Setting up a eel tank

[MoFugEr]

I was thinking of setting up the twenty gallon tank I have (cleared it out added all to the monster). What kind of eel would thrive in a twenty gallon tall tank? What should I use as a substrate? Anything else I should know? All information would be helpful.
Research first!

[Doug]

Hi MoFugEr,

I think a 20g tank is too small for most any eel. I had kept a Snowflake eel in a 29g tank that grew from 12" to 30" in a little over a year. While it did survive in the tank I would not say that it thrived and it should have been in a larger tank. He was a very heavy eater and created a lot of waste which was very hard to keep up with. The water quality did suffer and after he grew so large it was very hard to work on the tank without disturbing him.

If you are considering a much larger tank in the next few months you might be a able to get away with a very small Snowflake for a short time but I would not keep it in a tank that small for long.

Doug

[MoFugEr]

I have seen white eels that are very small. What are they and how big do they get? Is there any eels that stay small? I would like to do something with this tank that is just sitting around waiting to be broke! I have the sand the water and the skimmer for it. The lighting I have is not enough for any kind of corals 2 18" in an eclipse hood. Would the eclipse hood and the skimmer be enough for a small eel?
I am thinking of setting it up to let it cycle. Should I run the skimmer during the cycle? I didn't run it in my other tank while it cycled.