question for eel keepers

[anaya]

I noticed my eel comes out more when there is little to no light on the tank. is it possible to only run actinics so I would get to see it more? would this be bad for some reason I am not aware of?

Antonio

 

[syrinx]

very common for them to prefer twilight. There is no harm in actinic only- but I would likely try to do something that had at least a bit of daylight color for balance- say 2 or 3 actinics to 1 daylight.

 

[anaya]

What do you mean for balance? Like visually for my looking into the tank or for the eels sake?

Antonio

 

[DoubleM 10]

how long have you had the eel??

i have had mine for about 5-6 months. he has learned that he does not get fed when the lights are out. so he comes out and swims when the lights are on now. also if i do light tapping on the glass(nothing harsh to scare any of the fish) he tends to come out and investigate.

 

[anaya]

have not had it long. it comes out during day well looks out its cave constantly but seems to swim through rock work a lot more when lights are only actinic before they come on or go off. I have no fish just eel so i may try the tapping before feeding thing

 

[DoubleM 10]

i usually tap the tongs agaist the top rim of the tank while the tongs are in the water so it knows what to look for. another thing is they are naturally hunters at night. so its completely normal what urs is doing. it will take time and patience no matter what u do.

just cause im curious what kind is it???

 

[anaya]

SFE about 10" - 14" It is housed in a temp tank still but it has lots of rock work to hide in

 

[DoubleM 10]

well thats good it has plenty of places to hide. just be patient. EVENTUALLY he will come out and swim more.

does the tank have alot of flow?? that could deture him from swimming also.

that stopped my lions from swimming in my 30 tall(which is shut down now)

 

[anaya]

Tank has combined total of around 500 gph and both the return and closed loop are on SCWD.

 

[namxas]

What do you mean for balance? Like visually for my looking into the tank or for the eels sake?

Antonio

I believe he means for your viewing pleasure. Looking into a blue tank all the time can get kinda boring as you never see any true color.

FWIW, we keep a lot of crepuscular fish and some of their setups are mostly lit with blue moonlights and ambient light for a large part of the day.