Lost eel

[k-dawg]

I know eels are capable of excape. But I know there is now way by eel could get out of my tank but it has dissappered. I have a large built in filtration system in the back of my tank and I think it some how found its way back there. However the way it's set up I can only search so much of it. If it's in a certaint part or parts of it there is no way I could get to it. Any body have Ideas for getting it to find it's way to the main tank on it's own?
I know it's a weired question but I don't know what to do.

 

[bdhough]

You'd be suprised the smallest crack fish can escape in. He may be in another part of your setup. Smell check is a good way to see if he's dead. Look around your tank for a dried up eel too. I assume you've dropped food in the tank for him to eat and he hasn't come out to get it....

 

[bluegoose972]

I had my tank sealed up nice and tight....Except for one thing. I was running a CPR Bak Pak skimmer. My snowflake eel climbed up through the discharge tube and out the top of the skimmer. I couldn't believe that he would do that. He was small at the time, so I sealed it off with duct tape. Then I was cleaning and I removed the unsightly duct tape to cleanup the area. The eel had grown and I figured he wouldn't try it. Well, after being gone one weekend, I can home to a missing eel. Bummed me out, but made me learn a lesson...SEAL EVERY HOLE!

 

[killafins]

what do u use to feed the eel? a feeding stick? a hanger or a fork like me? whatever u use, put it near every nook and crany of ur tank, fuge, anything the eel could possibly fit in. Do this around feeding tiem, this will help alot more.

 

[k-dawg]

At this point I think it must have gotten out because it still hasn't shown back up yet. But still I haven't been able to find a body anywhere around the tank so I'm still holding out hope.
It feeds by picking up what my other fishes miss. I have a panther grouper and a lion in the same tank and they don't pick up everything on the way down so my eel and brittle star always cleaned up what was left on the ground. If your thinking either of these two fish have eaten the eel they are all still babies and the eel is bigger than both of them right now.
this is my first aggrisive marine set up as I've only kept reefs. But I have had a fresh water snowflake eel before and it never even attempted to excape and it was much much larger then this one in a tank a quarter the size of this one. I wonder why this one would want to leave? I guess it was just it's nature.

 

[shep]

eels are escape artits and will bail sometimes. look around the house they can live out of water for a while. they are tough critters. most likely he has dried by the time i made this post though

 

[betts]

I don't know where your tank is located in your home, but we have a 125 in our den that sits close to our sofa. We had a ribbon eel that disappeared that way and we searched and searched only to find him on cleaning day when I moved the furniture to vacuum under the sofa. Needless to say he was quite dried out. Really bummed us out.