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Life with an Eel

Four score and seven minutes ago, well, not really, but at 4:45 this morning, our Hawaiian Dwarf Moray Eel decided to go exploring. I heard a thud, I heard a slither, I heard noises you shouldn't hear at 4:00 in the morning, even two score and seven minutes after the hour. I woke up Mike, and he turned on the lights, and there was our eel, on the floor, writhing in frustration or shock or something (but apparently unharmed). . . in front of our cat.
We quickly scooped up the cats, tossed them out of the room, and began attempting to catch an Eel, on a hardwood floor, at 4:50 in the morning, without knowing where our single large net was. Using a tupperware container and a CD case, we trapped him and scooped him back into the tank.
We then took a roll of packing tape to the back of the tank.
It was an eventful morning.
 
Ok so I will share. I have had tanks back 30 years when I was not even a teenager. I had a tank in the foyer of my parents house with a really nice black ribbon eel (those suckers are long). Well let's just say my mom who is afraid of everything (not joking everything) found the eel slithering on the floor towards her one night. I can still hear the screams of "JEFFFFFF!!!!!" coming from downstairs.
 
These are the things which make a long working day even longer. Glad you caught it and everyone is safe.
 
Before saltwater - we had a nice sized silver arrowana that would torpedo itself out of the tank when eating or just for fun apparently. So I can fully appreciate the "yelling/screaming" lefkonj is talking about lol.
 
Nope. Sorry. No photos at 4:45 am.
he is about 12", not a big guy, although I'm happy to report that except for a red abrasion on his nose he appears to be ok.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
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The golden dwarfs stay pretty small (hence the name) and I think max out around 16 inches. He is alone in the 34g and we are a little cautious with adding and tank mates. At Trop he ate a few pearly heads and a firefish. We might go with a pair of clowns, if they are big enough, as we all know they can be pretty nasty too.
 
Eels are like anything else, if you keep them well fed they are pretty simple. If i skip a few days of feeding mine, you see a few more snail/crab shells in the tank.
 

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Aww, I thought this was going to be a story about Mike! :tongue:

Glad you guys caught it and it survived. Really surprised the cats didn't get it... although ours are afraid of some snake-like cat toys so they probably have a natural fear instinct that put them on the defensive instead of offensive.

Looking forward to seeing this guy at the party.
 
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