Freshwater Snowflake Eels

[ryno]

Hello, I have 2 freshwater snowflake eels. They are very active and i've had them for about a month now. Is there anyway to differenciate males and females? I would love to breed them if its possible. Are there any special requirements or anything that promote breeding? Do they lay eggs or what? If anyone knows anything about them, it would be a great help.

 

[nmonks]

There is no such thing as a Freshwater Snowflake Eel. What you have is a brackish/marine species called Gymnothorax tile, or possibly some similar species such as Echidna rhodochilus. All require low-end brackish water (SG 1.005) in the short term, and longer term, middling salinity (SG 1.010+) to fully marine conditions, whichever is more convenient.

What tends to happen when people keep them in freshwater is that they do fine for a few months, and then they suddenly go on a hunger strike and stop eating. Then they die. Do not, Do Not, DO NOT suppose for even a nanosecond that yours are different and that yours will be fine in a freshwater tank -- they won't be. This has been gone through so often you wouldn't believe, and I have no idea why retailers continue to sell them as freshwater animals. They're not.

Sexing is unknown, and breeding almost certainly impossible under aquarium conditions. Eels generally (by which I mean Anguilliformes, rather than eel-like animals such as Spiny Eels) have complex life cycles that often involve long migrations and planktonic larval forms. Fish scientists know remarkably little about the breeding of most eel species, and even those species that have been studied, such as the Anguilla anguilla, have only slowly revealed their secrets. If you're curious, that species matures in freshwater for potentially decades, then metamorphoses into a silvery adult that goes to the sea, it then spawns in (we believe) very deep water in the Mid Atlantic below the "Sargasso Sea", and then the adults die. The bizarre leaf-shaped larvae then join the plankton, drift slowly towards Europe and North Africa, and eventually metamorphose into elvers that swim up into rivers and eventually into streams, sometimes even wriggling overland into ponds and lakes. Moray and Conger eels are much less well known, but believed to follow more-or-less similar patterns with complex life cycles, though it may be that the adults are able to breed every year once mature rather than just the once as with freshwater Anguillidae.

Cheers, Neale

Hello, I have 2 freshwater snowflake eels. They are very active and i've had them for about a month now. Is there anyway to differenciate males and females? I would love to breed them if its possible. Are there any special requirements or anything that promote breeding? Do they lay eggs or what? If anyone knows anything about them, it would be a great help.

 

[simonas]

lovely fish these are I kept a large pair of them a few years back. I bought them as freshwater and read more and moved them to brackish and in my experience they grew far better in stronger brackish. There colouration and feeding habits tell you that when moved to brackish

 

[ryno]

I have them in brackish water now, I never had them in complete freshwater. I tried to do little research before I got them. I just put freshwater because thats what I bought them as. Ive been feeding them feeder minnows and feeder goldfish and they are eating like crazy. Im buying a dozen of each every three days or so. When i put them in there, within minutes, they've eatin a few of the goldfish. They usually eat the goldfish first and then the minnows. Is that normal?(to eat the bigger fish first) And am i over feeding them?

 

[nmonks]

Overfeeding? Perhaps not. But properly feeding? Nope. Don't use goldfish or minnows. I cannot stress this too strongly. Avoid any/all Cyprinidae because they contain too much thiaminase and fat. These are known to cause serious problems for predatory fish, especially Morays. Secondly, don't use store-bought feeders. If you must use feeders (and you don't) use ones you breed at home, livebearers and killifish for example.

Good live foods for morays include river shrimp (though again, these contain thiaminase, so gut-load first) and earthworms. Once settled in, they should take tilapia fillet and cockles, both of which are thiaminase-free and very nutritious.

Cheers, Neale

I have them in brackish water now, I never had them in complete freshwater. I tried to do little research before I got them. I just put freshwater because thats what I bought them as. Ive been feeding them feeder minnows and feeder goldfish and they are eating like crazy. Im buying a dozen of each every three days or so. When i put them in there, within minutes, they've eatin a few of the goldfish. They usually eat the goldfish first and then the minnows. Is that normal?(to eat the bigger fish first) And am i over feeding them?

 

[ryno]

Overfeeding? Perhaps not. But properly feeding? Nope. Don't use goldfish or minnows. I cannot stress this too strongly. Avoid any/all Cyprinidae because they contain too much thiaminase and fat. These are known to cause serious problems for predatory fish, especially Morays. Secondly, don't use store-bought feeders. If you must use feeders (and you don't) use ones you breed at home, livebearers and killifish for example.

Good live foods for morays include river shrimp (though again, these contain thiaminase, so gut-load first) and earthworms. Once settled in, they should take tilapia fillet and cockles, both of which are thiaminase-free and very nutritious.

Cheers, Neale

I have them in brackish water now, I never had them in complete freshwater. I tried to do little research before I got them. I just put freshwater because thats what I bought them as. Ive been feeding them feeder minnows and feeder goldfish and they are eating like crazy. Im buying a dozen of each every three days or so. When i put them in there, within minutes, they've eatin a few of the goldfish. They usually eat the goldfish first and then the minnows. Is that normal?(to eat the bigger fish first) And am i over feeding them?

Ok, thanks. i thought about getting a couple of guppies or somehting and breeding them as feeder fish

 

[nmonks]

Fair enough. But why? What advantages do you see to using feeder fish?

Feeder fish are expensive to produce properly, and the use of live foods may increase aggression among predatory fish. Fresh or frozen tilapia fillet is much cheaper and safer, and using tongs (never fingers!) you can hand-feed your predators, ensuring each fish gets the right amount of food. Substitute tilapia with cod, pollack, cockles, squid, etc to vary the diet and you'll provide a good mix of foods. Use prawns and mussels occasionally though; they're nutritious, and whole mussels rich in vitamins (the algae in their guts) but thiaminase is an issue.

Cheers, Neale

Ok, thanks. i thought about getting a couple of guppies or somehting and breeding them as feeder fish