Eel hiding places.....

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lonetrout

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Dec 14, 2004
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I have recently purchased an eel and have found myself searching for the longest periods of time for it. For the last 2 days I had given it up for dead (or alien abduction). Well lo and behold, guess who decides to show up for lunch. It got me to wondering, "where in tarnation did that eel hide for all this time?". I have a medium crushed coral substrate, some bigger pieces, like a Mayan pyramid, large rock with psuedo caves drilled in it, plastic plants, etc. But I pulled all of them up (except the plants) to look under them to no avail. I know that eels are burrowing creatures but I have to think that the coral would be too coarse for it to burrrow through. So where did he/she go?

I have also wondered if I could accomodate the eels desire to hide (but my desire to observe) by creating little verticle caves with pieces of PVC pipe buried in the gravel, angled for optimal viewing. If anyone has any experience with eels and would like to share, you would be my hero/heroine forever;).
*L*T* :D
 

Harlock

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Dec 15, 2004
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The angled PVC idea sounds good. Angled it could give you some good vantage points and also block out quite a bit of light. Sounds like a win win for you and the eel. Is it nocturnal? I've been reading a lot of good results from people using "moonlight" simulations in their tanks to view the nocturnal critters. Some blue LED lights seem to be what is favored. You can pick some up at a car store and then find a way to attach them to your existing strip light. Then, turn off all room lights and your main strip and flip on the LEDs and see if he comes out that way.
 

lonetrout

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I'm not 100% sure what kind of eel I have. The LFS guy told me when I bought it but I forgot. I will go and find out today. I also have 2 pitcus cats that are hyper active and noticed that when the eel was out, the cats swimming patterns, mostly around the bottom of the tank, crossed the eel's and may be annoying him/her to a degree. The other fish are mostly mid-level to upper level tank dwellers, but the eel and cats share the bottom. I hope that when the eel gets a little larger, it'll be out and about a little more.
*L*T*
 

Cat

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I had a fire eel and I found he completly buried himself in the gravel, and I never saw him, then one day I moved all the decor around for a change and after that he was really sociable. Does he come out when you feed things like blood worms?
Also a lot of eels are very shy at first and dont eat at all so he he may still be getting used to your tank and shying away.
How long have you had him for?
 

lonetrout

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Well, I went the LFS and found out I have a Zig-Zag Eel. And also found out that when he gets acclimated to the tank he will be a little more of a presence. I haven't seen him/her since day before yesterday but I'm not worried. But I still wonder where it could be. Oh well. I'll try to take some pictures of him when he makes an appearance and post them.
*L*T*
 

Yo_Loach

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I dont think you should worry, I have a zig zag eel. And He's been hiding for around 3 days, and this morning he poked his head our of his ceramic log and decided to swim around. Dont worry, Eels are usually nocturnal. The LFS guy told me that they'd stay in hiding for up to weeks at a time and the suddenyl swim around for days. Wierd little buggers, when I'm on the comp for a long while, at around 1 am he'll come out and greet me. Its nothing you should worry about.
 

lonetrout

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Yo_Loach said:
I dont think you should worry, I have a zig zag eel. And He's been hiding for around 3 days, and this morning he poked his head our of his ceramic log and decided to swim around. Dont worry, Eels are usually nocturnal. The LFS guy told me that they'd stay in hiding for up to weeks at a time and the suddenyl swim around for days. Wierd little buggers, when I'm on the comp for a long while, at around 1 am he'll come out and greet me. Its nothing you should worry about.
Thanks for the encouragment. I may have to get me one of those "moonlight" lights and stay up a little later than usual. I just hope he gets enough to eat or something to that effect. :laugh: :) :laugh:
*L*T*
 

Lazersniper

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I wouldnt' worry too much about it either. I have peacock eels (very similar to zig zag eels). They like to hide a lot. Mine even dissappeared on me for a few months and is now more 'social' then ever. I still can't get up too close with out it getting skittish but it is out a lot now. I have recently thrown in another peacock in hopes to encourage it to come out a little bit more. I havn't seen them together yet, but they are both out more often. I should also note that I see them more often now that they're in a bigger tank. When they were in the smaller one I never saw much more then a snout sticking out of the gravel.
 
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