username

Do snowflake moray eels not grow so big if their tank isn't so big?

Miss Mouse

Hello!
I think that's a myth that fish will not grow as much if their tank is not big enough. That's like saying "If you put a new born baby in a box it wont grow to its full size"...not very true is it?!
Are you thinking of getting an eel? They're very cool

username

Miss Mouse, I was at a saltwater fish store and they're the ones that told me that about the snowflake eels. I was just wondering if that was something to do with that certain specie.

Miss Mouse

That's interesting that they say that but from what I've read I would not get one without a lot of space and a lot of care and attention due to their eating habits and their nocturnal habits.
This is what I've found on wet web media http://www.wetwebmedia.com/snowflakemoray.htm

"Irrespective of purchase size, this and all Morays' tanks should be as large as possible (a minimum of sixty gallons, even for small specimens) and supplied with plenty of "stable" cover. Let's expand on these ideas. Moray eels are often "out of sight, out of mind" to aquarists who own them. Hiding by day, more active when their owners are sleeping. For such apparently sedentary creatures, muraenids are "heavy-bodied" and consume good quantities of foods at times, with concurrent waste production. All this foraging, eating/mess-making takes up "capacity" as in volume of their living quarters."

They do sound very exciting to keep though! Maybe when I have a bigger tank

username

Also there are eels that have teeth and could give you a painful bite and snowflake moray eels are one of them.

DreamCatcher1987

I owned a snowflake eel named Dreamcatcher not too long ago. She was good, never bit, i stuck my arm in the tank many times and she would wrap around my arm, never trying to bite and she was less than a foot long and i had her in a 29 gallon tank...the #1 rule i guess to snowflake moray eels is that if you get one or plan to get one, make sure there is a top that the eel CANNOT bump off or squeeze through. Mine bumped off a glass canopy while i was at college and i came home and found her dead by the tank. they are good pets, sad to say i didnt really get to see mine unless my hand was in the tank or the lights were off, but they make marvelous pets. They DO outgrow tanks i was warned about it, my friend, Travis, has a snowflake moray that is a little less than three feet long and she started in a 29 and now is a 250 gal tank.

username

Also I know a guy that has this eel, I believe it's a jeweled moray eel and he hand feeds it every time and never got bit.