My Eel was too good for his home...

[King Jason]

Woke up this morning to find my Yellow Tail Eel on the floor . He was VERY dried out and fuzzy with carpet. I immediately picked him up and put him back into the tank. When I left for the office I didn't notice any signs of breathing. Hopefully he will revive himself during the day. For those of you who have put their eels back in the tank after they went carpet surfing, how long did it take your eel to start breathing again?

He must be a magician. I don't know how the heck he was able to get out of the tank. It is TOTALLY sealed with egg crate and that is being held down with my closed loop intake PVC pipes (even I have a hard time lifting the egg crate).

He was also $200, so that makes it even worse! I just don’t have any luck with carnivorous animals!

 

[danmhippo]

I've never had eel (knock on wood) went carpet surfing, but I had a silver arrowana that did. The body is half dried but it miraculously revived itself back. I placed his mouth under bubbling powerhead trying to force O2 through its gills. It took 20 minutes of fish CPR for it to come back.....

 

[Will C1]

my snow flake went surfing but only for a short time. it took me a few min to retrieve him and get him back in. he was breathing immeidately. but he did look like he was shedding some outer skin. after it went away he was just fine and i think he learned his lesson as he has never done it again. and my tank isnt covered at all.

 

[Expos Forever]

Do you have someone who can check on him while you're at work? I realize it's a 190 but if the worse happens you'd probably want him out as soon as possible. I hope he "pulls a Jesus" for you. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

OH JASON!

I'm so sorry. However, if he should not make it, can I interest you in a Zebra moray? :roll: I know, I know, piss-poor timing.

I've seen arowanas that have actually busted through shipping boxes, they're THAT powerful. Lots of 'em end up crispy critters, too. They sure are beautiful fish, though.

 

[King Jason]

After an early morning meeting I needed to commit to, I drove home to check on him. It was driving me nuts thinking about it. I wouldn't be able to concentrate at all today until I checked on the eel.

He was covered in a white film and in the same spot he was 2.5 hours ago, no signs of breathing. I removed him from the tank. What a bummer.

OH JASON!

I'm so sorry. However, if he should not make it, can I interest you in a Zebra moray? :roll: I know, I know, piss-poor timing.

I've seen arowanas that have actually busted through shipping boxes, they're THAT powerful. Lots of 'em end up crispy critters, too. They sure are beautiful fish, though.

Perhaps, but first I need to figure out how the heck he got out of my tank!

I had 3 arowanas when I was into fresh water. All of them ended up killing themselves by ramming their heads into the top of my tank! One even cracking the housing for my lights! They were really neat fish though.

 

[reefNewbie]

i had a moray jump out on me, was out all night. Woke up, he was stiff and dryy and covered in dust, not breathing. put him in the tank, tried recessitating him for about 30 mins(moving him back and forth in the water) nothing. Let him stay in the tank all day. Had that slimy **** hang off of him and he was drooling nasty ****. Came home and he was alive! only to jump out later and not come back from this one.

 

[GSchiemer]

Sorry about your loss Jason. I know how it feels. I found my new Swalesi basslet dried up on the floor this evening. This is after nursing it through 6 weeks in quarantine getting him fat and healthy. In addition, it was an expensive fish! Ever notice that fish you don't want NEVER jump out of the aquarium? I've attached a picture from when I first got the basslet. I would have attached the "after" picture for fun, but the carcass is already in the East River (that's slang for sewer in NY)

As for eels, they are escape artists but they don't jump. The best way to keep them in the aquarium is to build a barrier around the perimeter of the aquarium to a height of four inches or so. I built one out of clear acrylic to keep my white ribbon eel in the aquarium. Works like a charm! I've had this eel for many years without a problem. I know that if I had a traditional cover or egg crate, it would have been dried and dead a LONG time ago. I've attached a picture of this setup. Pardon the crappy picture, but I just took it to illustrate my point.

Greg Schiemer

 

[GSchiemer]

Yes, that's a Scopas Tang in a 38 gallon aquarium (got a purple tang in there as well that you can't see)

And the eel is about 30 inches in length. Eats krill every few days and bites fingers everytime you stick one in the aquarium.

Greg

 

[King Jason]

Sorry for your loss too Greg. That is a good idea using acrylic like that. I'm going to upgrade my lighting in the next month or so and buy a new hood. I will have to incorporate something like into my design. That should keep eels and all my other fish in the tank!