mud Moray I keep with my fish doesn't even bother to attack my mollies

 

[Dragonreef202]

Yes I would say they're reef safe I had a snowflake eel that only ate when target fed. Didn't bother any shrimp or crabs. Never did he bother any corals.

 

[tyler1503]

Fish safe with caution, but the majority are fine. I kept a 2ft snowflake with a few small (ranging from 1"-4") fish and never had an issue.
Coral safe with caution, they're not a direct threat to coral, however they can be clumsy and knock unsecured corals off rock work.
Invert safe. Nope!
Hope that helps :)

 

[LadAShark]

I'd be a lot less concerned about my reef/corals and more worried about my fish. Eels in general feed on fish in the wild.

Not true in the case of snowflake eels. Well, not entirely anyway. Their teeth are flat plates, so they are much more suited to hunting invertebrates.

 

[tyler1503]

Not true in the case of snowflake eels. Well, not entirely anyway. Their teeth are flat plates, so they are much more suited to hunting invertebrates.

Agreed. Snowflakes are crustacean eaters typically. Never trust an eel, but generally they are safe.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

I agree with LadAShark and tyler, snowflake eels are pebbletooth eels, which indicates that they eat crustaceans in the wild, not fish. That doesn't mean its 100% guaranteed that they'll never eat a fish, but they're relatively reef safe. I have an 18" one in my tank with 3 small lionfish, a small tomini tang, and two small ocellaric clownfish. They've all been together for over a year without any issues. I also have a tuxedo urchin, hermit crabs, a red mitrax crab, a serpent starfish, and two fighting conchs that my eel completely ignores. I also have some big turbo snails, which my eel likes to grab and then smack them against the rocks trying to crack their shells open. He hasn't succeeded yet and once he gives up, the snails just crawl away. He'd probably eat smaller snails though.

 

[LadAShark]

I agree with LadAShark and tyler, snowflake eels are pebbletooth eels, which indicates that they eat crustaceans in the wild, not fish. That doesn't mean its 100% guaranteed that they'll never eat a fish, but they're relatively reef safe. I have an 18" one in my tank with 3 small lionfish, a small tomini tang, and two small ocellaric clownfish. They've all been together for over a year without any issues. I also have a tuxedo urchin, hermit crabs, a red mitrax crab, a serpent starfish, and two fighting conchs that my eel completely ignores. I also have some big turbo snails, which my eel likes to grab and then smack them against the rocks trying to crack their shells open. He hasn't succeeded yet and once he gives up, the snails just crawl away. He'd probably eat smaller snails though.

Not invertebrate safe, yeah. Which generally means it's not reef safe, but is coral safe. To be reef safe, the animal needs to be fish safe, coral safe, and invertebrate safe.

 

[Nigelk]

I have mine with two large hermit crabs and turbo snails, no issue, I feed him squid and prawns, he actually won't eat fish at all!

 

[LadAShark]

I have mine with two large hermit crabs and turbo snails, no issue, I feed him squid and prawns, he actually won't eat fish at all!

Yeah, it seems like everyones' fish have different personalities and preferences. I'm planning on keeping some wrasse (harlequin tusk, dragon wrasse, formosa wrasse, com coris, red coris) with some abalones (natural predator-prey interaction going on here), so I'm going to have to play around with it and figure out how I can get the two of them to coexist. I'll probably just have to buy a really big abalone ;P