Garden Eels, one of the many fish we don’t talk about

i cant think · Jan 11, 2022

Why don’t we talk about these fish? I get they need specific care in sandbed depth (I’m having a debate with myself on making my max nano have Atleast 5” of sandbed if not 9”). What are the different species of garden eels? I know you have the spotted garden eels but I’d love to know of some others!! Also what would the best inhabitants be for them? I like things like gobies and blennies as well as dragonets, pretty much many of the calmer species that get lost in large tanks. If I do decide to go with a deeper sand bed for my Max Nano I would love to know what you guys think about a garden eel. For now I’m just trying to find information and look at the tank setups of people who own them.

SlugSnorter · Jan 11, 2022

i cant think said:
Why don’t we talk about these fish? I get they need specific care in sandbed depth (I’m having a debate with myself on making my max nano have Atleast 5” of sandbed if not 9”). What are the different species of garden eels? I know you have the spotted garden eels but I’d love to know of some others!! Also what would the best inhabitants be for them? I like things like gobies and blennies as well as dragonets, pretty much many of the calmer species that get lost in large tanks. If I do decide to go with a deeper sand bed for my Max Nano I would love to know what you guys think about a garden eel. For now I’m just trying to find information and look at the tank setups of people who own them.

Garden eels are cool, but have very specific needs

they tend to do best in a species only FOWLR

also they need at least 40 gallons, your tank is too small

a few examples

good water

very specific flow

they need a colony of multiple eels

particulate they can eat has to be in the flow making it difficult to keep the water clean enough for some corals

very picky about what and how they eat

they need smaller, docile fish that wont bother them

Different garden eels tend to be simmilar, mainly just color and slight param differences

they need at least 8 inches of sand

they can be very shy

they are costly

Daniel@R2R · Jan 12, 2022

Have always wanted to keep them, but due to their needs, I've never done it.

TheDragonsReef · Jan 12, 2022

Even professional aquariums lose like 25-50% when they first add them. They are very difficult to get settled in and eating. The deeper the sand bed the better theyll do and you can't just use any sand either. With how shy they are they also most likely wont even come out for food if youre in viewing distance. So until they get used to you, if they ever do, you may not even be able to enjoy watching them. They are beautiful fish just very difficult to keep.