SFE - Exactly how Houdini are they?

[Scooter12ga]

Hey everybody,

I was thinking of making a wide-rimmed but still open-centered lid for the tank that the SFE will eventually inhabit.

He's currently small and living in a completely sealed QT, but will be moving soon to his bigger home.

I was thinking of making a glass top with 6" rims but an open center to help with summer heat, O2/CO2 exchange, and to allow more light into the tank.

When he grows up, will the adult SFE try to cross 6" of dry, MH heated, glass before falling on the floor? Or will he realize that there's nowhere to go and drop back into the tank? Keep in mind that the ~6"x24" hole in the center will be directly under a 250w MH.

From what I observed when acclimating him, is that they explore upward and then when their center of gravity gets over a rim their weight just continues to carry them over a narrow edge...but if the edge is wide and dry will they continue to explore?

[LisaD]

I almost stepped on a large one when I was in Maui. It was on the beach when the tide was going out. Do they come out of the water to hunt crabs in the extreme shallows and even on land?

I have never had any eel that IME was more likely to leave the tank. I don't know if your ledge will discourage it or not, but if any eel will get out of your tank, it will surely be a snowflake. As for the MH heated glass, it will probably be most likely to try to escape when the lights are out. They tend to be on the nocturnal side, anyway.

[Scooter12ga]

Night time! Hahaha, +1 for complete gaps in reasoning. Thanks for the advice.

Anybody else have thoughts?

[JVITAL55]

If you're looking to keep it open for ventlilation, how about making some kind of framed screen.

[pinkie]

I use egg crate tops with my SFE and have never had a problem, it would allow for proper ventilation.

[RayAllen]

Over my aquarium I use egg crate, cut perfectly to fit. My Snow flake is in my 210g FOWLR and so far so good.

[RayAllen]

Pinkie you and I are on the same page with the same size tank, lol.

[Scooter12ga]

Egg crate could work, but with the single MH lighting I want to avoid shadows out at the edges of the tank I may look into a screened frame top.

[RayAllen]

If you use a metal screen make sure it will not rust.

[Scooter12ga]

Yea, I definitely won't be using a metal screen. I'll probably either use fiberglass screen or see if I can round up some of the 1/4" pond mesh.

[Scooter12ga]

So I ended up doing the window screen frame with garden mesh.

I did two separate frames, one about 3/4 the width of the tank and the second frame the remaining 1/4. I can push the light back a few inches and lift the front frame out to feed, clean, water change, etc...

The beauty is that my light fixture legs hold it down good enough that the eel can't lift it up. Even though each frame is only held down at one point on each end, the fixture is heavy enough and the tolerances are tight enough that even I can't move the lids when the light is in position.