where to find garden eels

[Kremis]

hey all - I was just wondering if anyone has seen any garden eels for sale online - I found one website (bluegrassaquatics) but they are crazy expensive. Fish stores havent been able to get them in for over a year and I am tired of waiting....

 

[Kremis]

for anyone wondering, I am just looking to add some to an existing garden eel tank

 

[norfolkgarden]

Pretty awesome.

How deep is your sandbed?

How long have you had them?

One of the most amazing sites I've seen in the world is diving at 140 ft off of the Big Island of Hawaii and coming across acres of garden eels in the sand.
As we moved along about 20 feet above the sand the garden eels would slide back into their homes and then re-emerge as we passed.

 

[Kremis]

ive had my current 2 for over a year. sand is like 3 inch at the lowest point and 5 inch at the highest. the eels will just strech out horizintally when they cant burrow anymore. both are like 12-16 inches. in a 28 gallon nano cube. feed them once a day. contrary to what most people think they can go a long time without food (first one didnt eat for 2 weeks)

 

[norfolkgarden]

Wow. The only ones I've seen in captivity were in a 6 inch DSB at a local LFS.
They were sold a month later. That was the last I heard of them.

 

[Kremis]

Wow. The only ones I've seen in captivity were in a 6 inch DSB at a local LFS.
They were sold a month later. That was the last I heard of them.

yeah stores almost never get them in due to their special needs and almost no demand. I think im going to have to go with bluegrass

 

[saltyhog]

One of the most amazing sites I've seen in the world is diving at 140 ft off of the Big Island of Hawaii and coming across acres of garden eels in the sand.
As we moved along about 20 feet above the sand the garden eels would slide back into their homes and then re-emerge as we passed.

There's a large area of them in a sand flat near the old Kona airport, near where they do the manta ray dive! Awesome sight! So hard to get pictures of them though, they just won't let you get close enough to take their picture.

 

[Baldguy]

My local lfs in Ft Worth has them now.

 

[Kremis]

long way from the bay area lol

 

[andrewkw]

Good luck finding some, I believe they are seasonal and now is the season. I kept garden eels for several years both the spotted ones and splendid. The spotted ones always did better for me. I had to give them away before a long distance move. Why don't you ask one of your local reef shops to order them for you?

 

[Kremis]

Good luck finding some, I believe they are seasonal and now is the season. I kept garden eels for several years both the spotted ones and splendid. The spotted ones always did better for me. I had to give them away before a long distance move. Why don't you ask one of your local reef shops to order them for you?

they say they "arent on the list" or something. I had same results here, tried 4 splendids, 1 didnt even burrow and died overnight, 3 never ate. there is one store that sometimes gets them but when they do its only 1-2, and it is 45 min away for me. I am only 16 no license yet, and parents arent willing to drive me that far to get a fish lol.

 

[norfolkgarden]

There's a large area of them in a sand flat near the old Kona airport, near where they do the manta ray dive! Awesome sight! So hard to get pictures of them though, they just won't let you get close enough to take their picture.

Awesome!

We were doing a shore deep dive off of Puako.
Swim out till it looks deep.
[emoji6]
Made it down to 185' using computers.
Slow beautiful assent.
The eels were at about 160' to 120'.
As you kept heading into shore the shore reef shows up at about 100'.

From memory, 20+ years ago.
[emoji3]

 

[eatbreakfast]

I would be reluctant to have them shipped. Garden eels do not do well being shipped. They try to bury the whole time they are in the bag and damage their tails. Being patient and getting healthy specimens from an LFS goes a long way toward success.

Also, they like to keep an 8"-12" distance from conspecifics, so really not sure how many more you would be able to keep longterm in a 28g tank.

 

[Kremis]

I would be reluctant to have them shipped. Garden eels do not do well being shipped. They try to bury the whole time they are in the bag and damage their tails. Being patient and getting healthy specimens from an LFS goes a long way toward success.

Also, they like to keep an 8"-12" distance from conspecifics, so really not sure how many more you would be able to keep longterm in a 28g tank.

its either have them shipped to me or the LFS, either way they have to go through that... as long as there is a DOA guarantee, I think I should be good. In my opinion, my current 2 garden eels are almost always within 2 inches of eachother, and I have seen plenty pictures of spotted garden eels together that appear to be thriving.

 

[andrewkw]

In my experience they definitely do fight and not like to be that close to each other. I have no idea how that works with so many either overcrowding or frequent restocking. I will have to go back and check my records but I had about 6-8 live several years in a 36x24 footprint that was 80% or more sand (6-10" deep) with just one rock island with a very small base. I had as many as 12+ but some of them died due to not eating, or the orange splendid garden eels not being as hearty as originally mentioned. I even had one jump but if this doesn't happen in the first day or 2 it's very unlikely to happen.

I kept them for about 4 years and only took down the tank because I did not want to move 100s and 100s of lbs of sand a long distance. My move was a mess and I lost enough livestock as it was. Seeing this thread is really making me want to have these guys again, they are so entertaining and you certainly can keep them with fish and corals as long as the tank is built around the garden eels and you slide other things in that can survive in their habitat vs trying to add garden eels to a tank that has a slightly deep sandbed.

 

[Kremis]

Ill post a pic of my tank when I get home

 

[Mikedawg]

Interesting species with a fascinating life cycle. Males and females are often close together since their sex organs are on the upper part of their body above the "normal" sand line, and to mate they lean over and wrap around one another. Males are also territorial and will lean over some distance to bite other males in their area especially during mating season.

 

[Kremis]

Interesting species with a fascinating life cycle. Males and females are often close together since their sex organs are on the upper part of their body above the "normal" sand line, and to mate they lean over and wrap around one another. Males are also territorial and will lean over some distance to bite other males in their area especially during mating season.

Yeah I have seen mine do both of these things, but they generally like to be close to eachother so they are a male and female ?

 

[Kremis]

In my experience they definitely do fight and not like to be that close to each other. I have no idea how that works with so many either overcrowding or frequent restocking. I will have to go back and check my records but I had about 6-8 live several years in a 36x24 footprint that was 80% or more sand (6-10" deep) with just one rock island with a very small base. I had as many as 12+ but some of them died due to not eating, or the orange splendid garden eels not being as hearty as originally mentioned. I even had one jump but if this doesn't happen in the first day or 2 it's very unlikely to happen.

I kept them for about 4 years and only took down the tank because I did not want to move 100s and 100s of lbs of sand a long distance. My move was a mess and I lost enough livestock as it was. Seeing this thread is really making me want to have these guys again, they are so entertaining and you certainly can keep them with fish and corals as long as the tank is built around the garden eels and you slide other things in that can survive in their habitat vs trying to add garden eels to a tank that has a slightly deep sandbed.

I actually bought my first one and added it into the tank while it was still a reef (impulse buy) after doing a LOT more research, that weekend I converted the tank to a garden eel type setting. When I get home ill post pictures of the tank over time. I still have that first eel, infact its the one in the picture above.

 

[Baldguy]

its either have them shipped to me or the LFS, either way they have to go through that... as long as there is a DOA guarantee, I think I should be good. In my opinion, my current 2 garden eels are almost always within 2 inches of eachother, and I have seen plenty pictures of spotted garden eels together that appear to be thriving.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/7/fish2
Good article on garden eels. Just because an LFS or wholesaler has forced many to live so close does not mean it is desirable long term in our tanks. One pair per square foot seems to be best for the garden eels.