Blue Ribbon EEL advise needed

[muskyhunte]

Good Morning to all
My LFS just got a blue ribbon eel in and its awsome. I have a 40 gallon tank all ready to go. I am looking for some infformation from some one who has one and can give me some tip on this eel before i decide to buy it. The eel is around 24 inchec in length and lookg great. The eel is eating krill and silver sliders. Please any info would help. I have several reef tanks and 2 non reef tanks that I have snow flake eels in.

 

[ryan]

I dont have a blue ribbon, but Ive looked into them for my next eel. I havent got a whole lot of info. They need a min. tank size of 60gal. They also need good water conditions. They arent as hardy as some of the more common eels.

 

[moraym]

Be sure that if the LFS says he's eatng then you watch them actually feed him. It's important to verify that theyre not pulling you leg, because you definitely want to get a blue ribbon that is eating, as that is the major cause of difficulty with blue ribbons. If you can get them to eat, and eat frozen regularly, that's a big step.

 

[evilss]

i will agree with MorayM. i want one as well and from what i read gettng them eat is the hard part. i would watch the lfs feed him. also do you plan on upgrading the tank for him? something a lil larger when it gets older. how much is he at the lfs?

 

[muskyhunte]

Im looking for a small blue ribbon eel. And I plan on putting it in to either one of my 250 gallon tanks or one of my 90 gallon tanks later. I want to start him in the 40 to make sure the eel will eat and has nothing wrong with it. I just dont start putting fish in to my reef and non reef tanks. I wont plase a fish or eel in to one of my big tanks for at least 3 months. As far as getting the eel to eat I have raised Fuman Chu lionfisg and several other lionfish and I always start by using a feeding rod to get them to eat.

 

[moraym]

I think youre fine as long as the LFS has him eating already.
Ive had every species of lion, including the Fu, and from what i've seen the blue ribbon eel is a harder species to begin feeding than all of them. But like i said, this shouldnt be an issue since the LFS has him eating already.

 

[dave_15]

Ribbon eels belong to the family of Muraenidae (includes moray eels). These colorful creatures are considered as one of the hardest fish to keep in captivity, even experts avoid them. Most ribbon eels die because of starvation (they are picky eaters) or if there is a hole in the top of the tank they will most likely jump out (they are escape artists). These animals reach no more than 40 inches. These animals are territorial and will eat anything that fits into their mouths. This specie is not recommended for beginners.
Most of the keepers of this wonderful creature lost their animal by starvation. This happens when the animal is in stress and it doesn’t like its food. Ribbon eels are very picky eaters. You should feed your animal with tongs so no injury happens to you or your pet. There were a lot of people that gave their ribbon live goldfish; they are VERY BAD for your ribbon. Ribbon eels are known to eat live foods like guppies, silversides, shrimp, krill, scallop, crab meat, crab and crayfish supplemented with Hufa like Selecon. You should try giving your ribbon frozen food like brine shrimp. You may notice after you got your ribbon that he’s not eating don’t worry they can live for weeks without food. Ribbon mostly hunt for their pray by smell and should be feed every other or 3 days.
Ribbon eels are perfect for smaller tanks (like 30). For substrate you should use sand as ribbon are mostly at the bottom so crashed coral would injure it. You need a tight lid so the animal won’t jump out as Ribbon eels are known as escape artist and will jump out thought the smallest hole. The ribbon should have several hiding spaces so it can hide.

 

[scubadoo]

99% of these animals perish within the first month. You've been warned.

 

[bret61081]

I've read the best chance on getting them to eat is to accimate like 10-15 black mollies to salt water and leave the lights off. I did that for my eel when I first got it b.c it would not eat froozen at first and the only way it would go near the mollies was if I stabbled them with my feeder....but ribbons are next to impossible to get to eat. my LFS said they had a guy who had one for about 2 years b4 it died. He had some PVC burried in a DSB and thats where the eel lived. so thats a thought aswell. If you need pics ofthem in the wild, they always just have their head sticking out of a hole in the rock or sand....so thats worth a try aswell...just a little bit of stress will cause these guys to stop eating...Good luck...keep us posted...

 

[57chev]

Muskyhunte, I would really think twice about buying that eel. Ive kept various morays for years and have never heard of anyone being able to keep a blue ribbon eel alive for any real length of time whether the eel was eating or not. Some things just dont do well in any type of captivity and the blue ribbon is one of them. Its to bad to, cuz their about the most amazing fish I've ever seen. Ive had some stubborn eels over the years, one zebra moray I had lasted believe it or not eight weeks before finally eating prawns. Good luck.