Ribbon Eel, care and feeding ?

[tyler1503]

Have any pics of him ?

That's her in the pic above
But here's another one anyway.

 

[merlberg]

Hey I was in the same boat as you I had just bought a black eel and it literally didn't eat for a month ... I must of tried every food there was for them to eat but nothing live. Then randomly one day he ate a damsel . Now he eats guppies since they are a lot and cheaper than the blue damsels. But I can't get him to eat anything frozen not silversides or even squid. Helpppppp I realy want him to start eating frozen food because buyig live food everyday is such a hassle and how often do you guys feed your eel. Mine is a juvenile as well and I love him !

. The pics are of him catching a guppy and eating it. But if anyone can give me any tips on how to ween him off that to frozen I would really appreciate it!

 

[427HISS]

I'll pray to the fish gods that yours start eating better foods. :wink:

Try feeding a dead silverside, by moving it side by side like it's swimming.
It may entice him to eat it. I'm sure there's something out there that you
could soak the fish in, that would have a fresh stinky smell to it ?

I'm lucky, I give Merlin silversides every other day so far.
I bought the big flat pack of silversides, but wish they were
smaller in size. I have to slice one in half, so it's small enough that
he can put into his mouth.

Their bodies are long in length, but have a small head & mouth.
I would imagine,....the most nutrient part of the silversides
are their guts, but when I slice it in half, I loose them.
But read today, that the skin, is also nutrient.

I want to stop by a local Asian market and check out their
squid and other fish to feed Merlin.

He's awesome and doing great ! :bigsmile:

 

[tyler1503]

Hey I was in the same boat as you I had just bought a black eel and it literally didn't eat for a month ... I must of tried every food there was for them to eat but nothing live. Then randomly one day he ate a damsel . Now he eats guppies since they are a lot and cheaper than the blue damsels. But I can't get him to eat anything frozen not silversides or even squid. Helpppppp I realy want him to start eating frozen food because buyig live food everyday is such a hassle and how often do you guys feed your eel. Mine is a juvenile as well and I love him !

. The pics are of him catching a guppy and eating it. But if anyone can give me any tips on how to ween him off that to frozen I would really appreciate it!

Ah that sucks. Hopefully you can get him eating prepared foods soon! I know LRS foods claim to be able to get the finickiest eaters to eat somewhat easily. I've never used that food but it would be a great test! If you have access to it, it would be worth trying.
Guppies are not a suitable food for any marine fish. They are very fatty and supposedly can lead to liver issues. If you have to feed live foods and you don't have access to marine feeder fish, try glass shrimp or rosy (feeder) barbs that have been gut loaded with a high quality marine fish food. They're usually cheaper than guppies anyway.
As for weaning him onto frozen food, he will sooner or later begin reliably eating food before even watching it, this could take a few weeks or more. At this point he will just about pounce on the food without thinking about it. This is the time to get him onto frozen foods. Feed him as you regularly would, but once a week or so, feed a single FRESHLY dead fish or shrimp. Something he is already very familiar with. This will get him accustomed to taking dead food, but it will still feel somewhat "natural" to him. He may not accept it straight away, but keep try again the following week. Once he reliably takes the dead food without thinking about it, over the course of a few weeks slowly add more and more dead food until he's eating only dead stuff. Now you can start the weaning onto frozen food process. Use the same process you used from live to dead foods as you do for dead to frozen foods. Eventually when he's taking only frozen shrimp or barbs or whatever, you can throw in a piece of squid or something.
Eventually he may wean over, but you have to be very consistent and stick to a strict feeding schedule. Be prepared to be feeding live foods for the rest of his life though.
Also, you shouldn't have to buy live foods everyday. Feed him 2-4 times a week and that will keep him happy
Also, when I was buying live foods, I'd buy lots of them and set up a 5gal bucket as a holding tank. I just added a small heater and an internal filter pump full of sponge. It was so much easier than running to the LFS a few times a week. I could keep a few weeks supply on hand and I always had fresh fish food!
A lot of people use this process with ambush predators but usually skip the freshly dead stage and go from live food directly to frozen. You could try that, but ribbon eels are notoriously hard to get onto frozen food so I suggest doing it the long way.
Good luck!

 

[merlberg]

Hmm I never heard of lrs food but I will definetly be looking that up now. Thanks .

Yes thanks for confirming that. While researching what to feed them I did run across something that said guppies are not good to feed them for long but when I asked the guy from the fish place he said they were fine -_- clearly he didn't knw what he was talking about! Do you mean rosy reds? I did read somewhere they eat those too. I have never tried glass shrimp but it's worth a try since I dnt want to feed him guppies all the time.

I tried feeding him a silverside today and he looked like he wanted it. Opened its mouth but then backed away. He also didn't position himself right to eat it up. I was holding the silverside with tongs. I think he would eat everyday. He eats aloy or maybe I'm thinking the guppies are too little for him. I only feed him like 3-4 every other day n sometimes he still comes out his hiding spot for more. I'm not sure but sometimes he is alllll over the tank and when he does that I just assume he is hungry. Anyone ever had this problem? Sometimes he just won't stay in his pvc pipe which is odd because he always hides out there.

That is a good idea to feed him a freshly dead fish. Or shrimp to get him accustomed thanks. I didn't think of that. Lol at feeding him live food forever. I hope not!

That would be easier keeping a small tank for the feeders. Wait so you would just put them in a bucket and they would be fine? Thanks so much for the info you provided. It was def very helpful. Sorry my response is so long but thanks again!

 

[merlberg]

Lol yes pray for me please! I tried moving it side by side so many times ... My eel pays it no mind n literally swims right by it. Yes I tried soaking it in garlic but he still does not seem interested. Lucky you!

How long have you had Merlin for? What else do you feed him besides silversides. I can't wait for my eel to eat silversides. The day that happens I think I will jump for joy! The day he finally ate a live I was ecstatic.

 

[427HISS]

I and all my fish, love LRS foods. He's actually at a seminar in Omaha Ne. this weekend and on Monday, and will be speaking about enriched foods for fish.
I've tried many,.....brands of food through the years. When I first looked at LRS's advertisement's, I called him and he said he would be happy to send me out
some of his, but the shipping would be high due to keeping the food frozen, but he sent me out some samples, at his cost !

He then asked me if any of my local stores would like to become a dealer, so I contacted my friend at Nebraska Aquatic Supply, in Omaha Ne.
They spoke with Larry and are now the dealer for the better part of the state !

He now has several verities, so look up his site and check over the ingredients and the nutrition, compared to other brands. His foods are so clean, that you don't even need to rinse it before feeding.
I do, only because if I were a fish, I wouldn't appreciate eating very cold food !

They have no,....junk that's mixed in and,.....it does NOT cloud the tank !!!

I was hoping to meet him today, but I did not feel well, so I'll try tomorrow.

Anyway, now that Merlin (my Blue Ribbon) is eating very,....well, I'm going to feed him a chunk of Larry's food, and hopefully, he'll accept it !

Here's a couple of link's for LRS-

Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nebraska-Aquatic-Supply/168516743224836

Website-
Reef Frenzy, Best Reef Food - Larry's Reef Services, Llc - Advance, Nc

 

[427HISS]

Lol yes pray for me please! I tried moving it side by side so many times ... My eel pays it no mind n literally swims right by it. Yes I tried soaking it in garlic but he still does not seem interested. Lucky you!

How long have you had Merlin for? What else do you feed him besides silversides. I can't wait for my eel to eat silversides. The day that happens I think I will jump for joy! The day he finally ate a live I was ecstatic.

hehe, yes, I did on todays afternoon nape !

We've had him for 2 weeks now. Other than silversides, he has eaten some small krill and shrimp, but he really prefers silversides.
Like I mentioned below, I want to try some of the LRS foods, for more and different types nutrition. Keeping my fingers crossed
when I do !

I'm pretty sure, he did not like the garlic, after all, there's no garlic plant on the reefs. lol.....:squigglemouth:

You might go to a Asian (or the type) Market for some fresh and stinky foods (to us), as their sense of smell is much more that their eyesight.
Also, squid, crab meat, fresh or frozen saltwater fish,...etc.

Try feeding him when you start lowering the light level at night, not under bright daylight hours. Just like with our corals,
even fish do better when we can replicate the light, water parameters etc...of the ocean.

If he doesn't not eat the piece of food within several minutes, remove it so it does not rot and pollute the tank with ammonia & nitrite.

Make sure he has enough rock to hide in to feel comfortable. Most of the time, you'll only see 2"-8" of his body. You can also place
a section of PVC pipe in the tank, at about twice the diameter of his body, and 3' (+) of his length.

 

[tyler1503]

I posted a link in post #9 on the first page. There's a section on the eel living in PVC and when he should or shouldn't be in his hideout
Essentially, he will be out and about for a while at first just exploring his new home. He should settle down eventually and retire to his den pretty regularly

 

[427HISS]

I'm happy we all have you with your experience and knowledge !

I've learned quite a bit from you and researching on the web.
Someday,.....I hope to have as much as you my friend !

Keep it coming....
Kevin

 

[merlberg]

Ok I just checked the site out and I'm curious which type of LRS food did you get for your fishes and what type of fishes do you have? I would like to get try something that everyone will eat along with my yellow tang! My tang seems very picky. They say they love seaweed n romaine lettuce but whenever I put some in the tank he never touched them. As for my eel I will try the fresh dead fish first before anything because he is extremely picky lol.

 

[merlberg]

Hahah thanks mucho 427HISS. I told you I will be needed it.

What!!!! Only 2 weeks and you got Merlin to eat silversides already omgeee I'm so jealous. The place you bought him from was he eating there already? And did you have any knowledge of them prior to buying him or were you like me who did all the research after I realized he wasn't eating for like 2 weeks lol.

Yes I def want to try the LRS foods for my fishes and hopefully my eel will eventually eat some of it.

When I first started to try to feed him I was doing it with tongs but my arms hurt a lot doin that since I was trying to force feed him lol so then I started leaving the piece of fish in the tank but he never even looked at it. Oh wow I didn't know I should remove it. I would leave it for a long period of time hoping he eats it n I'd usually remove it the next day [emoji85]. Yikes!

 

[427HISS]

We have 4 types of Larry' foods that includes one for herbovres. Our fish eat all varities. Our new Purple Tang likes it more every day and also eats Nori, but he likes it between rocks, as he does not trust the lettuce clip, yet,.....but he will shortly I'm sure.
So, try it with your Tangs.

We never, ....buy a fish that'not eating, and if your LFS either won't feed the fish while you are there or will not hold the fish for you
until it eat's, walk away as they don't care !!!

I believe your method of feeding the Eel is ok. You may ask Tyler for any other advise.
I've read that getting an Eel can take a couple of months and won't starve to death, as they do not
move to much, expelling energy like most fish.

But, I'm a Eel virgin !!! Lol......

What do you think Tyler ?
Kevin

 

[tyler1503]

Hahah thanks mucho 427HISS. I told you I will be needed it.

What!!!! Only 2 weeks and you got Merlin to eat silversides already omgeee I'm so jealous. The place you bought him from was he eating there already? And did you have any knowledge of them prior to buying him or were you like me who did all the research after I realized he wasn't eating for like 2 weeks lol.

Yes I def want to try the LRS foods for my fishes and hopefully my eel will eventually eat some of it.

When I first started to try to feed him I was doing it with tongs but my arms hurt a lot doin that since I was trying to force feed him lol so then I started leaving the piece of fish in the tank but he never even looked at it. Oh wow I didn't know I should remove it. I would leave it for a long period of time hoping he eats it n I'd usually remove it the next day [emoji85]. Yikes!

I wouldn't force the food on him, but other than that it all sounds good! They're noses are incredibly sensitive and constantly forcing food to their faces over a period of time can damage that sense of smell. It's ok to occasionally do it to persuade him to eat, after all, they would occasionally have fish and inverts cruising past that closely in the wild. But overdoing it can have negative effects. Other than that, it sounds good! If you can use the tongs without forcing food on him, does it still hurt? If not, that's an ideal way to feed. He'll begin to associate the tongs with food and it will be another tool you can use to wean him onto prepared foods
You can leave the uneaten food in there for a few hours to see if he eats it, but I personally wouldn't leave it any longer.

We have 4 types of Larry' foods that includes one for herbovres. Our fish eat all varities. Our new Purple Tang likes it more every day and also eats Nori, but he likes it between rocks, as he does not trust the lettuce clip, yet,.....but he will shortly I'm sure.
So, try it with your Tangs.

We never, ....buy a fish that'not eating, and if your LFS either won't feed the fish while you are there or will not hold the fish for you
until it eat's, walk away as they don't care !!!

I believe your method of feeding the Eel is ok. You may ask Tyler for any other advise.
I've read that getting an Eel can take a couple of months and won't starve to death, as they do not
move to much, expelling energy like most fish.

But, I'm a Eel virgin !!! Lol......

What do you think Tyler ?
Kevin

I agree 100%. If an LFS will not prove to you that a fish is eating, it's not worth buying. Either the fish isn't eating to begin with, or they have something else to hide. The only half appropriate excuse is "we've already fed him today". But I'd ask them to hold the fish and not feed it again till the next day so you can witness it feeding in person.
It's true, most morays can go several weeks/months without eating. But with ribbons, because we don't really understand a great deal about their dietary needs in captivity, I would not assume they should be ok going hungry for too long. I wouldn't panic if it's only been a couple of weeks, but after 4-5 weeks of no food at all I'd be concerned.

 

[merlberg]

Lol ok no more forcing him to eat. I've def heard tht a few times but I guess I just want him to get a good diet and from what I'm noticing although he love guppies... They are just not cutting it for him because he still seems hungry after I give him a few of them and I also know they are not the best for eels as for as nutrition goes. But I will try everyone's ideas here hoping it works . He is actually my favorite in the tank and just want to make sure I'm feeding him well n he gets the right nutrition. I'm veryyyyyy new to this, this is my first tank and bought the eel out of impulse and knew nothing about them until after the purchase. But I'm soooooo grateful that I finally got him to eat I've heard some not so good ending with them because of their eating habits.b

 

[tyler1503]

Lol ok no more forcing him to eat. I've def heard tht a few times but I guess I just want him to get a good diet and from what I'm noticing although he love guppies... They are just not cutting it for him because he still seems hungry after I give him a few of them and I also know they are not the best for eels as for as nutrition goes. But I will try everyone's ideas here hoping it works . He is actually my favorite in the tank and just want to make sure I'm feeding him well n he gets the right nutrition. I'm veryyyyyy new to this, this is my first tank and bought the eel out of impulse and knew nothing about them until after the purchase. But I'm soooooo grateful that I finally got him to eat I've heard some not so good ending with them because of their eating habits.b

They are known as one of those fish that are notorious for being near impossible to get feeding. Although in recent years there's been a lot more success stories, so it's getting easier!
I personally, would look into glass shrimp or rosy barbs and gut load them like crazy and just continue as your doing for now. After a few weeks think about starting the weaning process just make sure he's comfortable in the tank before starting.
Your doing quite well so far, getting them to eat live foods can be a challenge for some people! Good luck!!

 

[427HISS]

Tyler, will Eels eat any pods or other refugium critter's, like you would feed Mandarins and other tough to feed fish ?

We HAVE,...... to get merlbergs eel eating !!!

(merlberg, what's you eel's name)

 

[merlberg]

I actually tried the glass shrimp... He didn't pay it any mind lol and yesterday I fed my fishes some frozen clams and surprisingly after a while there was a little piece sitting at the bottom of the tank and he ate it but then spit it back out lol which was so odd and funny at the same time. All the other fishes ate it besides my yellow tang. But today I will get some rosy barbs and see if he will eat those.

Are rosy barbs as small as guppies? I'm afraid if I get fishes that are too big he will not even try to go after them. And how many should I feed him at one feeding? I usually feed him in the evenings.

And what do you mean gut load them like crazy? Sorry if that's a silly question lol.

In about a week or 2 I will try the whole fresh dead fish to see if he takes it. And thanks I'm trying lol . Yes I have heard it can be challenge getting them to eat anything. You would of thought I won the lotto they way I was hollering when I seen him finally eat a damsel ****.

His name is Spinny .

 

[tyler1503]

Tyler, will Eels eat any pods or other refugium critter's, like you would feed Mandarins and other tough to feed fish ?

We HAVE,...... to get merlbergs eel eating !!!

(merlberg, what's you eel's name)

I'm gona say no unfortunately. If you had a baby eel there's a slight chance. Like a baby baby. Only a couple of inches long. He might snack on some larger amphipods, but they don't form a natural part of an eels diet so I doubt they would naturally hunt them in captivity. I'm not 100% sure on the nutritional value of pods compared to what an eel needs as well. I doubt they would provide enough energy for a growing eel.

I actually tried the glass shrimp... He didn't pay it any mind lol and yesterday I fed my fishes some frozen clams and surprisingly after a while there was a little piece sitting at the bottom of the tank and he ate it but then spit it back out lol which was so odd and funny at the same time. All the other fishes ate it besides my yellow tang. But today I will get some rosy barbs and see if he will eat those.

Are rosy barbs as small as guppies? I'm afraid if I get fishes that are too big he will not even try to go after them. And how many should I feed him at one feeding? I usually feed him in the evenings.

And what do you mean gut load them like crazy? Sorry if that's a silly question lol.

In about a week or 2 I will try the whole fresh dead fish to see if he takes it. And thanks I'm trying lol . Yes I have heard it can be challenge getting them to eat anything. You would of thought I won the lotto they way I was hollering when I seen him finally eat a damsel ****.

His name is Spinny .

It's great news that he was interested in the clams!
I've never seen rosy barbs as big as full grown guppies. I only see them around an inch long give or take.
How thick is spinny? That will dictate how much to feed him. But basically you wana feed him till he turns away from food. Awesome name by the way
Feed your feeder fish with a very high quality food so the feeders have an even greater nutritional value to your eel. Just before feeding your eel, feed your feeder fish so their guts are loaded with undigested food they will then pass this good stuff onto spinny directly.
Hahaha I bet it felt pretty great when you saw him eat that damsel! It's an awesome feeling getting a stubborn fish to eat.

 

[427HISS]

Great news that "Spinny",......is showing some interest !!!

(I now can tell Jesus in prayer, that I know what your eel's name is, rather than,..."you know, this guy, merlberg's eel") lol :wink: