Finally added my snowflake last week @ roughly 12". It goes through these berserker spells of craziness. I keep it well fed and feed while it's at the mouth of the crevice. Still it will chase fish and just act like a lunatic sporadically. My old chain link was much more mellow as was a skeletor and my friend's zebra. Normal behavior or is this an exception?
Are snowflake eels always crazy like this?
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Coralreefer1
Valuable Member
Pretty much normal behavior especially in feed mode. They are very hyper and spastic. You want mellow...Zebras are the way to go. You can literally hold and pet them.
I thought it would be more peaceful. It was mellow as can be for months in observation but has totally done a 180 on me once in the dt. I cant have a 2ft+ eel going nuts like this.
Now how in the world and am going to catch this thing in a big tank with rocks everywhere.
He's still a baby and new to the tank, he will mellow with time. Snowflakes are just like most eels once settled in, he will find his couple of spots and just tuck in. You'll see him cruising if he's hungry but mostly in his caves. Get him on a regular feeding schedule and feed him his full until he turns away and he will likely mellow with time. Young specimens can be especially active and eels in a new tank can be active as well.
I think you're right about the feeding schedule and I also don't think I've been feeding enough. It should of crossed my mind earlier but I've also been using the same stick to feed the urchin which I think has been setting it off. Things went much better tonight after I made sure the sf was full. I think I just need to feed the eel first or at least try before feeding the rest of the crew. Definitely gets worked up a lot quicker than my last eel.
When I had my eel tank. My snowflake was by far the most energetic. The only time he would run around the tank like that was when he was hungry. I always changed up his diet between squid and shrimp. I found that the squid keep him fuller longer. That maybe something to try. I also had a schedule and stuck to it. My eels knew when it was feeding time and would start swimming the tank when it was time to eat.
Bhor217
Active Member
+1 to @lion king
my snowflake eel is in a predator tank and loves to cruise the tank from time to time, and definitely did it more the first few months I had him, he is likely just exploring and meeting his tank mates. even though he was "acting like a lunatic" did he do any damage to anything? I find the my eel tends to be more exploratory towards other fish during feeding time, but once he eats, he retreats back to one of his spots. I happen to love when he swims around, it is very cool movement in my eyes, but totally get the frustrating side if he is being aggressive towards your fish.
my snowflake eel is in a predator tank and loves to cruise the tank from time to time, and definitely did it more the first few months I had him, he is likely just exploring and meeting his tank mates. even though he was "acting like a lunatic" did he do any damage to anything? I find the my eel tends to be more exploratory towards other fish during feeding time, but once he eats, he retreats back to one of his spots. I happen to love when he swims around, it is very cool movement in my eyes, but totally get the frustrating side if he is being aggressive towards your fish.
The problem is it won't eat consistently. Occassionally I will get it to eat until stuffed but usually it starts acting nuts with the frozen food for the tank. Learned to leave the foxface and tang alone. However it bothers my others which right now isn't a huge deal but once big enough it will probably be a problem.
He will eventually realize that food is not for him. He may stick his nose out, maybe come half way out of his cave and start looking around. But eventually it's up to you to get him on a consistent schedule. If you do he will settle down.
Lol I hope you're right but it's not looking good. Exhibit A I just tried to feed some shrimp and squid. Took 3 pieces refused the rest and I even harrassed it until it went in the cave. Alrighty broke out the frozen cubes. 1 teaspoon the eel spaz's and now I have to undo my eel proof top to fish this fool out of the overflow smh. They should of left this one in the ocean
Each eel is different, at first they are everywhere, spastic, even scary. I've covered my overflows with cut plasic that i would superglue down, that's with a cover. I've pulled my ribbon eel out the sump, luckily covered section in the sock. After a while they settle down, after they know the territory. I've panicked when i saw I had left the top off of an eel tank. Then I see him tucked away somewhere. That would not have happened the 1st year, he would have been on the floor. At the size your snowflake is now, it could be a year before he really settles down.
Cook
Active Member
Snowflake's can go into frenzy mode while feeding. Mine is about the same size as yours now and was actually more aggressive when he was only about 7" long. Mine is not on a set schedule and he only comes out when hungry. Initially he ate twice a week, now he eats much less and has gone 2-3 weeks before showing himself lately. From what I have read it's normal. When he is out he is always fed first and only with "his" stick. Once he is full, I wait a few minutes before I feed his tank mates. He is much calmer now than 8 months ago when he was new to the tank.
It's not aggressive as I thought. Just crazy and blind. Hungry or not it comes out acts like a spaz gets slapped by the tang, slapped by the chromis, poked by the foxface then goes back to the rockwork in 15min. It's our little routine.
dstevenstn
Community Member
Strangely enough, last night my eel popped his nose out and I was able to feed him some krill
