Discuss the keeping of blue ribbon eels

[malis]

I have read on the forums about many people having difficulties with thier blue ribbon Eels so i thought was time to have a thread on peoples experiences, info and advice. im sure most of us research are marine animals first but we still make mistakes. IME I have found that the survival of your eel largely depends on where you bought it from and how it was caught as they dont breed in captavity. The most common cause of death is starvation they can be difficult to start feeding, however if they are caught in the wrong way they will never eat this is due to them being snared rather than net caught in the open. By being snared and pulled from thier rock or hiding place more often than not their throat is damged so it becomes a case of they cant eat rather than they wont. I have 2 BRE and the first was harder to feed than the second I bought the second one to teach or rather show the other how it was done after introuducing the second eel the first started to hunt down the little river shrimp that i like to start them on in the first 2 days and with in the week he was on to frozen wholefish they are now complete ganets and will eat 3-4 fish a day if i let them but i like to keep it to 2 fish at the moment as they are very healthy and display around the tank severel times a day.
so come on chuck your 2 cents in.

 

[jjk_reef00]

This would be a good sticky.

 

[malis]

good point jjk I will move thread to a sticky on the reef discussion forum, my apolgies. how do i make it a sticky thread

 

[jjk_reef00]

I'm not sure how to make it, but it would be a good sticky for the FOWLR forum.

 

[malis]

only moderators can use sticky's so i guess i will leave the post here as it is a fowlr forum

 

[StayPuft]

I never had one myself but read a lot of cases where the BRE got killed in a powerhead or went to down the tube in the sump and got sucked up in the skimmer pump. Probably a good idea to eel proof all these things before buying one, considering how thin they are. They can fit through small holes.

 

[ranjr]

How would one know the method of capture? Don't they trade hands several times before ending up in one of our tanks?

 

[malis]

I never had one myself but read a lot of cases where the BRE got killed in a powerhead or went to down the tube in the sump and got sucked up in the skimmer pump. Probably a good idea to eel proof all these things before buying one, considering how thin they are. They can fit through small holes.

yes i put socks like the ones you get in active carbon tubs to cover powerheads and you must make sure the smallest of holes are covered

 

[malis]

How would one know the method of capture? Don't they trade hands several times before ending up in one of our tanks?

good point ranjr however it also depends where you buy your BRE my store here in the uk qt for 2 weeks and then hold the BRE in a seperate tank for 4 weeks where I was able to visit anytime i liked to see him eating and behaving in a way that he was not distressed or unhealthy in any way. If I am not happy then I can just walk away also they will only sell them to you if you have done your research, not a case of thats pretty can i have one. they assure they have followed how the eels are caught and have stopped using a source due to the way that they were handled.

 

[dviper150]

I have kept 1 blue ribbon eel in the past and now I have a black ribbon eel (Juvenile of blue ribbon eel). The last blue ribbon I had lasted with me for 7 months. It only ate once during those 7 month and it ate my damsel. It later jumped out of the tank overnight and died.

The ribbon eel I have now is eating 3-4 inch silversides 2-3 times a week. i have it for a little over 2 months and its doing great. I would say the hardest part is just getting them to eat. It took a month and half for him to start eating even though before I bought him, i made sure he was eating at the lfs. once they start eating, its just like keeping any other eel also keeping in mind that they will jump out. i have my top more secured now. I have 2 koralias in my tank and has never been stuck in either of them. I also have an overflow box and has never decided to swim into my sump through that.
here is a pic of him.

 

[malis]

excellent dv I would definatly cover your koralia, as he gets more and more confident he will leave his tail flowing behind him without the fear of it being nipped thats how he can accidently let it flow into the powerheads. he looks like a great eel and your patience with the feeding should prove to be rewarded with a fantastic Eel IMO the best Eels around they just get better and better with time in your tank even recognising you and following you around the tank waiting for thier dinner

 

[dviper150]

He is actually pretty confident now. He swims openly in the tank and sometime just lays there with his whole body exposed. Never has swam above the half way mark on my tank.
Overall, beautiful eel.

Here are a few pics of the last blue ribbon that I had before it jumped out.

 

[malis]

i will post some pics of mine in a few minutes

 

[FMarini]

a pair of these just bred at the Steinhart aquarium. The spawn is supposedly fertile, as i saw some very early development photos. In general eels have ridiculously long planktonic phases, and so far have been impossible to raise the larvae

 

[malis]

a pair of these just bred at the Steinhart aquarium. The spawn is supposedly fertile, as i saw some very early development photos. In general eels have ridiculously long planktonic phases, and so far have been impossible to raise the larvae

that would be great im all for captive rearing rather than taking from the sea please keep us updated.
having trouble uploading pics of mine for some reason i will keep trying

 

[malis]

here's mine

 

[Niño R]

Those eels look great!! Much props guys...

 

[jjk_reef00]

Those are awesome, thanks for sharing the pics. I've read they get up to 3ft. How long are yours?

 

[dviper150]

mine is about 2.5 feet.

 

[malis]

one is 2.5ft the other is 3ft and i believe their still growing so they do get bigger than 3ft im sure. im not sure if the old saying they grow to thier enviroment applies never really understood that statement really, if that was the case tangs and angels would surely stop growing in smaller tanks.