blue ribbon eel

[fugu]

i have just been given a blue ribbon eel!!!
a friend purchased it from thailand and did not know what it was, also his water quality is not that good. he gave me the eel to see if i could get it to eat. sofar no luck. i know that this is a restricted species but there is not alot i can do. i have him in a 200 gallon FO/LR tank with 4 dominoe damsels, a tomatoe clown a rectangular trigger (1.5") and some cleaner shrimps .
the eel comes out from hidding sometimes and does a circuit of the tank ,also likes to coil around the power heads.he is about 3feet in length.
is there any thing i can do do get it to eat? i have researched everything i can find but most stories seem to be about how they died.
sorry for such a long post but it really is a very beautiful specimen and i just wish there was something that i can do to help it survive.(had it now for 16 days, all seems to be ok.
any and all help would be grately appreciated.

 

[lionfish]

LionFish says.....
Unfortunately there is almost nothing you can do. These fish should never be bought as they rarely live more than a motnh or 2 in any tank. You will have to keep trying to feed it and thats about it. They are very reluctant feeders and they try to avoid eating anything. Sorry man, but they just aren;t good to have in a tank. You shouldn't feel bad if it dies cause you probably can't save it. Your friend made a very bad decision buying it. Keep us posted as I would like to see if it will eat.

 

[luckyboy7]

Just a suggestion, try feeding it ghost shrimp, I read somewhere thats what they will eat.... Thats all I ever found out about what those guys eat, cause I was thinking about geting one too, probably not tho... Good luck!

 

[pufferlover]

All you can do is keep trying. Some eels like these are very hard keepers but you could be one of the lucky ones if it starts eating.

 

[fugu]

going to try a few different techniques. the eel seems to allways appear when the other fish feed probably due to the smell of the food ill try a feeding stick during this time.someone told me to feed guppies but just like feeding goldfish i dont know about the nutritional value of this.any ideas?
thankyou all for your advice.the eel also seems to be changing colors which might be normal as they are hermaphrodites.

 

[diatom]

Two things I have heard of, although they don't sound like long term solutions to me.
1. Putting him in a small bag (that's how it was described to me) with some "prey" and sometimes they will eat.
2. Force feeding.
I'm sure someone with more experience with aggressive might be able to explain these methods better then I can.
Best of luck and keep us posted.
Brent

 

[03]

try this to feed,Will take mussel, cockle, squid, shrimp and lancefish, at night if possible