Blue ribbon eel help

[epicfatigue]

Hey all I am looking for someone with experience with a blue ribbon eel.

He is about two weeks old and I have noticed he is starting to go black from blue.

It started with some black dots and now his moth is going from yellow to black is he sick ?

This was how he was when i got him

This is him now

 

[epicfatigue]

@lion king king @Ishai Thatcher

Hey Guys, sorry to loop you in like this i noticed you both have experience with ribbon eels was hoping you could help me here, the photos are bad i will try and get better ones.

 

[lion king]

There is no concern with the black spotting, he may even revert back to somewhat black. The blue color phase is the male mature phase, as they all start out as black in the juvi form. He must of just made his change and being in captivity may be confusing him. Not being the wild around other eels makes this change a bit more confusing.

On another note, how is he eating and what are you feeding him. These eels have a dismal survival rate if fed a dead only diet.

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[epicfatigue]

There is no concern with the black spotting, he may even revert back to somewhat black. The blue color phase is the male mature phase, as they all start out as black in the juvi form. He must of just made his change and being in captivity may be confusing him. Not being the wild around other eels makes this change a bit more confusing.

On another note, how is he eating and what are you feeding him. These eels have a dismal survival rate if fed a dead only diet.

​

Oh thanks lion, I started him on live guppies and transitioned him to frozen Lance fish, I acclimated a pregnant female guppy and the plan is to breed them in my sump to keep live fish as part of his feeding. How often should he have live fish? I think I may be under feeding him as he always seems hungry. It took 4 days a a hell of alot of work to get it to eat. I was worried about feeding it to much once it started as I am pretty sure he had not eaten since being in captivity. I have read I should feed until it stops every other day. I have had it for 3 weeks now. For the first week I fed it a guppy every day and the last week and a bit every second day. Mind you I have lost two wrasse but never found their bodies, I think he ate them. My other fish I have been worried had a disease because the base of his fin looked like rot. But the more K think about it it looks like a maybe he has been bitten.

I am new to reefing and these guys are my first fish. The LFS kinda lead me a stray and said they were easy to look after. However reading up on them not so much. In saying that I have a 100gal tank with 50 gal sump water parameters all zero.

 

[lion king]

Oh thanks lion, I started him on live guppies and transitioned him to frozen Lance fish, I acclimated a pregnant female guppy and the plan is to breed them in my sump to keep live fish as part of his feeding. How often should he have live fish? I think I may be under feeding him as he always seems hungry. It took 4 days a a hell of alot of work to get it to eat. I was worried about feeding it to much once it started as I am pretty sure he had not eaten since being in captivity. I have read I should feed until it stops every other day. I have had it for 3 weeks now. For the first week I fed it a guppy every day and the last week and a bit every second day. Mind you I have lost two wrasse but never found their bodies, I think he ate them. My other fish I have been worried had a disease because the base of his fin looked like rot. But the more K think about it it looks like a maybe he has been bitten.

I am new to reefing and these guys are my first fish. The LFS kinda lead me a stray and said they were easy to look after. However reading up on them not so much. In saying that I have a 100gal tank with 50 gal sump water parameters all zero.

Oh yeah it's looks like he tried to grab that anthias, any smaller fish with the body shape of a wrasse will likely disappear at some point. Rule of thumb for eels is a gorge/fast feeding schedule; feeding their full then giving at least a couple/few days between feedings. Ribbons tend to be a bit more active than other eels, so eventually feeding about every 5 days once they have settled in and fattened up. The problem with dead feeding this eel is 1: they are picky and difficult to get them to eat consistently, 2: getting them to eat a variety of foods with the proper balance of nutrition low in thiaminese. I'm a live food advocate for some predatory fish, including the ribbon eel, so I would regularly include live fish in their diet, at least every 3rd feeding or so. If you get him taking a variety of dead foods with a good balance you can feed live when he decides to not feed, this will jumpstart his interest and then continue on his regular diet. Squid, octopus, mussels, along with the lance fish are some things you may try. Maintain reef levels of mg, mg may help with digestion.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Like lion king said they change color and sex, he may be in between the transition. As long as hes eating fine and acting normal i wouldn't be worried. Live food isnt as important as making sure theyre getting all the nutrients they need. Try to feed saltwater fish meat like salmon, cod, and herring. theyre the most commonly available. Squid, calamari, and octopus are also great foods for them. Shellfish like shrimp, krill, clams etc as well as live freshwater foods, silversides are ok to feed just shouldnt be its staple diet and should be supplemented with selcon if thats all you have. It can lead to a thiamine deficiency if you dont supplement with the selcon or extra nutrients.

 

[346700984]

I agree with using live food primarily for our predators but if adding in some other variety helps achieve a balanced diet with the finicky eaters I’m for it. We are getting our blue ribbon eel today. How is yours faring in these few months OP?

 

[tanktoks]

I just purchased a blue ribbon eels. In a matter of 5hours he has passed. He looks like somthing was caught in his throat. He was trying to swim, curled into a ball had a lil seizure and died.. i had nothing small enough to eat in the tank.. how could have happen?

 

[lion king]

I just purchased a blue ribbon eels. In a matter of 5hours he has passed. He looks like somthing was caught in his throat. He was trying to swim, curled into a ball had a lil seizure and died.. i had nothing small enough to eat in the tank.. how could have happen?

Really hard to tell, a quick death like that shortly after acclimation could be a couple of the things I have seen. Did you match the sg from the bag to the tank you put him in. A rapid rise in sg can cause osmotic shock and death. Eels are also sensitive to copper and can also be collected using cyanide, the stress of the move could trigger an internal injury to fail. Cynanide does present in a seizure, did the color also become washed out. Him choking to death would be less likely.