My husband's new Predator tank

[yveterinarian]

Our hobby is expanding!  My husband Dave decided that he would like to start a predator tank with the main attraction being a Snowflake Eel.  To that end we purchased a complete tank setup from Brandon (thanks Brandon).

Tank and Equipment Specs:

75 gal Tank - 48"L x 18"W x 20"D
10 gal Sump
Red Sea Prizm HOB Skimmer
Return pump - no markings to tell me size or make
Eheim 150W submersible Heater
HOB Overflow box (tank not drilled)
Eheim 2215 Canister Filter
2 x Koralia 1500gph Powerheads
48" Aquatinics T5 light fixture with 4 bulbs (6 if I replace one ballast)
75lbs Dry Marco rock
1" sandbed

Setup:

After getting the tanks home they underwent a vigorous cleaning first with vinegar to remove lime, etc.  then filled with water and bleach (with no additives) to sterilize followed by de-chlorinator and vigorous rinse.
We placed Eggcrate in the bottom to spread the load of rocks and added a network of 3" Sch40 pvc pipe to give some good hiding places for the Eel.

Here is a picture of the tank as we begin setup:

After adding the pipe, we aquascaped the rock to cover the pipe and create plenty of hiding places for any other fish we get.

We added the water with a filter sock to help prevent stirring up of the sand.  It worked very well.  We also added eggcrate to the top of the aquarium to help prevent escaping and may put some plexi over that if we don't feel safe. To prevent backflow into sump when the pump was turned off or in event of power failure, we drilled a 1/16" hole in the return water pipe just at the surface of the water.  We added a check valve to the HOB overflow box at the end of the tubing to prevent air backflow into box as the screw valve didn't seal well enough.

To cycle the tank since we did not have any live rock we seeded the tank with Stabilty and fed with ammonia(again with no additives) to bring the ammonia level to 2ppm.  After 4 weeks the tank was clearing 2ppm ammonia every 12 hours which shows a very good clearance and indicates the tank is ready for a good size bioload.  Nitrites came down to zero and the nitrates were 50ppm.  Large water change and we were ready for our first fish.
Yesterday, we travelled to London to see Bill at IA who brought in our Snowflake Eel and trained him to eat frozen food.

Meet "Fluffy" as Dave decided to name it    He is 13.5" long and approximately 3/4" in width.

As the water he arrived in was 1.020 (which we requested for quarantine before we picked him up and is Bill's usual procedure) we acclimated him for 8 hours with a drip line and an airline to aerate the water.  At 0600 this morning he finally went into his new home.

He has been happily exploring his new home this morning and checking out every nook and cranny in the rocks.  I'll post better pictures of him as I can get them.  Dave is over the moon and very happy to have his new pet safely at home.  He stayed up most of the night with the Eel to keep emptying the acclimation bucket down to a better level so that it wouldn't overflow.  He set his alarm for 2 hour intervals so he could check on salinity levels while the Eel acclimated - that's dedication for you!  I think he will have a nice long nap this afternoon once he gets back home. 

 

[reefin]

Thats going to be a very cool setup!

 

[Poseidon]

Awesome! About time you got it setup
Eels are awesome, but not THAT active
You definitely need some other active fish

 

[yveterinarian]

Thats going to be a very cool setup!

Awesome! About time you got it setup
Eels are awesome, but not THAT active
You definitely need some other active fish

Thanks both.  It has been fun setting up but I didn't want to post until our Eel arrived. (More to talk about in the post!)  We do have plans for more fish but haven't narrowed it down to Dave's favourite few.  We know we can't put too many in here but have ordered a Dwarf Lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra) for our next fish.  As we can't have a cleanup crew in here without it becoming dinner, we need to come up with a good plan for dealing with the nitrates that will result.  I have to find that sweet spot of water change frequency and protein skimmer.  Next on our wish list is a Dwarf Valentini puffer and a Chocolate Tang but that would be it I think.  At present, I'm researching how many fish I should be able to keep in this system.

 

[Poseidon]

You should be able to buy several small fish and just rehome them whenever they get to big

 

[yveterinarian]

You should be able to buy several small fish and just rehome them whenever they get to big

We get too attached LOL    Dave says he's selfish and wants to keep whatever he gets, hence the research 

 

[TypeZero]

I really like the piping idea! Great start.
When are you ganna get one of these badboys ?

 

[sunnykita]

Congratulations on the new addition to the family ! I'm happy to hear Fluffy was ready to go home ! Dave is going to enjoy his new friend ! I look forward to the updates on the tank

 

[yveterinarian]

I really like the piping idea! Great start.
When are you ganna get one of these badboys ?

LOL, I love it!!!  Dave says we're getting one tomorrow 

 

[CherryBlossom]

That is going to be an amazing tank once you start adding some more stuff! Can't wait to see it finished! Congratulations guys! Love the name Fluffy!

 

[drksthr]

Great post.  Thanks for sharing and that eel looks awesome!!  I really want a snow flake but the clown trigger took its spot.  LoL

Get a good skimmer that's rated we'll over your tank size and that should help with the nitrates. Also for some fish suggestions that would be awesome in that tank, you could get a nice little Picasso trigger. They don't get overly big or aggressive either, around 9" plus a foxface rabbit fish would go good in there. Peaceful fish and no one messes with it because of the venomous spines. 
A few tough schooling fish would work like sergeant majors.  They'll out grow the tank though.


As for clean up crew, you might get away with dropping in a bunch of hermits. You might get lucky with none of the fish bothering them. I was lucky until input the clown trigger in and he went to town.  My zebra eel, puffer and other triggers didn't care about them.  Maybe the small size helps?

Looking forward to more pics of fluffy.

 

[yveterinarian]

Day 2 in the tank and Fluffy decided that the tubes aren't comfortable yet so he found his own crevice 

Peeking out of his home

 

[sunnykita]

That's priceless! I wonder if Fluffy wants a smaller space for now? maybe once he gets bigger he'll spend more time in the tubes, silly guy ! he looks happy enough !

 

[drksthr]

hows the tank doing? any more pics of the eel?

 

[yveterinarian]

I'm not sure how the Eel is doing to tell you the truth.  It hasn't eaten since we put it in last week, but we have read that sometimes they don't when they first go into a tank.  It comes out a bit and lays on it's back on the rocks which seems weird to me.  Here are some pics of that

On Friday, I was trying to feed it a piece of uncooked squid with the tongs and it was lying on it's back like in the pictures.  It wasn't interested in the food and seemed very calm.  On impulse, I decided to stroke it's belly like you see them do with sharks, etc.  I gently stroked it with the squid and it seemed to like it.  If I stroked down one side of it's belly it turned to the side a little to give better access.  When I switched to the other side of it's belly, it turned slightly again to give better access!  It didn't draw back into it's hiding space and let me "pet" it as long as I wanted.
To me, it doesn't look emaciated, I don't see any evidence of external parasites but I am worried.  This doesn't seem to be normal behaviour - or maybe it is when they are stressed?
Another thing is that it twitches it's head when it comes out of hiding - almost like it is shaking something off it's nose that is bothering it.  Yesterday, we turned off the powerheads to see if it would stop the twitching in case there was too much flow.  Within 5 minutes it was coming out of the hiding spot further and actually swimming around the bottom of the tank and exploring.  This is the first time it has done that since we put it in so we were a little more encouraged.  It didn't twitch as much and only did it when it got near the return water flow so maybe it doesn't like water flow.  But if it doesn't, how on earth am I to keep the detritus from settling on the sand bed? Maybe some smaller PH?  The ones in there are 1500gph but I do have some 550gph ones.
We went out yesterday and purchased some snails for a cleaning crew and some ghost shrimp for the Eel in case that would tempt it but no success so far.
We have been reading many posts about Eel behaviour but can't seem to pin down what is normal when first introduced into a tank.  Any insights would be much appreciated.

 

[pulpfiction1]

i had a zebra moray eel for a few years,was over 3ft long,i constantly have had to move things into different tanks for one reason or another,i seen my eel go weeks without eating after a move to a different tank,when i first observed this it too alarmed me,i waited and eventually he was his old self,the longest i seen him go was almost 3 weeks

 

[yveterinarian]

Thanks Phil
I keep hearing that but it is still un-nerving to see it happen.  What about the lying on the rocks - do you think that is a stress thing?

 

[pulpfiction1]

when mine wasnt eating he was very quiet in the tank and was able to grab him by hand very easily,i think it is a stress thing

 

[dale]

ive had my snowflake for about a year.. he has survived where many other fish havnt,, without a scratch or parasite on him.. i have seen him go 3 weeks without eating  and goes a week often.. mine doesnt really like squid,, he usually eats table shrimp off a stick,, he really likes rosies off the stick,, maybe try that for a while and switch it up with shrimp n stuff later if he likes it... as for lying on his back... ?? dunno,,, mine wont let me near him, but i havnt tryied to change that... mine swims around at nite..

 

[yveterinarian]

when mine wasnt eating he was very quiet in the tank and was able to grab him by hand very easily,i think it is a stress thing

Thanks Phil, we'll keep watching.

I've had my snowflake for about a year.. he has survived where many other fish haven't,, without a scratch or parasite on him.. I have seen him go 3 weeks without eating  and goes a week often.. mine doesn't really like squid,, he usually eats table shrimp off a stick,, he really likes rosies off the stick,, maybe try that for a while and switch it up with shrimp n stuff later if he likes it... as for lying on his back... ?? dunno,,, mine wont let me near him, but I haven't tried to change that... mine swims around at nite..

We have a mixture of uncooked frozen food that includes shrimp, octopus and squid and have tried each with no success so far.  Forgive the question, but what are Rosies?  We are ready to try anything.  We don't turn on the light until approx. 4pm and keep it on until 9 or 10 since it is a new tank and he does seem more active at this time than during the day.