anyone every moved there eel??? how did you do it???

[justchillin]

i will be transfering my 14" snowflake eel from my old 30 (i know!!) to it new 75 gal home in the near future...
since he is aggressive what is the best way to go about moving him???
also how should i acclimate him to his new home (floating him i little bag obviouly isn't possible)?? The old tank is at my moms and the water quality probly isn't what it should be???
i was considering trying to net him and then put him in a rubbermaid container with 2-3 gallons of the old tank water for transport. then add 1 cup of water from the new tank every 15 min. for 1 hour then netting him and adding him to the tank...
please comment profusly as he has been with me for 2 years now and i don't want to lose him now...
thanks in advance,
mike

 

[dlight692000]

why cant you do the bag theory? just got to your lfs and ask for one of their bags. and float it and then in like 15 doible the water and then in like 15 minutes put him in it? eels are pretty hardy and i think you could do it.

 

[saltwater marauder]

When I moved my snowfalke I lured him out with a piece of krill and held the krill on a feeder stick right in front of the net, since they dont see very well he followed the smell right into the net. Had two large bags leftover from the lfs and filled it with the original tankwater and then acclimated as normal. gl.

 

[pufferlover]

One other thing about snowflakes is that they tend to move toward you when trying to net them. The article I read stated it could be shocking to you as you expect it to go away from you so if it happens don't get spooked they just tend to do that. One other thing you might try to get it from the tank is use a quart or gallon plastic container to scoop it out I do that with my Puffers (to prevent puffing out of water which is bad) and find that it works like a charm.

 

[heithingi]

Trey,
Maybe this is a stupid question, but why do you not like nets? How else do you catch fish, especially the fast ones? I would love to hear of another way!
Lynda

 

[pufferlover]

I am a believer that nets are stressful to both the fish and to us trying to catch them. Have you ever spent a long time chasing a fish around a tank with a net that catches on everything in the tank. Sometimes you have no choice but I like the container method where possible. You need a large mouthed one such as a gallon ice tea container. I will get it in the water and if needed use a big net to herd the fish towards it. In some cases being clear I don't think they realize what it is (but they sure know what a net is for). I have had them go in thinking they are safe and I have them, no muss no fuss). Try it you will like it.

 

[saltwater marauder]

I agree, especially on smooth skinned fish or spiny fish like squireels where they will erect the dorsel and get stuck. Like trey said it may be difficult to catch a snowflake with anything other than the net. I too use plastic containers to catch all my other fish, the value-pack size juice containers that are like 2 gallon jugs work well when you peel the wrapping off and cut the top third off of the bottle. Fish never know they are caught until you pull the jug out of the main tank.

 

[thespook]

If you are tarring the tank down I would suggest removing some of the water. This will keep the eel from trying to get out while u try to catch him.
I moved a 18" eel from one apt to another and kept it in a 5 gallon bucket for about 3 hours. And when I put it back in his tank he was just as happy. He has since grown about another 1.5"

 

[pufferlover]

That last post is a thought to. If you are keeping the original tank set up you could siphon water from the top to lower the level into a bucket and once you get the eel out put the water back in. Don't siphon the bottom tho if you want to re-use the water. If it were me tho I would take out 10 gallons catch the sucker and just as in a water change put in fresh new salt mixture.

 

[lcc]

I moved a moray about a month ago. I was lucky. I have 3 of these big shells the type you see the natives blow in on TV. My moray would use one for his house (the moray was about 16 inches had him for 5 years) I got a 5 gallon bucket and filled it about 1/2 way with water from the tank. I then was able to pick up the shell and when the shell was over the bucket I poured him in. I think I was pouring and he finally realized he was out of the tank.
Anytime I cleaned the tank and the shells I would have to pour him out of one of the shells before removing the shell for cleaning. I guess I was lucky because he would be hard to catch with a net.