Origin: This Snowflake Eel was caught somewhere along the coastal regions of the Indo-West Pacific from East India to the Philippines and south to Australia then shipped to us. But they now live in aquariums all over the world.

Maximum Size: In aquariums they can grow to be about 18" long, but could grow a lot more, which is too big for most home aquariums.

So if you get one and take very good care of it with excellent water and premium foods, it may outgrow your aquarium, and you will have a difficult time finding a big enough home for it.

Behaviors: This is a semi-active swimmer that are not aggressive, but their mouths keep growing, and eventually they'll be big enough to swallow some of the fish in most aquariums.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include, Brackish water fish, because they will eventually need salt in their water.

Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.

Temperature: Snowflake Eels can live pretty well from about 70 to 80-degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 78-degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: This fish is a predator, eating fish that will fit into its mouth. But we're able to convert them to eating premium pellet food.

Click here to learn more about and shop online for premium fish foods.

Water Conditions: Snowflake Eels seem to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions. Probably a pH of about 7.8 with moderate hardness is best, when they are young.

Most water in the US seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water. As they get older they need proportionately more marine salts in their water.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.

Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.

Aquarium Size: When young and less than 8" long, it's probably best to house one in an aquairum with at least a 30-gallons of water, but bigger is better.

They'll soon need 50 to 60-gallon aquarium and eventually an aquarium with 100-gallons, 150-gallons, and maybe bigger.

Decor: Snowflake Eels do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

Click here for more about aquarium gravel.

Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality, but Snowflake Eels constantly need more marine salts in their water, and those salts will soon kill the freshwater plants.

Click here for more about live Aquarium Plants.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended. A Penguin 200B Filter in an aquarium with 30-gallons of water is OK, when they're small, but a Penguin 350B Ffilter is the right size for a 30 to 60-gallon aquarium.

When Snowflake Eels grow to be 10" long, they'll need to live in an aquarium with at least 75-gallons of water and have a couple of Penguin 350B Filters along the back edge of that aquarium.

The bigger aquariums will need proportionately more Penguins.

Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.

The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range. Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: Snowflake Eels can live for many years with excellent water and premium food.

Gender: It's not easy to tell the males from the females, when they're young, and even as they mature.

Breeding: There have been no reports of breeding these fish in aquariums, and so far no successful breeding in captivity.

Popularity: Snowflake Eels have been popular for many years. We like to tell our customers what we know about each type of fish, then let each customer decide which fish to buy as pets.

Names: The scientific name of the Snowflake Eel is Gymnothorax tile.

Variations: There are no variations that we know of now, but this fish occus across a vast region, and so there probably are variations.

Click here for a lot more information about keeping and caring for Snowflake Eels, including a picture gallery.

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