Ghost Ribbon Eel

[LB_Reef30]

Hello everyone! So, I have been in this hobby for almost three months now and I recently just got a Ghost Ribbon Eel added to my aquarium. My tank is 125 gallons. I have tried offering my Eel frozen shrimp and clam meat.. but no success. :/
Every time I try and offer him something, he keeps trying to get away from me. What can I do? I have been so stressed over him not taking any food and I know it takes time but still. If y’all have any advice to give me, I’d appreciate it!
Thank you. :)

 

[P-Dub]

Direct from LiveAquaria. https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/1737/?pcatid=1737
The Ghost Eel is a nocturnal predator, ambushing small fish and crustaceans. In the aquarium, it may have to be offered live foods such as ghost shrimp at first, but in time, will take frozen or freeze-dried krill, strips of fresh fish, fresh uncooked shrimp chunks, and other meaty foods. It can be taught to hand feed, using a feeding stick.

 

[Goaway]

Hello everyone! So, I have been in this hobby for almost three months now and I recently just got a Ghost Ribbon Eel added to my aquarium. My tank is 125 gallons. I have tried offering my Eel frozen shrimp and clam meat.. but no success. :/
Every time I try and offer him something, he keeps trying to get away from me. What can I do? I have been so stressed over him not taking any food and I know it takes time but still. If y’all have any advice to give me, I’d appreciate it!
Thank you. :)

That lump does not look good. This is usually from cyanide poisoning. Hopefully @Jay Hemdal. Can say I am wrong. I never seen an eel live through that lump.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Sickness aside (it's very important to make sure it's healthy, but I'll leave that to the experts to help you with), most predators - as mentioned - need to start on live food and be trained onto regular food. They don't usually just accept regular foods - they have to be trained to accept them.

I'd recommend doing some research on what live foods to offer it (lion king here on the forum has some great general predator feeding advice, and you can probably find specific advice for this eel on here too using the search feature and looking through the predatory fish forum), but you generally can't go wrong with offering live ghost/grass shrimp (Palaemonetes spp.). Mollies and guppies are good too.

 

[LB_Reef30]

Thank you all so much!! I am going to order some live food for him. :))

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

That lump does not look good. This is usually from cyanide poisoning. Hopefully @Jay Hemdal. Can say I am wrong. I never seen an eel live through that lump.

Sorry - I’ve never kept one of these before. Their cryptic nature means however, that they are likely collected with drugs, as are regular ribbon eels.
Jay

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

From what I understand ribbon eels are very difficult to keep and don’t do well in captivity. It is one I would recommend to an expert hobbyist, if that. At three months, one is still a novice. Having said that I do hope you succeed with him. If you don’t and you still want an eel consider a snow flake eel. Fairly easy to keep in captivity as long as your tank is escape proof.

 

[Goaway]

Thank you all so much!! I am going to order some live food for him. :))

Please keep us updated. As I was in the market for another ribbon.

 

[P-Dub]

Thank you all so much!! I am going to order some live food for him. :))

There is a "Like" button. ;)

 

[Goaway]

Hello everyone! So, I have been in this hobby for almost three months now and I recently just got a Ghost Ribbon Eel added to my aquarium. My tank is 125 gallons. I have tried offering my Eel frozen shrimp and clam meat.. but no success. :/
Every time I try and offer him something, he keeps trying to get away from me. What can I do? I have been so stressed over him not taking any food and I know it takes time but still. If y’all have any advice to give me, I’d appreciate it!
Thank you. :)

My ribbon eels. Both were alone. Their own tank for a month. Unlike my other fish. My ribbons I kept the room dark and the lights were too weak to grow algae. Just bright enough for me to see.
Offered food at night and quickly left. Checked next day. Food was gone. Rinse and repeat. Until it showed signs of comfort. That's when I introduced myself as the feeder. Gained trust over a few weeks. Into the display.
Maybe that's excessively obsessive. But, both were very timid.

 

[lion king]

I just posted this in your other post:
You may want to make your own post to get some traction on your question. A bulge could be from something large that he has eaten which could also be something that has caused a blockage. Are any of your fish missing, ghost eels many times will need something live to get them eating initially, and may present a challenge in feeding. Maintain mg at reef level or as high as 1600ppm to help with digestion, mg will also help to pass any blockage. Did you get him from a lfs and do you know what they were feeding him. Once he becomes active it will be an indication that he is hungry, and hunting. At this point you can try to offer food again, make sure the pieces are not too large, they will take slivers as wide as their nose rather than fat chunks. After a few days if he doesn't show interest in dead food, you may need to offer him something live, they are fish eaters and an appropriate sized molly would be a good offering.

That does look more like a blockage, I would raise the mg to 1600ppm, that is very safe and I have seen mg help eels pass suspected blockages. You could read through a thread I wrote on ribbon eels for some pointers. The ghost is a little more agreeable to feeding in the long run than the black/blue but can still be a challenge.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-chronicles-of-a-rhinomuraena-quaesita.621786/

 

[cj02]

Hello everyone! So, I have been in this hobby for almost three months now and I recently just got a Ghost Ribbon Eel added to my aquarium. My tank is 125 gallons. I have tried offering my Eel frozen shrimp and clam meat.. but no success. :/
Every time I try and offer him something, he keeps trying to get away from me. What can I do? I have been so stressed over him not taking any food and I know it takes time but still. If y’all have any advice to give me, I’d appreciate it!
Thank you. :)

I have had two ghost ribbon eels over the years. Both were excellent eaters and far easier to feed than their blue and black counterparts. That being said, silversides were their favorite and you have to be very patient. When they are hungry they are usually calm with head out, sniffing around. They will not eat when swimming during the day time. Also mine only ate whole silversides with the head first. I believe the head, eyes, etc of the silverside make them “feel” like
It’s more natural. Great eels once acclimated. One of mine didn’t eat for 4 weeks BTW. My guy just hanging out below.

 

[mkereefer]

Hello everyone! So, I have been in this hobby for almost three months now and I recently just got a Ghost Ribbon Eel added to my aquarium. My tank is 125 gallons. I have tried offering my Eel frozen shrimp and clam meat.. but no success. :/
Every time I try and offer him something, he keeps trying to get away from me. What can I do? I have been so stressed over him not taking any food and I know it takes time but still. If y’all have any advice to give me, I’d appreciate it!
Thank you. :)

Whats your substrate.

 

[LB_Reef30]

I have had two ghost ribbon eels over the years. Both were excellent eaters and far easier to feed than their blue and black counterparts. That being said, silversides were their favorite and you have to be very patient. When they are hungry they are usually calm with head out, sniffing around. They will not eat when swimming during the day time. Also mine only ate whole silversides with the head first. I believe the head, eyes, etc of the silverside make them “feel” like
It’s more natural. Great eels once acclimated. One of mine didn’t eat for 4 weeks BTW. My guy just hanging out below.

Thank you so much!! :)

 

[LB_Reef30]

I just posted this in your other post:
You may want to make your own post to get some traction on your question. A bulge could be from something large that he has eaten which could also be something that has caused a blockage. Are any of your fish missing, ghost eels many times will need something live to get them eating initially, and may present a challenge in feeding. Maintain mg at reef level or as high as 1600ppm to help with digestion, mg will also help to pass any blockage. Did you get him from a lfs and do you know what they were feeding him. Once he becomes active it will be an indication that he is hungry, and hunting. At this point you can try to offer food again, make sure the pieces are not too large, they will take slivers as wide as their nose rather than fat chunks. After a few days if he doesn't show interest in dead food, you may need to offer him something live, they are fish eaters and an appropriate sized molly would be a good offering.

That does look more like a blockage, I would raise the mg to 1600ppm, that is very safe and I have seen mg help eels pass suspected blockages. You could read through a thread I wrote on ribbon eels for some pointers. The ghost is a little more agreeable to feeding in the long run than the black/blue but can still be a challenge.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-chronicles-of-a-rhinomuraena-quaesita.621786/

How do I raise that if it is a blockage!? And all of my fish are still there.

 

[LB_Reef30]

Whats your substrate.

I am using live sand.

 

[LB_Reef30]

My ribbon eels. Both were alone. Their own tank for a month. Unlike my other fish. My ribbons I kept the room dark and the lights were too weak to grow algae. Just bright enough for me to see.
Offered food at night and quickly left. Checked next day. Food was gone. Rinse and repeat. Until it showed signs of comfort. That's when I introduced myself as the feeder. Gained trust over a few weeks. Into the display.
Maybe that's excessively obsessive. But, both were very timid.

Oh wow I didn’t think of that! So… I keep all lights off and drop a piece of food in the tank for him??

 

[Goaway]

How do I raise that if it is a blockage!? And all of my fish are still there.

Magnesium food grade epsom salts. Magnesium test kit. I use Red sea. I'm not sure how much you should raise per day.

Oh wow I didn’t think of that! So… I keep all lights off and drop a piece of food in the tank for him??

I'm not sure how different in behaviour ghosts are from the blue ribbons. But, yes. My blue ribbon eels also peeled their shrimp. Maintenance day, I'd find a shrimp grave yard.

 

[LB_Reef30]

This was before I turned my lights off and put a piece of food in for him but this is how he acts when I try and offer him food?

 

[Goaway]

This was before I turned my lights off and put a piece of food in for him but this is how he acts when I try and offer him food?

Imo foods to big. And, i never chased mine with their food. Best advise is from @lion king. Get the blockage to clear up. Once that passes, you can try adding live feed mollys or frozen raw shrimp the size of his mouth.