Sneaky Tire Track Eel

[EOD]

Thought he was in the sand because I couldn't find him for a few days and then looked into the HOB filter and there he was. I already pulled him out twice and put him back in the tank and he goes immediately back up the intake into the filter again. Should I just feed him in there? I'm planning on trading him in to LFS soon anyway, but figured this might be a common occurance. Pics didn't come out well because I was shining in to the water with a flashlight and it reflects pretty bad.
Pictures:

 

[BettaFishMommy]

i would be making some sort of prefilter for the hob, since the eel may just get himself hurt on the impeller one day. mesh or a sponge should do the job.

 

[EOD]

So I pulled the intake tube and all that off the HOB and found out there's no way he could get inside it that way. So I looked at the place where the water leaves the HOB and goes into tank and it can't be there either because there's a biofilter (the plastic one) in the way. How the heck is he getting in there?

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

Whether it seems like he could get in there or not, obviously he is. They're pretty good at squeezing into any spaces available.

Now sure how he would be getting into the intake unless there's no strainer, and if there isn't you need to add one because eventually he might get himself chopped up by the impeller. And it needs to be very tight or glued on to prevent it being knocked off.

As far as the outflow, you should be able to fit some plastic screening on it so he can't get in. As for how to do that it's gonna depend on how your filter is made, but I'm sure you can think of something.
You can also run the water level a little lower if you have a filter that will stay primed without the water being all the way at the top.

 

[aXio]

Definitely not a good place for him to be. You need a pre-filter on your intake. Is there adequate hiding the the tank you are keeping him in? I used to have a tire track, but he quickly out grew my 55 gallon, so I hope you have him in a big tank with plenty of sand. Mine also ate about 2-3 cubes of blood worms a day when he got to be bigger.

 

[rickwrangler]

Yeah, agreed. Get a prefilter, especially to keep him safe. They shouldn't cost much anyway.

 

[EOD]

I filled all the open areas of the HOB with kitchen sponges. I just cut them into pieces so now if he jumps up there he will find out that there's nowhere to lay in there and hopefully jump back into the tank. I didn't realize how truly strong he was until I reached my hand in the filter to grab him and he jumped out, into the air, and down back into the tank. It was like a pygmy dolphin doing an acrobatic jump from once spot to another.

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

The problem with sponges is that they can squeeze into tight spaces so it may not deter him. They are burrowing fish that can go down in the sand, so there's no reason they wouldn't squeeze themselves between some filter sponge.

He may not be comfortable in the tank with the other fish. They like a really subdued tank, especially as juveniles, without very active fish or fish that might pick on them, low lighting, and a piece of pvc pipe that they can completely cover themselves in.

Spiny eels are very interesting and personable given the right conditions. I really do think he'd be better off in his own tank, but you may not be able to house him long term due to how big they get (about 30" or more possibly).

Btw, have you gotten him to eat yet? If not then try some small earthworms, they tend to like those.

 

[EOD]

So do convicts. I've chopped up earthworms several times and put them in there and my convicts go to town.

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

Well mostly everything likes earthworms of course lol.

But he's probably not eating unless you're feeding him directly and he may not be eating them chopped up. If you can find a bait shop they sometimes sell teeny tiny panfish worms (they're just baby earthworms) that he might be able to swallow. And they're more likely to eat them whole than chopped up.

Live blackworms or bloodworms would also be a good choice, and probably easier for him to swallow considering his small size. You can direct feed with a turkey baster or anything similar, so that the convicts won't snatch everything up first.