Need to keep top cover open for ventilation, but want a snowflake eel

[4lwrasse]

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on how I can keep a eel in my tank while the covers are open. I heard that eels are great escape artists and that my covers need to be weighted down. However, I need them open because I have a fan pointing at the water surface to increase evaporation to keep my water temp at the 80-82 degrees level. I want an eel, but the if the water temp is too high, my fish will become stressed. Does anyone have any solutions to my dilemma?
P.S. I do NOT have money for a chiller

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by 4lwrasse

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on how I can keep a eel in my tank while the covers are open. I heard that eels are great escape artists and that my covers need to be weighted down. However, I need them open because I have a fan pointing at the water surface to increase evaporation to keep my water temp at the 80-82 degrees level. I want an eel, but the if the water temp is too high, my fish will become stressed. Does anyone have any solutions to my dilemma?
P.S. I do NOT have money for a chiller

Do you have a sump and if so where is it located

[lagatbezan]

I dont know how your tank is setup but maybe you can put a egg crate (like the ones used for lighting panels) on top and just put something with weight on it to hold it down? easy and inexpensive.

[rocsec1]

Look at the BRS screen kit. They work pretty good and will let plenty of air through.

[Fallling]

Originally Posted by rocsec1

Look at the BRS screen kit. They work pretty good and will let plenty of air through.

+1. If you want to save a few bucks, you can also get the corners, frame, spline, and spline roller from Home Depot or Lowes and just get the 1/4" clear netting from BRS.

[4lwrasse]

Thanks everyone for all your input! I will probably go with the egg crate method. Right now, I do not have a sump but is using a canister filter. All the levels are fine but I am still doing a cleaning every two weeks. All of my fish seem fine, and after another fish, I am thinking about getting the eel. Thanks again everyone!

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by 4lwrasse

Thanks everyone for all your input! I will probably go with the egg crate method. Right now, I do not have a sump but is using a canister filter. All the levels are fine but I am still doing a cleaning every two weeks. All of my fish seem fine, and after another fish, I am thinking about getting the eel. Thanks again everyone!

I hate to be the sh*t here but I have had those eels get out through egg crate before

You might want to try the glass top and monitor the heat. You can float plastic water bottles with frozen water in them to bring down the temp
What you don't want to get into is a situation where temp is fluctuating more than 4 degrees over 12 hr

[3dees]

I have the egg crate over my tank but no eel. the crate openings are 1/2". the brs is 1/4". a small eel might be able to squeeze thru the crate.

[Fallling]

I know with fairy and flasher wrasses (also known jumpers), egg crate is too big and they can still escape. Egg crate would be better than nothing, but the 1/4" BRS netting would probably be the safest bet.

[billdogg]

IMHO a snowflake won't even slow down for an egg rate cover. The BRS DIY screen top is your very best option.

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by billdogg

IMHO a snowflake won't even slow down for an egg rate cover. The BRS DIY screen top is your very best option.

Tks for repeating my caution

[xCry0x]

Window screening etc works fine, just be aware it also functions as a light dimmer ( I actually have a sheet of window screening over my led fixture to ghetto dim it).

You could also try some bird netting, although at that point it is going to be similar to egg crate. You could overlap 2-3 pieces to make the holes smaller while still letting more light through than actual window screening.

[Aquarist007]

Still think it would be a good idea to get the glass covers and try them out before buying the eel. The reality "might" be that this system is just not suitable for adding an eel.

[Mad Mantis]

I want a snowflake more than anything, but them escaping is a huge worry. (As you already know, lol).

My LFS said a screen is sufficient and they have several with screens on them, but he also said it has escaped on several occasions and eaten entire tanks of inverts. So take that for what you will. (So maybe not sufficient after all...)

Edit:

I've also heard of them "escaping", crawling around the floor and finding another tank with "food" in it. Then eating said food and returning to the original tank.

[xCry0x]

Well you add a predator to a tank full of food and deaths are always in the question.

With a screen over the top my concern would be it getting into an overflow etc -- assuming the screen is actually held on with something and not just sitting over the top like a piece of paper.

I have heard that story told about people keeping octopus in tanks.. an eel doing that sounds like it might be a game of telephone performed on the octopus stories.

[kentwo]

I asked something very similar last week without much success.

Many people recommended the bird netting/window frame option, but for me that didn't really work since i had two large pipes from my skimmer to work around. Right now, I'm probably going with the screen mesh on part of the tank and maybe a small piece of acrylic on the back to seal off the skimmer parts. Another option may be to zip tie the mesh onto the egg crate, so that it is easier to form around the skimmer pipes, yet offer more protection than just the egg crate.

[xCry0x]

I mean, you could put a screen over the top and duct tape it down if it comes down to it. That is all aesthetic preference.