Eel Help

[cdubbs]

Hi i want to get an eel for my 55gal tank, but the last SFE i had got out and i never found him and i dont want that to happen again. It was really small so i was thinkin of buying one that is already pretty big so it has a harder time finding holes. The only thing is i have 2 power filters and a HOB skimmer, and it is impossible to cover every spot. Any ideas on how i should keep my tank eel proof?

 

[gmbnj]

I also use canisters on hang on filters on my 155 with an eel.
Just take some filter padding of some sort and cut it around the hoses, you will be able to get it almost completely sealed.
A small pinhole is fine, just nothing big enough for his body to go through.

 

[moraym]

It is not impossible to cover every spot, just takes a lot of effort and planning.
I've had a moray in a brackish tank from 4 in to 15 in, and he's tried everything to get out for two years. Here is what I did to keep him in:
1. glass aquarium top - got a glass aqarium top that perfectly fits my tank. The front two thirds is glass, the back third is a plastic that you can cut to allow hang-on filters
2. precision cutting - I used a paper template and managed to cut out a hole in the plastic the exact size of my hang-on filters, only about 2mm of space all the way around them. I then cut a notched 'V' on the left side of the plastic for the heater cord, and another on the other side for powerhead cord.
3. plumbing silicone - this is the most important part. I used a caulk gun with silicone to seal the space around the filters, and fill the space around the 'V's where the cords go into the tank. This effectively sealed my entire tank (nice because now there is literally NO evaporation either). Yet the silicone is pliable enough to peel back if I ever had to change a filter out or something. Only part not silicone sealed is the front third of the glass (hinged so I can open this section to feed the eel). Has a some weight on top so he can't push it up, could also use two small Stanley hand clamps.
4. screen - I purchased screen door screening and fitted it around the "waterfall" return sections of my hang-on filter. I did this because my eel managed to swim up the water and into the filter several times in a month period, he's very good at getting out apparently. Each time I had to pour him back into the tank. So I finally fitted screening around the return waterfall with some zip-ties. Rinse the screening well and it shouldn't affect your tank specs at all, it's fiberglass so it's tank-safe.
Is it a pain to do all this and seal the entire tank? Kind of, definitely takes some time. And owning a Dremel to edge out the plastic definitely helped. But all that being said, it is possible to do, and I've now done it twice. And I have to do it two more times in the next couple months as both my eels are getting tank upgrades. Just be patient, eels are well worth the effort. And purchasing a bigger SFE may not be the answer, they stay pretty skinny, even as they approach 2 feet long, and they're still very good at getting into areas that seem too small for their body.

 

[cdubbs]

ok thanks for the replies, i think i will be able to cut stuff around the filters and skimmer but the waterfalls is the thing that confused me. How do you actually set up the screen? The water flows through it and then into the tank? Can u please explain that part to me again? Thanks alot

 

[moraym]

Here is what I did on my big moray's brackish tank:

 

[moraym]

That is a plastic grid, I bought it at a craft store, it's used for some sort of sewing. The black blends well with my black background and the filter.
I cut the black grid to the exact size of the filter waterfall. For example, if the waterfall section is 5 inches across I'll cut a 5"x10" square of the grid. I slide the grid down the waterfall section (on the Whispers they have a lip it can rest on) and then the upper portion is held on by the filter's cover. You can see that in the pic, that is a pic from above the cover, the cover is holding the grid in place and prevents the eel from pushing the grid out of the way. Has worked for two years.

 

[cdubbs]

i cant really understand what the pic is actually showing..where do u put the screen?

 

[moraym]

On my little SFE's tank is where i used the screening, a little less aesthically pleasing, but it works nonetheless:

 

[cdubbs]

ok i see...maybe i can use something like cloth netting like what the nets are made of? I really want another eel but i will be really upset if another gets out. What kind of eel do you recomend with a dwarf fuzzy lion and a humu humu and niger trigger? SFE's are cool and pretty much always available at the lfs, but sometimes they have other cool looking ones/

 

[moraym]

With this I just cut a large square of screening, and wrapped it over the filter return flow. The tube that runs to the filter is put through a cross. I cut a " + " in the screen and pushed the tube through. The back of the screening is held on by the filter itself, the screen goes up the back of the return and hangs over the edge, the weight of the filter holds on the back. The front portion of the screen I pull up over the filter and use a zip-tie around the whole filter to hold it in place. The sides of the screening arent connected, but if you put it over the return flow tight enough then space between the sides are too thin for the SFE to get through.
Sorry if this is all confusing, there's really no way to explain it that well, it takes a lot of custom work and some creativity to get it just right, hence the reason both my tanks utilize two different systems.

 

[moraym]

Okay CDubbs, I grabbed an old filter to take a few pics and illustrate the first method using the black grid. Here's the filter (minus the cover) ready for the grid.

 

[moraym]

Okay, now I've cut the black plastic grid to fit right into the return flow section. In the picture the blue posterboard represents the black plastic grid. I cut the grid to fit perfectly into the return area, and then leave plenty of extra on top.

 

[moraym]

Now there are two ways to proceed from here, depending on the type of filter you have.
METHOD 1
Just curl the plastic grid back into the filter. It should fit perfectly now. If the grid is too stiff or taut and the front lifts up when you do this then use METHOD 2, posted below.

 

[moraym]

METHOD 2
Okay, here's what you do if the grid you get it too sturdy and wont flex back into the filter. This is also what to do if your eel is pretty big and may be able to push the grid up if you followed method 1.
Follow the first two steps above, cutting the grid down to size, but now here's the difference. Instead of bending the grid back into the filter, bend the grid forwards towards the front of the tank. The grid will be held into place between the return flow area and the glass tank cover (pushed back into the filter). The entire grid is then held on by the cover, you may need to weigh the cover with a brick or something if it doesn't have the weight to hold down the grid.

 

[cdubbs]

it looks like it would be hard to get rid of the space between the screen and the glass canopy becuase the screen isnt that sturdy. what about connecting the screen to the canopy?
PS Thanks for doing this for me

 

[moraym]

Now here's a second try at the explanation as you look at the picture above.
The 'return tube' is the center of the filter, where the intake tube goes from the tank into the filter and the impeller. As you can see, the tank cover glass/plastic go all the way up to the filter. You can't see it, but the tank's glass/plastic cover goes all the way to the blue line, which is hidden by the black grid.
The black grid is currently placed in the return flow area, and then bent forward. As you can see, the plastic grid is wedged between the tank's glass/plastic cover and the filter. And the entire assembly is held on by the filter cover.
Now just do this on both sides of the filter and you're set. It's a little pain to hold both grids and get the filter to sit on top, but it just takes a couple goes at it, and you'll have to do it when you change the filter media, but it's a small price to pay for a completely eel-proof tank.

 

[moraym]

it looks like it would be hard to get rid of the space between the screen and the glass canopy
You can also try to connect the screen directly to the canopy. The space between the screen and canopy isn't a problem if you cut it precisely, as I stated in one of my first posts. But you could also try to directly connect it to the canopy.
That's why i said it takes some playing around and some creativity, no two tanks/filters are the same and it's always a little puzzle.

 

[cdubbs]

that method would be good for my filters(aquaclear 300 and penguin 330) but i am going to have to use something very flexible like netting for my skimmer cause theres alot of small spaces around the skimmer. Thanks again, i am going to start the project this weekend, i will let u know how it goes.

 

[moraym]

Oh yeah, I forgot the easiest way to eel-proof your tank:
Don't fill your tank all the way up. When I first got my SFE I had to play with the sealing system for a few days. So to keep him in the tank I left my tank's water level about four or five inches below the top of the tank.
Whereas an eel can propel his body those few inches easily to jump out of the tank, so long as the tank is pretty much covered it's hard for the eel to propel himself out of the water and angle himself to get out one of the tank canopy's small holes.
This is the easiest way to prevent an eel from hopping out, but it also doesn't look too good to have a tank with five inches of water missing. So that's why I set up screen systems and silicone sealed my canopy, I thought it looked better and more discreet.

 

[cdubbs]

yeah i hate it when the water level is just a little low cause i hate the noise that the filters make when the water drops into the tank, and it make more bubbles, ill try and completely eel proof my tank. I hope it works.