Live food for Snowflake Eel

[ReeferKimberly]

I have one, around 7-8 inches. Pretty small right now, like the size of a pencil. He keeps moving holes, I have not been able to feed him yet (had only 1 week). I try and he just swims away. I would actually prefer he eat my CUC as weird as that may sound. I'd love for him to be able to hunt and eat when he wants, what he wants. Is this reasonable or should I re-home him?

I bought 15 ghost shrimp for him, they were in fresh water when I bought them but I acclimated them to salt over a 24 hour period. I added them all and within an hour all were gone. I saw them being munched on by everything. Crabs, snails, heck even an urchin was eating one. Either they died or were all hunted down. I don't know. I saw them swim around fine for at least 45 min so I don't "think" it was shock, but who knows. He may have eaten 1, but I really have no idea.

For the eel, he has a 30 gallon breeder, many caves.

I have added 15 tiny hermits, 6 different kids. A gorilla crab baby from another tank. Tons of stomatellas, tons of amphipods, 5 turbos.

Is it naive to think I can successfully keep a snowflake without feeding it myself (at least until it choose a cave and realizes what I am trying to do?)

I am just getting worried because it is seeming like it's going to be difficult to feed him until he stays put and even then, if I can get it to him.

Oh and the 30 gal is only temporary until he outgrows it.

If he could eat stomatellas and baby hermits that would be great, I have a huge abundance.....

Am I just worrying too much? I know they don't eat as often as other fish but who knows how long he went without eating before I got him.

[ReeferKimberly]

Oh and I also have dove snails. Anything else I could buy live that is not extremely expensive for him to eat? Few bucks a meal is fine for now. I just want him to be ok.

Edit: Ok I am not so worried anymore, I just tried again and he finally got it! AHHHHHHHHH that is the cutest thing I have ever seen. He ate a ton of squid and brine shrimp out of the turkey baster. Took him like 1 min to figure out what I was doing after the first bite.

Still curious about any of the above listed animals, especially the snails...I have too many doves and stomatellas still....

[Jerry W]

Be careful notto overfeed the eel. When I kept a couple large SFE's I fed them 2-3 times a week with a skewer. Get them eating silversides, small pieces of squid, clam, etc.. Overfeeding can impact them and then you have more serious problems. mine never bothered snails or hermits. Would devour sally lightfoots, porcelains and emeralds but they are an expensive snack. Get him feeding predictably and you'll be fine. Leave it to hunt when hungry and you'll likely end up missing things, even small fish.

[salty joe]

Originally Posted by Jerry W

Leave it to hunt when hungry and you'll likely end up missing things, even small fish.

Leave it to hunt when hungry and you'll likely end up missing things, even your small new eel. They get crazy when hungry. Cover the tank well. If your eel is the diameter of your little finger, don't leave any slot or hole greater than 1/8" for it to escape. They can and will squeeze through tiny openings and get quite strong.

BTW, I kept a snowflake long ago for 11 years in a 100 gal. Raised him on freshwater bait minnows. I know-ocean food is better-this was way before the internet. He got hungry and somehow got out. Whatever it slipped through was a lot smaller than the eel's diameter. Very sad day.

[D-Nak]

I had a snowflake for a long time, and all of the responses above are good ones. My snowflake left any shelled inverts alone, but loved everything else. You don't need to feed it live food. I fed mine fresh seafood (shrimp, clams, fish bits) on a skewer. They hunt by smell and not by sight, so as long as it smells fresh, they'll eat it. I would stick to target feeding than adding food to the tank. All eels tend to be messy eaters, and it's best to keep the waste to a minimum.