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Just wanted to share a happy event that I experienced this morning:
Missing snowflake Eel mystery solved:
Synopsis: I purchased a snowflake eel on Feb 21st form our LFS. I took him home and aclimated him for 45 minutes then added him to my tank; he settled in pretty good and found several good nooks and crannies to hide in and looked happy before going to bed. I did my research and knew that snowflakes were escape artists, but I just took it with a grain of salt. My tank has two 8 x 14" access ports on top and I have power head cord and Kessil goose neck brackets that prevent my covers from completely sealing the escape route. I had planned on cutting the notches in the acrylic covers the next day; however, the eel had disappeared by the next morning. I didn't know if he was buried in the sand or rock or if he was in the house somewhere. I couldn't find him anywhere. I thought if he got to the floor, then the cat probably ate him, or if he was in the tank then I was expecting the nitrates and phosphates to spike or maybe the snails and crabs would be congregating around a feast. There was no evidence anywhere that the eel had even existed in the tank; it was a complete mystery.
Happy ending: Last night I pruned my chaetomorpha back which provided a good view of the refugium; This morning when I checked the sump area, low and behold, the Eel's head was poking out a hole in the rubble rock. What a pleasant surprise. Not sure if he ate my crabs or snails or if he was just really hungry, but he ate a whole silver side minnow. I'm not exactly sure how he got down there, but the only way down is via the overflow down through an inch and 1/4 durso stand pipe, into a filter sock, through the first stage of the sump with the skimmer, and into the second stage, and finally into the rubble rock hidden by chaetomorpha.
I'll post some pictures of the escape route when I get home tonight.
Missing snowflake Eel mystery solved:
Synopsis: I purchased a snowflake eel on Feb 21st form our LFS. I took him home and aclimated him for 45 minutes then added him to my tank; he settled in pretty good and found several good nooks and crannies to hide in and looked happy before going to bed. I did my research and knew that snowflakes were escape artists, but I just took it with a grain of salt. My tank has two 8 x 14" access ports on top and I have power head cord and Kessil goose neck brackets that prevent my covers from completely sealing the escape route. I had planned on cutting the notches in the acrylic covers the next day; however, the eel had disappeared by the next morning. I didn't know if he was buried in the sand or rock or if he was in the house somewhere. I couldn't find him anywhere. I thought if he got to the floor, then the cat probably ate him, or if he was in the tank then I was expecting the nitrates and phosphates to spike or maybe the snails and crabs would be congregating around a feast. There was no evidence anywhere that the eel had even existed in the tank; it was a complete mystery.
Happy ending: Last night I pruned my chaetomorpha back which provided a good view of the refugium; This morning when I checked the sump area, low and behold, the Eel's head was poking out a hole in the rubble rock. What a pleasant surprise. Not sure if he ate my crabs or snails or if he was just really hungry, but he ate a whole silver side minnow. I'm not exactly sure how he got down there, but the only way down is via the overflow down through an inch and 1/4 durso stand pipe, into a filter sock, through the first stage of the sump with the skimmer, and into the second stage, and finally into the rubble rock hidden by chaetomorpha.
I'll post some pictures of the escape route when I get home tonight.
