perfect reef eel? or perfect murder?

[sharksr4thesea]

so i love ribbon eels. they are beautiful, and would go perfect in my reef tank. they arent too big and my fish act just as they do...


so i went to a lfs today, and saw quite a few things, among a pretty good selection of captive bred corals ( very good ) and a sea apple (eh....) i also saw a ribbon eel. after i picked my jaw up off the floor i got to thinking ... do i buy...

absolutely not. my first question was is he eating ..the answer was obviously not. cause they rarely do. but its such a hard thing to pass up. so gorgeous and he would go perfect with my coral and fish.

the perfect reef eel....but....

we all know what would happen... so what do you all think of them..HONESTLY

 

[billdogg]

IMO.........

pros
1. very cool looking

cons
1. difficult to get to eat (except maybe your small expensive fish)
2. can escape from ANYWHERE
3. you will encourage your LFS to get another to sell
4. i'm sure there is more.....


Now for my experience with ribbon eels

Many years ago (about 20 or so) i worked part time at a LFS. on fish day, we got one in - about 4' blue - a beautiful fish, and with my discount, impossible to pass up. took him home and put it in a tank by itself with a solid acrylic top - no openings anywhere. 4 weeks go by without it eating. finally it started to eat some tiny green chromis i put in there for him. COOL!!! I don't care if thats all he ever eats - chromis cost me about .50 each at the time. a couple more weeks go by - all is still well. another fish day at the store - we got in an "assorted" moray - about 24" - ok fine - i have an eel already - whats one more??? take it home and put it in with the ribbon. they get along well - both eating - the "assorted" eating pretty much anything i put in for it - shrimp, scallops, squid, fish chunks, etc. the ribbon sticks with his chromis. One day i go to krogers to get more eel food. when i get home - no ribbon!!! did he escape??? NOPE! the "assorted" moray now has a HUGE bulge in his belly and blue flecks on his (many, pointed) teeth.

flash forward to present day. My Gymnothorax Undulatus is now about 4' long, bigger around than my arm, and lives by himself in a 150 with a 120 as a fuge. over the years, he ate (or tried to eat) everything i ever put in with him (except a large green brittle star)

his name is Hannibal, and he may be with me for another 20 - who knows!

 

[ginger7286]

I Nagree the ribbons are gorgeous but, they belong in their natural habitat. They rarely eat and it is difficult to keep them in any tank for any length of time. I admire their beauty whenever I see one but it breaks my heart to know such a beautiful animal is taken from the wild and faces an almost certain death in a home aquarium. They belong on the reef.

 

[sharksr4thesea]

yeah its been about a week since, i went back today (and got a gorgeous vietnamese green and red zoanthid btw) and the eel was still there. got a better look. this guy was easily a good 10 inches. i didnt even bother to take a second look. hes just going to waste away.

on a lighter note. they have a fairly good priced banana eel.