Suicidal

[cane76]

first thing yesterday morning my fire eel decides to move the stones holding down the lid of my jewel internal and get itself stuck by the heater after a hour and much cursing i managed to get him out and he was fine except for a few small burns you would think he would of learnt a lesson but no first thing this morning i go downstairs and hes jumped tank and is on the floor virtually dead and covered in fluff and dust.i think he had been on the floor behind the fish tank.i put him back in and he sank to the bottom belly up he is breathing but he dont look good i use duck tape to secure the back flap of the hood but it had got wet and come loose

 

[phlawed]

first thing yesterday morning my fire eel decides to move the stones holding down the lid of my jewel internal and get itself stuck by the heater after a hour and much cursing i managed to get him out and he was fine except for a few small burns you would think he would of learnt a lesson but no first thing this morning i go downstairs and hes jumped tank and is on the floor virtually dead and covered in fluff and dust.i think he had been on the floor behind the fish tank.i put him back in and he sank to the bottom belly up he is breathing but he dont look good i use duck tape to secure the back flap of the hood but it had got wet and come loose

eels are escape artist, rule #1 when keeping eels, cover anything they can jump out of on the top. Research your fish before buying. If he is breathing he has a slight chance, but if as you described, it might be better to look at alternative possibilities unless he is looking better.

 

[cane76]

as i said the hood is usually well secured and i do research my fish accidents happen.he seems ok now

 

[nmonks]

Rule #2: Sooner or later, most spiny eels end up dried out on the carpet.

Floating plants are a very good way to inhibit jumping/escaping habits. Works very well with my halfbeaks, which can otherwise be rather suicidal.

You should also consider using an aquarium with a sill around the edges. Spiny eels seem not to jump randomly but try to propel themselves along the corners of the aquarium. If the tank has pieces of glass 2-3 inches thick forming a sill or rim going inside the tank, its much more difficult for the fish to get out. Some tanks come like this (often the ones with built-on hoods, in the UK at least) but not all. You might consider buying another tank and siliconeing on some glass strips to form such a sill, and then moving the eel into that tank.

Whenever I have seen common eels (Anguilla spp.) kept in labs, they have always been kept in half-emptied aquaria. The less water, the less the fish can build up speed to make a jump. Eels are much hardier than spiny eels, but the theory should hold, if you can get a suitably tall aquarium where this would work.

Cheers,

Neale