Eel Keeping Question

[Crafty Angler]

Does anybody have a link on the two-buckets-with-drainholes system for keeping eels?

I got a coupla dozen this afternoon for a boat trip that got postponed and they were looking poorly in the patio livewell - overcrowding for one - and I can't find my #*&%$##* air pump and air stone to aerate the water.

Searched for the post but couldn't find it. Anybody got a link?

Got the drill out and set it up right, deposited the eels and covered with ice - am I missin' a step here?

Anybody else use this method? I've done everything else but have never used the old two bucket system.....

[Mike P]

I've kept eels alive almost a whole week over on the Vineyard by putting them in the drilled-out bucket and setting it under an outdoor faucet. Slow steady stream--more than a drip, but not much more.

[Karl F]

Best set-up I saw was at Bill's Sunoco in Orleans. The Galvy tank out back they use to test tubes and tires for leaks.. filled with eels and water, they'd leave the air hose with the slight leak near the chuck, in the tank, bubblin' ever so slow. We'd all dump are extra's in it on our way home, then swing in after work and grab a bunch out to use. Three of us, Bill Jr., me and another guy, shared the tank.
Till one day, a lady came in with her kids bike tube, and I guess she thought she'd help out by finding her own leak, she plunged the tube in, and well..... lets just say she almost launched without a rocket... Bill Sr. put the kaibosh on the eel tank

[macojoe]

They will last a week easy!!

http://69.93.108.13/StriperTalk/show...&threadid=9001

[MakoMike]

Just don't let them sit in the water, they'll suck all the oxygen out of it and then drown. Figure out some way (seaweed, wet rags, dripping water etc) to keep them wet without having them sit in the water. Thay can breathe air.

[RIROCKHOUND]

ICe em... dump a few tray's of icecubes on em and let em drain into the second bucket; when you change the ice give em a cold bath and start over.... works great and slows em down enough to make em easy to hold...

[RIJIMMY]

I do exactly what RIR said. ALways works for me and the eels stay alive and are easy to handle

[chris L]

heres the way mine works . the top bucket is a shorter bucket than 5 gal . it has 1/4 inch holes drilled into it for the ice to melt through . the 2nd bucket is a black 5 gallon with 1/4 inch holes drilled into it . the 3rd bucket is a 5gallon with a spigot attached to the lower part of the bucket . I fill bucket # 1 with as much ice as will fit ( 2 bags ) . as the ice melts it rinces across the eels in bucket # 2 ( the black one ) this one has my eels in there , usually 3 dozen . bucket #3 collect the eels slime and melted ice water . after 2 days I drain it through the spigot and this has lasted me 3 weeks at a clip . the one thing is you need to stay on top of the ice ( every 2 days ) replacement .

[chipwood]

All you have to do is take a minnow bucket and drill holes in the bottom. Then put that in a 5 gallon bucket with something in the bottom to keep the minnow bucket out of the slime.Throw the 5 gallon bucket in the fridge ( if you have a fish fridge). Otherwise all I do is put the minnow bucket in a large cooler full of ice. The ice slows them down and once you leave them out for a little bit they come back. These systems have worked for me for years here at home and on road trips. I just can't be bothered doing the 3 bucket thing but that probably works too.

[chipwood]

Bubble weed helps out too if you go with the minnow bucket inside the 5 gallon in the fridge

[Carl]

If you're going to use the buckets with just ice try block ice as opposed to ice cubes. The block lasts a lot longer.