Banded snake Eel MIA!?

My answer might not be very helpful because for lack of a better word, I have a "custom" Jebo cover to my tank. When I say custom I don't mean fancy, or anything like that. Basically when I was given the tank, the Jebo lid that had come on it had an attached light with it that ran long ways in the middle like they all do. However, the friend that had it before me had some wiring issues and it was all messed up. When he gave me the tank I added a new fluval filter that had thicker tubes then his orignal filter did.

So with his messed up lighting and my new thicker tubes, I basically ripped the lid apart. I completely sawed out the attached lighting and baciscally made the lid a shell. Then I bought a new T5 light that had the little sliders on the sides and I placed that light where the old one used to be. Then I attached clips to the sliders so that it would stay firm in place. Then I took a grinder to the back flap & cut out slots so that my tubes would fit thru and the back lid & it would close tight over the new tubes.. Overall, the lid looks alot less bulky and has more of a streamlined look to it..

The whole lid nestles in to place by way of fiited grooves and my tank already had a a small half inch lip all they way around it so it makes for a pretty snug fit with the exceptions of a half centimeter gap here and there where I cut the tube slots a tiny bit too large..

I hope my explanation makes sense. Sooner or later I'll try to get some pics of my tank up so you can see what I'm talking about..

 

Sounds very innovative!!! Pics would be great later on... Great that you have found him. Sorry to tear thread but i am looking foward to having a small small eel and would like to know whar your inhabitants are and Is it a reef? Some corals?

 

excellent to hear about findin your eel in good health. maybe he got out, fixed himself a sardine sandwich and hopped back in while you were away

 

Well I did find out my eels hiding spot and let me tell you I'm kicking myself for making an impulse buy & not doing any research on him!! However, now that I know what's going on with him, I like him even more!

So it turns out that my eel likes to drive his head into the sand and completely bury himself for days up to days at a time. It's really impressive how he does it! But I caught him doing it late last night and it's crazy looking! I did a little more research on them after i saw this and appearntly snake eels do this all the time. I guess they build a tunnel network in your sand. Some people have noted to keep an eye on this as it could jeoperdize the intergity of your rock structures and cause a rockslide of sorts. So now I just have to periodically check to make sure that my rocks are still stable.

Overall though, he has been coiming and going out of the sand and it's very cool to watch. My favorite is when he sticks his head out a little then swims out. It's amazing to see 18" of eel appear out of nowhere! haha but very very cool. It also totally fits his name "beetlegeuse" because he looks and acts just like those snakes in the old movie with that name!

 

no worries! Well I'm in a unique situation right now seeing that I'm on the brink of a bold change in my aquarium.. My tank was totally differnt 3 months ago! I had a v-tailed grouper that totally dominated my tank. He was a cool fish and very intelligent but for 3 years he was boss hoss and refused to let anything else live in the tank. (besides a brittle star, spine urgent and some turbo snails) but after 3+ years he died about 2 months or so ago. So I'm in a rebuild mode. I can finally have small fish again! And now I'm trying to build a reef!

So After letting the tank sit virtually empty for a 3 weeks or so to make sure all my levels were stable I added a few frags of Frogspawn & Star Pollips as well as ummm, the name just slipped my mind but they look like little orange trimmed round plates.. After another week or so I added a True perc clown (about 1 1/2 inches) along with a haitian anenime. I still have a zebra morray thats about 10" long, I have the banded snake eel thats 18" long and I have 2 peppermint shrimp. I just added a little flamehawk last night as well.. So far everyones doing great together but my tank is still in the baby stages of development overall...

As far as eels, I would personally suggest a snowflake eel. They are low in price, cool to look at, very friendly demeanor (mine loved to come up and swim thru my fingers and eat out oy my hand! probably not recommended to to that but me eel seemed to love it! Eventually my stupid grouper killed him in a fight over a food scrap!) But I definitly loved my snowflake and I think he's a great first eel for almost any tank.. But remember, I'm still a novice so make sure to get some others input as well!

 

Well That sounds amazing. Dude I really love these guys. Are they okay with small critters like chromis and possibly Percula and Hippo baby? Thats what im thinking about lol....

 

I'm hesitant to say a for sure yes or no on that. It totally depends on the eel size you get & the size of the fish.. I'd say as long as you get a small eel and the fish are at least 4 or 5 times the size of the eels mouth, you should be ok. Generally snowflakes have a fairly small mouth, as long as you get one in the 8" to 12" range I don't think you'll have any problems BUT, I can't promise!! Especially with Hippo baby's.. I don't even know what those are unless you truley mean a baby hippo. haha But the chromis & Clown should be fine unless they're super tiny!

But I can't stress enough, Don't take my word for it! I never had small fish with mine! But I can say that right now, I'd consider my Perc & flamehawks (& even my peppermint shrimp for that matter) pretty small. I mean my biggest fish, the clown, can't be more then 2 inches long and neither my Morray or Banded eel mess with them at all. If anything they get along great.. But those are different breeds so results totally vary.

Do you already have those fish or are they fish you want to add later, after the eel?

 

Well, I am in the process of starting a 2o long. I would love to have 30 lr and 15 ls. With deep bed. 2 1-1.5 perculas and a baby blue hippo tang. About an inch or a little smaller. I do not have those but know a guy that knows a breeder. LOL.... but. I wan tto get an eel thats at biggest when i buy 10". I love the snowflakes. Do you have any pics of your eels or just your tanks?

 

ohhhhh, blue hippo tang! I'm an idiot. hahaha. That sounds like it'll be a great set-up! 10" veel should be perfect! I haven't had a chance to put any pics up yet, but I will soon! I actually lost the cord to plug my camera into my computer so all my pics are trapped on the memory stick right now. But I'll definitly get some up soon! (I might need a little help with how to do it tho, I'm an internet novice when it comes to that stuff. haha