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Vinegar eels
Just recently got back into fish keeping after several years away.
Have notice messages concerning harvesting vinegar eels. Here's a
method I use with good success:
I use a one litre boiling flask with a straight, vertical neck. I fill
the flask to within a quarter of an inch of the bottom of the neck with
eel-rich solution. I've bent 2 wires in a "U" shape to fit to the
bottom of the neck. I place these two wires in the neck at right angles
so that they form a cross at the bottom of the neck. I place a disk of
thin filter material on this cross "platform". I then fill the neck
with clean, fresh water. I then, using tweezers, slowly remove the
filter material.
Now I have vinegar to just below the neck, and, due to a slight
specific-gravity differential, clear water floating above and filling
the neck.
The eels seem to recognize the specific-gravity and PH barrier and will
"cloud" below the fresh water for a time. After about one to two hours
the clear water will be crowded with eels.
If one is careful not to go to deep in the neck, many eels may be
harvested in the clear water and fed directly to the fish with a small
baster.
I have not seen an appreciable change in PH until I get about 80% down
into the neck. There is no doubt that the activity of the eels causes
some mixing below that level.
I used this method many years ago, and am now using it again. In my
opinion it beats any and all filter methods.
Thanks for the space!
Barrie Smith, Missoula, Montana
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