My Garden Eel setup

I just saw your post and was happy to see someone else try this out. My wife and I started a garden eel tank (dedicated) last year and have had 3 healthy eels since Feb (we got 4 more in today). They are great to watch and have. Would love to exchange info see what new things we can learn.

In the process of sending you a PM.

Nice tank, I love cubes!!!
 
romanr said:
Matt, thank you for the kind words and your article that help launch this endeavor. I don't know if you are aware that someone else wrote a garden eel article for the 2011 Marine & Reef magazine. So it looks like you started a trend. I am very happy with my garden eel setup and I'm glad I decided to go this route.
Yes, initially the garden eels setup shop in the not so deep parts of the sand bed. Over the next couple of weeks they moved around a bit with all but one setting up shop in the deepest(8in) part of the sand bed. I would say that the other one is in about 5 inches of sand and he seems happy there. They also seem to have paired up a bit with 2 sets having paired up to where they are in very close proximity and get along fine. One thing that caught me by surprise is how long it's taken them to really settle in. 2 of them were out and eating from week 1. The rest took about 3 weeks before they were consistently hanging out of the burrow and eating. I'm also surprised how they have taken to flakes and pellets and how they would not eat the PE mysids (too big for them I think).
To be honest I only wanted to end up with about 4 garden eels for the space I allocated but my survival rate far exceeded what others had told me to expect. I ordered 8 total. One was DOA and one magically disappeared but the other 6 seem to be doing really well. I may expand the sand bed by about another square foot to give them a little more room. If you ever write another garden eel article, be sure to mention the unique way they use to go potty. They almost extend completely out of their burrow to were their anus is just out of the burrow and do a little sake to get things flowing in the current. It is really a neat thing to watch. I'll have to capture it on video and post it here if I can catch them in the act.
Click to expand...

Thanks Raul, I wasn't aware another article had been written. Do you happen to have a link to that, or only in print?

Your experience with mortality is pretty similar to ours. ~10% losses in the "nothing you can do to save them" period, either DOA or in the first few days. Then everything that makes it past this is pretty damn durable.

They can be shy for a week or two, but take to just about any food offered after a few weeks. The long term problems are anorexia from improper feeding and overcrowding. A given space can hold a static number of garden eels, and no matter how many you add you will wind up with the same number regardless of how much you feed. This number is determined by the surface area, more or less. Keep an eye on how often the "paired" individuals are actually eating and observe their behavior with each other--sometimes you can catch them fighting. Ours don't take mysis reliably either, but occassionally will grab small frozen ones if they're moving through the water.

Totally cool about the pooping. I've never seem them do it!
 
Very nice Raul! I find those garden eels so fascinating. I also love all the mushrooms in the tank. ;)
 
i know this is about the garden eels, which are very cool! but how long have you had the file fish? what are they feeding on.
 
OSFF are eating Formula 1 flakes, NLS Finicky fish pellets, Reef Caviar, Hikari Mysids, Rod's Food and a few other frozen and dry foods I mix in occasionally.
 
I recently set up a 90 gallon tank for garden eels and have 4 so far. Mine seem to always suck back into the sand as you walk anywhere near the tank so its kind of hard to really enjoy up close. Are experiencing the same thing or do they eventually warm up to people. I am hoping to get about 7-10 more, maybe there is more comfort in numbers. Very cool animal.
 
I do think they do better in groups. Mine are still a little skittish but they get better with time.
 
what is the best source for healthy garden eels? direct from collectors in Florida? liveaquaria? what is the experience of those of you with thriving garden eels?
 
Lisa, I got mine from bluezoo aquaticts. Liveaquaria has them also from time to time. There are a few other varieties available but those seem to be rare. That Pet Place list these on their site but they never seem to be in-stock.
 
beware of a garden eel that is pink in color, I have a friend that ordered some in and this variety actually eats the garden eels you have in this thread. He added them to his system and within a day or two the pink ones ate the others. I don't know the name of them, he couldn't recall just that they were pink.
 
This is the only other species I've seen offered in the retail channels. They are called Splendid Garden Eels (Gorgasia preclara) These will coexist with the black spotted (Hass's Garden Eel or more precisely Taenioconger hassi) as I have seen them housed together in an exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium.

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webgardenEelsIMG_6205.jpg
 
Oh BTW, The Splendid is available right now (2/14/11 1:50 PM EST) @ That Pet Place.
The Black Spotted is available right now from Live Aquaria and Bluezoo Aquatics. The price is $40 per.
 
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