OceanInAbox
New member
Hello,
I am new to posting on this forum, but I have been keeping saltwater reefs and FOWLR tanks for over a decade now. I felt inclined to post my successful experience with the Blue ribbon eel, a well documented hard to keep species. Most of these eels die of starvation once acquired. I am hoping this post may save a few. They are stunning specimens, thus their popularity for impulse buyers. These eels require a lid to prevent escape as well. Keep in mind that poor chemical collection practice could play a role in their common refusal to feed.
I ordered my eel online, and proceeded with drip acclimation over three hours. I place the eel into a 180 gallon reef tank, running a Fluval Fx5 filter, 2 protein skimmers, and 2 wave makers. Water parameters are great. I have placed a four foot piece of tubing beneath the sand bed, and exiting through the live rock to give he eel a dark home. I feel that the comfort and security of having this tubing or PVC pipe is essential. The eel is about three feet in length, with mature coloration. He wandered the live rock for the first two days, but found and continued to inhabit my premade cave tubing on day three.
Attempts to feed the eel silversides, squid, and raw shrimp via feeding stick for the first five days were unsuccessful. I use a three foot clear straw like tube with a sharp tip as a the feeding stick. This species relies on smell to feed, and has poor vision. Soaking frozen food in garlic is an option I did not attempt. I offered live rosy minnows and guppies on day six. This eel prefers to stay in the water current, which makes live fish zooming past easy to ignore. The eel showed no interest. The store was out of ghost shrimp, or I would have attempted those as well. Live freshwater offerings are strictly to entice the eel to eat, and hold no long term nutritional value. On day eight, after exhaustive attempts at waving squid, silversides, and shrimp, the eel decided to feed! I found that placing the food in the sand directly in from of the eel, and moving it the way a snail would crawl across the sand, enticed the eel to investigate. There where a few test bites, before the eel grabbed the small chunk of silverside and retreated back into the cave. After one successful attempt it was like riding a bike. The eel would take anything I offered in this manner, and has continued to do so for well over a month now.
In conclusion I have these keys to success in enticing a Blue ribbon eel to feed. Have great water parameters, in an uncrowded system. Have a long and dark tube cave of some sort. Place a moderate water current via wave maker directly on the opening of the tube cave. Use a clear or non-intimidating feeding stick. Offer small chunks of foods that are high in scent, such as silversides and raw shelled shrimp. Imitate a hermit crab crawling across the sand bed with the food offer. My eel shows no interest in food above the sand bed! Attempt to feed at several different times of the day. Try and try again. My eel took eight days to feed, but several weeks of refusal is common. Lastly, buy from a reputable source. As I stated previously, an eel collected using cyanide poison may never feed despite all attempts.
I am new to posting on this forum, but I have been keeping saltwater reefs and FOWLR tanks for over a decade now. I felt inclined to post my successful experience with the Blue ribbon eel, a well documented hard to keep species. Most of these eels die of starvation once acquired. I am hoping this post may save a few. They are stunning specimens, thus their popularity for impulse buyers. These eels require a lid to prevent escape as well. Keep in mind that poor chemical collection practice could play a role in their common refusal to feed.
I ordered my eel online, and proceeded with drip acclimation over three hours. I place the eel into a 180 gallon reef tank, running a Fluval Fx5 filter, 2 protein skimmers, and 2 wave makers. Water parameters are great. I have placed a four foot piece of tubing beneath the sand bed, and exiting through the live rock to give he eel a dark home. I feel that the comfort and security of having this tubing or PVC pipe is essential. The eel is about three feet in length, with mature coloration. He wandered the live rock for the first two days, but found and continued to inhabit my premade cave tubing on day three.
Attempts to feed the eel silversides, squid, and raw shrimp via feeding stick for the first five days were unsuccessful. I use a three foot clear straw like tube with a sharp tip as a the feeding stick. This species relies on smell to feed, and has poor vision. Soaking frozen food in garlic is an option I did not attempt. I offered live rosy minnows and guppies on day six. This eel prefers to stay in the water current, which makes live fish zooming past easy to ignore. The eel showed no interest. The store was out of ghost shrimp, or I would have attempted those as well. Live freshwater offerings are strictly to entice the eel to eat, and hold no long term nutritional value. On day eight, after exhaustive attempts at waving squid, silversides, and shrimp, the eel decided to feed! I found that placing the food in the sand directly in from of the eel, and moving it the way a snail would crawl across the sand, enticed the eel to investigate. There where a few test bites, before the eel grabbed the small chunk of silverside and retreated back into the cave. After one successful attempt it was like riding a bike. The eel would take anything I offered in this manner, and has continued to do so for well over a month now.
In conclusion I have these keys to success in enticing a Blue ribbon eel to feed. Have great water parameters, in an uncrowded system. Have a long and dark tube cave of some sort. Place a moderate water current via wave maker directly on the opening of the tube cave. Use a clear or non-intimidating feeding stick. Offer small chunks of foods that are high in scent, such as silversides and raw shelled shrimp. Imitate a hermit crab crawling across the sand bed with the food offer. My eel shows no interest in food above the sand bed! Attempt to feed at several different times of the day. Try and try again. My eel took eight days to feed, but several weeks of refusal is common. Lastly, buy from a reputable source. As I stated previously, an eel collected using cyanide poison may never feed despite all attempts.
