eel escape question

[Juice It]

I currently have a 200 gallon with a completely sealed off top except a 2x2 feeding hole in the middle of the top and not near an edge. When I am out of town I use an auto feeder over this hole and my question is would an eel come straight up the middle of the tank to escape or do they go up the sides? I imagine they would go out anywhere but thought I would ask.


Thanks,

Jeff

 

[faulkincanyon]

my chainlink eel jumped out of a tiny hole on the back edge of the tank....I know eels are escape artists so Id think they could get out of the 2x2 hole easy

 

[faulkincanyon]

if it were me Id atleast put a piece of duct tape over the hole when not in use..just an idea

 

[billdogg]

i have kept an undulated moray for aover 18 years now - he has, can, and will get out of any opening he can find - even if it is much smaller that he is (and he's 4' and as big around as my arm) DO NOT leave any hole open - you will have dried eel on your floor sooner or later (hannibal has escaped just 4 time in the 18+ years i've had him - each time my fault for forgetting to recover the tank. I use eggcrate over all, with the lights (t12 VHO) sitting directly on the eggcrate, and baserock chunks at all the corners as well.

 

[Grouperhead]

I've had two eels (snowflake and banded moray) get through openings of about 2-2.5". Luckily I found both of them soon enough and they fully recovered. Never, and I mean never underestimated what an eel can escape through.

 

[JustinReef]

I would say it would eventually find that hole and escape.

I was sitting on the couch watching TV one night with my fiance and all of a sudden my fiance was like "Is that the eel???" He was slithering across the living room and into the hallway. He passed right by the couch as we watched in amazement.

He had gone through a tiny hole in my canopy where the return plumbing was. Make sure your overflow is covered too. Mine used to go down there every once in a while and then get stuck in the sump for a few days while I tried to catch him...

 

[StripestheEel]

Funnily enough, none of my eels ever tried to escape my tanks. All were open top.

Maybe they liked staying alive too much to risk it.

 

[joeyt66]

My snowflake would go right to where the food would come out and pop his head out. Definatly seal it off. My 18" sfe came out by one of the intake pipes where i cut the eggcrate to go around no bbigger then 1 inch hole