90 gallon garden eel garden (reef)
 

After using this tank to keep cephalopods for more then 3 years it's time for a change. My last Octopus passed away recently after living in my tank for almost a year. He had a very successful life and lived right up to his approximate lifespan. Before the Octos I kept dwarf cuttlefish but they have an even shorter life expectancy and are quite difficult (expensive) to feed as babies.

So with that in mind I was looking for a new challenge. I've decided to give garden eels a try. I consider myself experienced with harder to keep marine life, and this tank is setup with them in mind so hopefully that will be a recipe for success.

The tank is 36x24x24. First thing I did was remove about half the rock. The large sandbed should be sufficient for around 8 garden eels. I bought 8 bags of Caribsea Aragamax sugar sized sand. I thought I washed it out well, but 1 week later the tank is still not clear. I've started to run carbon, did a 25g water change and plan on doing one more today and the water is finally almost clear.

So 240lbs of new sand plus there was already an inch or so of larger sand. In addition I do have about 100lbs more of used sand I am thinking of adding to further increase the sandbed. It's currently 11" at its deepest point and slopes off to about 2" on the live rock island side.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...52818%2529.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3...52819%2529.JPG

The remaining live rock island will eventually house corals but I'm not sure what type. Some sort of theme will eventually be planned. Currently the tank is lit by a single PAR38 bulb but that will change to something that can support coral at a later time. I am using 2 old koralia powerheads for flow but this too will change to something that can be put on a time to give a wave effect to ensure food will pass over the garden eels since they do not venture out of their burrows even for food. Maybe 2 MP10's or 1 MP40, but maybe something else. Still undecided.

Finally because garden eels only eat what passes over them they will require frequent feeding. With that in mind I have a BRS 50ml a minute dosing pump. There really isn't anything marketed as a liquid autofeeder but I think this will work even if it will require frequent tube changing. This will be setup to feed either live/frozen brine and or cyclopeeze. This way I can feed the tank about 6 times a day, but only actually feed once. Something as simple as a frozen water bottle inside a container holding the thawed food would keep it cold enough not to spoil for 18-24hrs. Once I have the eels I will acclimate them first but after they are settled I do hope to add some slower fish to the tank as well such as cardinals or pipefish but this will only happen once the eels are acclimated and eating well. While the tank has lost a lot of natural filtration from the live rock. It has gained a massive DSB that should help. I do plan on frequent water changes as well.

Here are some semi cloudy pictures of how things stand now :

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...0/IMG_4773.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-x...0/IMG_4775.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...0/IMG_4777.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z...0/IMG_4778.JPG

Very cool idea! Love the DSB and the tower scape. Looks awesome.

thanks!

This would actually be an ideal drop off tank with the reef then a drop off to the sand bed, but since I'm working with a semi standard tank the sand is actually above the reef.

I am really amazed how long it takes this sand to clear. If I didn't rinse it, I'd be looking at a year wait..

All you need to do is rig up a Filter sock somewhere, your tank will be crystal in 5-10 hours.

Currently waiting for a sump I have a 5G pail with 2 holes drilled in it to return water to the Tank w/ a 200G Pump just dropped into my display tank. Tank is curretnly cycling.

Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this setup. Looks great and best of luck to you :biggrin:

I'd love to see how you eventually setup an auto liquid/live food dispenser too. Nice setup.

Filter sock did work :)

I have added 6 spotted garden eels and one splendid. So far I have seen 5 of them eat a mixture of frozen and live brine shrimp. Will be adding cyclopeeze to their diet. Existing powerheads seems to be doing a good job of covering most of the tank so everyone has a chance to grab food. I am still deciding between Vortechs and Tunze wavebox. In the mean time I have a few tunze powerheads lying around I will probably swap out the korilias for now. I would have got a few more splendid but this was what was in stock.

It was amazing how fast they buried into the sand when introduced to the tank. Of course a few are still on the shallow side but I don't think it will be long before they realize how much better the other side is.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0...0/IMGP9351.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...0/IMGP9368.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...0/IMGP9372.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...0/IMGP9376.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-g...0/IMGP9384.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u...0/IMGP9405.JPG

water is nicely cleared, skimmer should be skimming actual skimmate not sand dust. Using 100mm lens so I couldn't quite fit the full tank in.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...0/IMGP9393.JPG

Awesome tank. How long are the eels right now?

Looks like an excellent species-specific tank. Great to see someone do something different and cool.

Very nice! you have some very nice looking eels!

I admire these guys every time I'm in my LFS. They have a bunch in a DT.