First eel

[moopiespoo]

I just got my first eel, a snowflake. Already I have fallen in love with him, he's so awesome! My question is what is the best material to use for the openings on my tank? We already had a scare last night, he swam in to the hob filter.

 

[polarpooch]

HEHEHEHE
What I did was cut pices of tank stripping to fit over the various holes in the tank, then got some mini-clamps to hold the pieces in place. I also have a 6lb rock keeping the lid down (after my tesselata liberated itself).
On my octo tank, though...I just use DUCT TAPE. But it ain't pretty!

 

[marine fanatic]

Never underestimate the Power of Duct Tape
I use a mesh I bought at a store called "stycro". It is a plenum reinforced polystyrene plastic and it is very strong. It even comes in different colors (I bought blue to match the bg of my tank). Pretty cheap, $4.99 for a 3' x 6' piece and it covers every possible exit. After I installed it, I told my snowflake..."Welcome to Alcatraz"
Congrats on your eel......they are amazing creatures, enjoy!

 

[maxpain]

Once the eel gets out, how does it move on the ground? Like a snake I am guessing, just wondering, because I plan to get a snowflake and want to learn as much as possable beforehand.

 

[polarpooch]

They wiggle themselves under things, so be sure to check your tank often--and under your furniture if they get out. I found my tesselata under my couch one morning...luckily I saw his tail. My blackedge lept from the net once and got behind the tank stand...that was fun.
I wasn't so lucky with my snowflake. He got out and my dog found him before I did
Just make sure to seal up your tank. I thought I'd sealed my tank up quite effectively until I discovered my tesselata had managed to push the tank lid open and leap to freedom.
If they do get out, and even if they are looking pretty dead, put them back in the tank...they cover themselves with slime to protect themselves when they get out of water. I'm guessing my tessleata was out for a couple of hours before I found him. He was slime covered and pretty crusty...but he sprang back to life when I put him back in the tank. Sometimes you just get lucky!

 

[armageddon]

I have glass tops for my 90 and that seals the tank completely. I only have a medium sized SFE so i know he can't push up the glass tops and hood and escape.

 

[moraym]

I also have a glass top, just sealed the back and sides (that don't open) with a silicone gel (think plumbing caulk). It peels off easily if i ever need to move the top for something major. The front half flips up and is just held down with my heavy light hood.
The added bonus of this is that it makes the tank air tight and I have basically no evaporation whatsoever.
Then I added a plastic mesh structure around the filter to keep the eel from getting into the filter, which he did four or five times. Never had any probs since.