Moving garden eels - this is going to be fun

[andrewkw]

There is no way in hell I'd ever try and move the tank with the sand, especially with it slopped to one side there is already more pressure on one side of the tank then the other while it sits level of the stand.

I am going to try and do it this weekend. I am rising the new sand on bag 3. I just realized some I bought are the pure sugar size and some are the slightly courser stuff but still very fine. Should produce an interesting mix. I am rising them in 5 gallon buckets which just fit in my utility sink (no cold to do this outside and too much additional labor). I am mixing them up for a few minutes, then letting the water run for 10-15 until it comes clear, then mixing all the way to the bottom again and running the water for 5 additional minutes. Seems to be working I know there will still be some clouding but what can you do.

Garden Eels are not really that hard they are just very specialized. I could keep corals with them but I choose to run the tank around them. I have a reef too, but when I finally do move I will probably make this a reef. For now I'm calling the move in house garden eel tank 1.1 but when I move I will upgrade the lighting and it will be 2.0

I'll post some pics of the gross sand when I get that far.

 

[andrewkw]

So it begins now. I have no choice as I just bought 3 more splendids 2 are looking great one not so great but he's tiny we'll see.Locally they aren't available too often, the spotted ones aren't overly hard to find. Since this is the second store to get them in the last few weeks the season is now. Tomorrow I will go pickup some live brine which is how I got the other ones eating originally. Since they are going in with established ones hopefully they will see the other ones eating.

I have 50g of fresh salt water mixed but I am going to do a 50g water change on my reef which is bigger then I ever do. This tank too is being prepped for moving. The water conditions there are nicer then the garden eel tank, and the eels don't have corals so refreshing water parameters are not as essential.

After I change 50g in the reef I will reuse 50g from it along with however much more of the garden eel water I need. I'm going to put the top inch of sand in one bucket and the rest of the gross stuff elsewhere for washing. Too bad I can't post the smell!

 

[andrewkw]

A couple of quick things :
I lost one eel I mean really lost, if hes in that pile of sand he's as good as dead I can't believe I didnt see him. Somehow I lost a chormis too but I guess he just died and I didnt notice. Everything else is out. The eels were SO HARD to get out. SO HARD. I don't want to do this again. I am going to try and get them to go into buckets inside the tank. If it doesnt work I will have to do it again. I only spilled about 1 gallon of water on the floor despite not caring since changing the carpet is the reason for this move. Now time to actually push the tank across the basement to the unfinished part.

 

[andrewkw]

I found the missing eel. Alive and well. The missing chormis too.

I am beyond exhausted but a couple of things.
I ended up just putting the sand back in. When it comes time to move for real I think I might just hire an aquarium service company to tear down the tank. I didn't reuse any of the sand. I probably could and probably will add a couple of cups at least to maybe 20-50lbs tomorrow but the water is so cloudy I'm just trying to let it clear. I didn't have enough containers to drain the sump so I'm using a spare 10g with just the return pump in it and a filter sock over the train. I also added an air pump for extra oxygen as well as a ton of carbon. Hoping it will clear a bit by tomorrow. I can't see even one inch into the tank. I did see a couple of eels swimming around I grabbed them and lowered them to the sand and I think they may have burrowed.

The sandbed wasn't gross at all. Didn't smell worse then when I siphon a little sand off my shallow sandbed reef tank. There is some detritus, but there was no black stuff no clumping nothing like that.

Once I move that's it until death. Either mine or the garden eels. They will be moved one more time and that's it. I'm seriously considering moving my leopard wrasse in with them and converting my reef tank to bare bottom when its time to move that tank in a couple of weeks.

 

[ReefingWerewolf]

Im glad you found the eel and chromis. You must be exhausted, go take a nap... Sounds like you deserve it after that kind of a day

 

[tallball158]

Man I don't envy you! I couldn't imagine taking on a task like that!

 

[HPark]

Cool thread and species tank. Hope you and your fish are recovering from the move!

 

[andrewkw]

No idea how everything is doing, visibility is still only at about 1" into the tank. I can't believe its still so cloudy. I really thought I washed out this sand well. I guess I need a new washing system.

No fish have floated to the top so I assume they are all still alive. The eels will likely stay under the sand for a while.

 

[andrewkw]

The tank has finally cleared enough for me to see in all the way to the back. The Chromis are swimming around like normal. No sign of the firefish but probably hiding. I see at least one eel hole in the sand since the Chroims are fine the eels are likely fine too.

Yesterday was just a blur to me. I didn't do anything but lay down, thankfully today is a holiday. This move was beyond exhausting and I haven't even started washing the old sand yet.

 

[andrewkw]

This stop on the train wreck appears in sight.

I've seen 3 of the eels so far - 2 old ones and one new one. The 2 old ones have eaten. The fish are back to normal eating swimming hiding ect. Same with the peppermint shrimp. Adding live brine to the tank since it will be less of a pollutant and encourage the new guys to eat. Not going to attempt to aquascape for a while yet. Probably will try and wipe some of the dust off the glass sump ect. Filter sock did nothing! It's settling down though and they should all be coming out soon. I also picked up a bottle of prime in case there is an ammonia spike. Will put an ammonia alert badge on the front shortly.

 

[tallball158]

Man it sounds like you are coming out of this in good shape, and that is great!

 

[venomcc]

Who would have thought, garden eels would be this hard to catch. I definitely had nightmares catching wrasses. But congrats overall on making it through.

 

[andrewkw]

Who would have thought, garden eels would be this hard to catch. I definitely had nightmares catching wrasses. But congrats overall on making it through.

I can't believe I siphoned one without realizing and that he survived in a good 3 feet of sand for 30+ minutes (15 gallon barrel filled with sand and very little water).

I'm very curious how they are collected and suspect it could be rough handling that leads to their poor survival rate. That and the fact idiots buy one or 2 and try and stick them in their 3" sandbed. Interestingly enough its the smallest of the new ones, and the smallest of the old ones eating, along with 2 more old ones. I actually thought I was going to lose one of the new ones for sure he looked a little rough at the store, but for 25$ I wasn't going to leave him since he has as good of a chance in my tank as any. Since he is already eating the odds are in his favor. I will be feeding them brine for at least a week then maybe start mixing back the mysis. I did get all of my old ones eating PE eventually even though their heads are only slightly bigger then the mysis.