Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post - Fully Automated Eel Management system

Rockfish9 · 12-29-2014, 01:48 PM

an easy way to economically keep larger quantities of eels is to purchase a live stock watering container ... they come ( or used to) in 50...100 and 200 gallon sizes... a 55 gallon drum or home made wooden one with epoxied seams work well also....use a toilet bowl flush valve for your water height control... add a bulk head fitting with ball valve ( screen the port)... each day dump 20% of the water...more if it is hot... keep a bottle of Seachem's Prime on hand and add it to the water while you fill, a cap full per 50 gallons ( of new water)...it will neutralize the chloramines and chlorine as well as heavy metals like copper that can kill fish ( the # 2 killer of captive fish...ammonia poising being #1).... for short term storage, no feeding is needed..for longer keeping pond pellets for gold fish work well and tend to contaminate the water less than meatier products... be sure to have a separate "purge" tank set up for new arrivals... as fresh caught eels will regurgitate anything in their stomachs and pollute the water ,in most cases killing the whole lot.. and trust me.. cleaning up a few hundred dead eels is no fun... been tere ..done that.. also keep a tight lid.. those slimy little buggers are the Houdini of the fish world...

I've kept up to 500 eels in a 200 gallon tub and as many as 1,000 large golden shiners in a similar set up... I still keep a fair amount of bait in a 50 gallon tub for ice fishing using this cheap easy to make system .. a good set of air stones completes the deal( be sure to clean the air stones often the eels love to lay on top of them ... eventually rendering them useless with their slime)... I have run large canister filters but if you are vigilant and change water often, you can get bye with out a biological filter ( this converts ammonia to nitrite then nitrite to nitrate).... if needed I can tell you how to make a home made canister for 1/3 the price of a store bought one..

keeping bait is easy.. it just takes a little effort. And knowledge of water chemistry..

12-29-2014, 01:48 PM	#8
Rockfish9 Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Reading Mass/Newburyport/merrimack river Posts: 3,748	Bait dealer permits aside... an easy way to economically keep larger quantities of eels is to purchase a live stock watering container ... they come ( or used to) in 50...100 and 200 gallon sizes... a 55 gallon drum or home made wooden one with epoxied seams work well also....use a toilet bowl flush valve for your water height control... add a bulk head fitting with ball valve ( screen the port)... each day dump 20% of the water...more if it is hot... keep a bottle of Seachem's Prime on hand and add it to the water while you fill, a cap full per 50 gallons ( of new water)...it will neutralize the chloramines and chlorine as well as heavy metals like copper that can kill fish ( the # 2 killer of captive fish...ammonia poising being #1).... for short term storage, no feeding is needed..for longer keeping pond pellets for gold fish work well and tend to contaminate the water less than meatier products... be sure to have a separate "purge" tank set up for new arrivals... as fresh caught eels will regurgitate anything in their stomachs and pollute the water ,in most cases killing the whole lot.. and trust me.. cleaning up a few hundred dead eels is no fun... been tere ..done that.. also keep a tight lid.. those slimy little buggers are the Houdini of the fish world... I've kept up to 500 eels in a 200 gallon tub and as many as 1,000 large golden shiners in a similar set up... I still keep a fair amount of bait in a 50 gallon tub for ice fishing using this cheap easy to make system .. a good set of air stones completes the deal( be sure to clean the air stones often the eels love to lay on top of them ... eventually rendering them useless with their slime)... I have run large canister filters but if you are vigilant and change water often, you can get bye with out a biological filter ( this converts ammonia to nitrite then nitrite to nitrate).... if needed I can tell you how to make a home made canister for 1/3 the price of a store bought one.. keeping bait is easy.. it just takes a little effort. And knowledge of water chemistry..
	A good run is better than a bad stand!