My Garden Eel setup

Super, super nice...both the yellow fuzzy and the GE's. I still vow to do a GE setup someday, as I've always really liked them. We see them around the LA area from time to time, including the splendids.
 
Where can you find research and specs on how to keep these guys? I have a 4" sand bed, and was thinking of putting an acrylic box to keep it deep enough. Do you think it would work, and the eels would find it, or does it have to be the slope sanded? Also, the only aggressive eater in my tank is a queen, doesn't bother the other fish, just eats food fast. Would that be compatible with the GE?
Thanks
 
The Georgia aquarium keeps angels and other like fish in their garden eel exhibit. Water volume will dictate how successful that would be. Having an aggressive eater will make the eels take longer to settle down. The eels seem to take a week or two to find their ideal spot so they will eventually end up on the deep end of the sand bed. Search for the couple of articles published in magazines regarding the garden eels.
 
It depends how much real estate you want to devote to them. I would say one or two eels per square foot of sand surface area. The size of the specimen acquired would also play into this equation.
 
I got an iPad 2 and wanted to try out the video and the iMovie video editing software so here is my first attempt. It's a 15 minute survey of my tank shot and edited on the iPad in HD. It has a some feeding scenes and showcases the Yellow Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish, the Orange Spotted / Harlequin filefish and the Spotted Garden Eels. All are doing really well.

<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wiOYTko7x5k?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wiOYTko7x5k?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>
 
dzhuo said:
Very unique! Is the Yellow Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish a thread to the smaller fish (like chromis)?
Click to expand...

The smallest fish in the tank is the male tomato clown and even he is too big for the full-grown dwarf to swallow. The dwarf prefers frozen Mysids and similarly sized food.
 
TheH said:
Are you worried about the sand eventually sliding down / evening out?
Click to expand...

I can report that there has been a very gradual and slight migration of the sand towards the lower sides. It has been so small that I think I'll be able to get away with just adding a little more sand to the deeper sides to keep it at a minimum of 8 inches. I have also been surprised than one of the eels seems to prefer the shallow (4 in) portion of the sand slope. Other factors may of course be in play in his or her preference.
 
Thank you all for the kind comments. It is all the fine people on RC I have to thank for my current success.
 
I really enjoyed your video.

I remember the article and put it down as "things to do" when I have a tall tank.
 
romanr said:
The smallest fish in the tank is the male tomato clown and even he is too big for the full-grown dwarf to swallow. The dwarf prefers frozen Mysids and similarly sized food.
Click to expand...

Is this the same one?

lg-72901-fuzzy-dwarf-lion.jpg


I was looking for a predatory fish for my reef but I am concern if my chromis will eventually end up being its lunch.

Also, how often do you feed the eel and how do you know if they are properly fed?
 
Regarding feeding: My tank is now being fed about a good sized pinch of a mix of flakes, pellets and granules 6 times per day on a feeder. Then in the evening it's about three cubes worth of frozen food that is rotated daily.(Mysids, spirulina brine, Rod's herbivore, Rod's regular, Rod's coral and fish eggs)

Regarding lion: Yep, same as in your pic. Mine is a yellow variant. I bought him trained on frozen mysids. I myself was never able to get one off of live food. The dwarfs are also mainly nocturnal and it takes them a while to adjust to feeding during the day. They are a great reef addition. If you are looking for some of the more interesting color variants you should check out DD. I have seen some very nice reds and yellows on there.
 
It's been a while since I've offered up an update so here is a short video of the eels at feeding time. Look for a surprise update over the next few days.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4P4dQKqOOSQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<object width="640" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4P4dQKqOOSQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4P4dQKqOOSQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

http://www.youtube.com/v/4P4dQKqOOSQ
 
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