Golden Dwarf Eel Care/Cave Questions

[mgiorlando87]

Hello, I’m setting up my first tank in a few weeks and I’m currently getting my rocks glued and epoxyed. Of course I came across a Golden Dwarf Eel and now I want to make my setup conducive to keeping one. I have a Waterbox 7225 Peninsula and my main question here is how would you guys go about concealing caves? I’ve seen people do PVC but that feels like a detritus/waste pit to me. Obviously I can clean it out with a pump but I’m trying to find the happy medium of keeping the eel happy and not adding another maintenance step. Does anybody have any unique ways to make caves other than scaling them into the rocks? I’m about 90% done with my scape and while this is an after thought I can probably integrate some caves/pvc into them decently well. Also are there any obvious DO NOTS when keeping one of these? I’m still making a laundry list of fish I’d like to keep and almost all of them are medium - large so I’m confident the eel won’t be killing my expensive fish, it may kill some smaller inverts which I’m fine with overall. I’ve been following the hobby for about 15 years so while I haven’t actually “done the thing” I’m willing to take chances on my first tank rather than just keeping it 100% beginner friendly. Appreciate any tips guys!

 

[Raptor72]

I have a Hawaiian Golden Dwarf in my Waterbox 330.7. I made several curved PVC caves about a foot long and placed them inbetween the rocks. I also siliconed some sand and rubble to help give them a more natural look. They blend in decently and are always being used. On the ends, I place 45 degree connectors to give it a bit of an angle so the open end is not laying down in the sand. The eels going in and out seem to clear out the majority of the detritus, along with water flow. I also have a Brazilian Bioluminescent eel which is even smaller, along with a snowflake, which all use the tubes. I have a snake eel that buries itself in the sand and doesn't seem interested in using the tubes. It just comes out of the sand to eat.