golden eels (10 inches lomg)

[attygarla]

i have lost two of these wild caught eels by them slithering out of my 75 gal tank and this am found yet a third that got chucked back in time why are they doiing this what sould i do to stop it ?

 

[mrwilson]

Eels, generally speaking, are notorious escape artists, and that to be sure to keep them safely inside your tank, a tight-fitting lid is necessary.

 

[philter4]

If they are garden eels, they will almost never try to escape if the sand bed is deep enough. When they don't have a deep enough sand bed they are uncomfortable and try to find a better place to live, in your tank that means up and out. They require at least 10 inches and 12 would be better. They can live in as little as 6 inches, but they wont be happy at first and may try to move. The other problem with shallow sand beds is they try to burrow through the bottom of the tank and can damage the end of the tail which is what they use to dig. If this happens they almost always get infections and die.

 

[John Dawe]

The only other option besides a tight lid is to have about 10 inches between the water and the top of the tank. With out a lid or gap sooner or later eels will get out.

 

[myerst2]

Your eels are mostly escaping because they don't feel secure in the tank. Make sure you supply multiple caves for them feel secure. Setting up a PVC piping system will greatly aide in giving the eels a secure feeling. I am going to the airport shortly to go and pick up my new baby Hawaiian Dragon Moray. I am going to keep him in a small critter pen temporarily until I set up a PVC pipe system. Hope this helps. Regards, Tim