Small Black Ribbon Eel Feeding

I

Icewing726

New member
So I finally got my eels which was the whole reason I set this tank up in the first place. I actually got one eating frozen anything real easy. He's about 2-3 feet long but his smaller buddy hasn't taken the bait yet. The first day I got him to look at it and then shy away while his partner took anything I'd let him. Today I finally saw him during feeding and started target feeding him. He put his mouth around two pieces of krill which I did the obligatory shake and release to make him think it was alive (I made an acrylic feeding stick and had it pressed against the rocks so he wouldn't mistake it as another predator). He immediately released both without ever trying to pull it. He even ignored it while it was on the sand. I put squid down there which again he probed and then ignored. I even broke up a cube of mysis just to see if he'd go after it and nothing.

Worth mentioning his buddy ate any and everything I offered today and he wasn't near this eel for this feeding so no competition.

Anyway, sorry for the word wall. Offering live is going to be very difficult in this tank given the sheer size and other willing participants though I have some ideas.

What other foods should I offer him? I haven't tried the garlic thing yet either. The silver sides in my flat pack are bigger then my wrasse's, should I split one up small?
 
Ribbon eels are notoriously difficult to get eating so you've already done a great job in getting one of them to take food. Take a minute to congratulate yourself on that win :thumbsup:

For the second guy, I'd say just keep trying different things. And just because something didn't work once, dont give up on it! Keep offering different things in different ways and hope that he eventually wises up. Give the garlic a go. Break up the silverside and give that a go. Anything that he doesnt eat, just pull it back out and throw it away.

I had a trick that worked great with a dwarf lion that REFUSED to eat for the lfs. I managed to get her interested in a ball of masstick but she just wasn't associating it with being a piece of food. So I got a live white cloud (small freshwater fish), closed it in my hand, put my fist in the tank infont of the lion and made sure she was watching. I opened my palm enough for the white cloud to dart out. The lion was immediately enthralled and swallowed it straight away. I then immediately repeated the same process but replaced the cloud with a ball of masstick which the lion also swallowed the moment I released it. After that, I could get her to eat whatever I wanted.

Its probably a little bit more risky with the eel and I'm not sure how comfortable you are with having your hands associated with food around its mouth but you may be able to rig together some kind of tool to do the same thing.
 
super stooge said:
Ribbon eels are notoriously difficult to get eating so you've already done a great job in getting one of them to take food. Take a minute to congratulate yourself on that win :thumbsup:

For the second guy, I'd say just keep trying different things. And just because something didn't work once, dont give up on it! Keep offering different things in different ways and hope that he eventually wises up. Give the garlic a go. Break up the silverside and give that a go. Anything that he doesnt eat, just pull it back out and throw it away.

I had a trick that worked great with a dwarf lion that REFUSED to eat for the lfs. I managed to get her interested in a ball of masstick but she just wasn't associating it with being a piece of food. So I got a live white cloud (small freshwater fish), closed it in my hand, put my fist in the tank infont of the lion and made sure she was watching. I opened my palm enough for the white cloud to dart out. The lion was immediately enthralled and swallowed it straight away. I then immediately repeated the same process but replaced the cloud with a ball of masstick which the lion also swallowed the moment I released it. After that, I could get her to eat whatever I wanted.

Its probably a little bit more risky with the eel and I'm not sure how comfortable you are with having your hands associated with food around its mouth but you may be able to rig together some kind of tool to do the same thing.
Click to expand...

Thats a very interesting method you got with the lionfish. Unfortunately mine recognizes me and anytime he see's my hand he swims over so I have to beat him back with the feeding stick to keep from getting stabbed. As for the eel I would have to trap something live in a cup and put it near him/her... My problem with that is it's tough to tell the too apart when they aren't near each other for size comparison. I'll give the garlic a try, luckily I don't have to worry about uneaten food. Plenty of fish wait at fins length for me to stop flicking them.
 
Quick update since I have 2 threads I'll post this here. BTW, never offered live food.

Time it took- Almost 1 month

1) I kept a constant watch on the tank, even going so far as to leave thawed food on the edge of the tank so I could be ready anytime it showed itself.
2) I tried garlic but it didn't result in it eating, your experience may differ
3) I've mentioned it before but I can't emphasize the credit I give to the feeder stick I made. It's a small clear acrylic rod (6-12 bucks on amazon for 6 feet). I cut it to the length with a dremel and whittled the end to be a spear. I also cut a notch so I could wedge food in but thats optional. This really helps because I've read that their bad eye sight can make it look like they are having to steal the food from another eel if you use tongs.
4) I broke off a very small piece of silverside and had a lucky accident. While trying to spear it the skin flayed a bit and it really made this piece of fish look like a small fish with fins. Not sure if thats what did it, but again, another suggestion.
5) So when I put this near him I did so by putting it into the sand away from him. I proceeded to dance it around and stir the sand up a little as it moved toward him. I pressed my rod against the rocks to make it even more invisible and used the spear point to wiggle the fish outside the cage. Tapping on the rocks seemed to help (not hard just little scratching).

After that he took the food in with him. This was the results of MANY attempts and I had to stand back from the tank and angle forward so as not to spook him. Maybe he just finally got hungry enough, maybe my journey isnt over. Either way, I'm happy .
 
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