Stress question

[screaminbuckeye]

I have a peacock eel (fw). I got him about 4 days ago. The pet store and numerous people on this forum suggested either sand or small gravel so that he can dig. Well it turns out that the gravel I got is too hard for my eel to dig in so I want to change to sand. Seeing that he has only been here for 4 days, is it too much stress to change the substrate? My water params are all great right now and I have bio spira to get the sand into the cycle. Also how do I keep sand from making the water too cloudy? I have tried sand before and the water was ususally too cloudy. Is there some trick to rinsing it?

 

[TankGirl]

I think the benefits of having sand for the eel are worth doing. Do you have plenty of hidey holes for it? They like tight spots to cram into.

When I use sand I put it in a bucket, about half-full, and run the hose into it with a spray attachment so there is a lot of force. I stir it around with my hand as well so that as the bucket overflows the debris overflows as well, but the majority of the sand will stay in the bucket. Keep doing that until you get clear water. You can do it in the tub or a utility sink but some sand will get in the drain, and that is not the greatest thing. It is a minor pain, and when you put sand in the tank it will likely still be a little cloudy, but it should clear in an hour or so.

Also, when you clean the tank later you will need to syphon carefully so as not to syphon up too much of the sand. What kind of sand are you going to use?

 

[screaminbuckeye]

Thanks for the advice! I am going to use "Tahitian Red Fine Grain Sand". It's red but the lfs said that it wasn't artificially colored sand. It's so fine that it feels silky. As for holes to hide in I have a really cute red pagoda decoration that I got from walmart that the eel loves. I also have some artificial ferns and some artificial "breeding grass" that the eel hids in. He's so funny. He drapes himself over the heater or thermometer so that his white belly is showing and lounges around.

 

[TankGirl]

Sounds good! I would watch him on that heater, many fish have burned themselves on heaters, and a heater-guard may be in order if he does.

Good luck and post some pics so we can see him!