Pet Care Home
Animal-World
Information
Special Features
Marine Aquarium
Fish Libraries
Marine Aquarium Information


Top 21 Aquarium Sites



Ribbon Eel
Marine Eels Index

Ribbon Eel

Black Ribbon Eel ~ Blue Ribbon Eel Family: Muraenidae Picture of a Black Ribbon Eel Rhinomuraena quaesita Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough
Latest Reader Comment - See More
I had my eel for over three years! He has a strong and rich color. At first he would'nt eat. Then I fed him some goldfish and guppies with a little garlic solution. ... (more)  someone  2007-11-05

   The Black Ribbon Eel seen above is a juvenile. The Blue Ribbon Eel is bright blue with a yellow mouth and is the adult color of a mature male black ribbon eel. A female Ribbon Eel is yellow.

   We do not recommend them for most aquarists!

   These are probably the hardest eel to keep since they can be finicky eaters, often refusing food.The Ribbon Eel, Black Ribbon Eel, Blue Ribbon Eel should only be kept by very experience marine enthusiats as they are extremely difficult to acclimate to captivity. We have had success with only one! Getting it started on ghost shrimp and then guppies.

For more Information on keeping marine fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Marine Aquarium

Dream Aquarium
Dream Aquarium Screensaver
Build your own aquarium. The Coolest and Funnest Screensaver in the World.

Geographic Distribution
Rhinomuraena quaesita
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Actinopterygii
  • Order: Anguilliformes
  • Family: Muraenidae
Data provided by FishBase.org
Maintenance difficulty:
   The Ribbon Eel, Black Ribbon Eel, Blue Ribbon Eel is very difficult to keep. They are so difficult to keep, they are better left in the ocean! They are finicky eaters that need a lot of work to get to eat. Try all kinds of seafood, squid, shrimp, krill, and live food like guppies. They will also eat ghost shrimp if they are available.

Maintenance:
   Feed all kinds of live fish and meaty foods. Use a poker if necessary at first to place the food right in front of their mouth. Don't worry if it doesn't eat for a while at first, they can go for several weeks without food (and often do).

Habitat: Natural geographic location:
   Found in the Indo-Pacific.

Foods:
   They feed mainly on small fishes in the wild with an occasional invertebrate.

Social Behaviors:
   Sociable and peaceful, can be considered a community fish as long as the tankmates are not small enough to eat! Since its' mouth is fairly small, it is probably one of the best eels for the community aquarium.

Sex: Sexual differences:
   The juvenile is black, like the eel shown in the picture. As they mature, the black will turn blue with the tips of the mouth and inside the mouth turning yellow. Apparently they will grow larger to become fully grown females which are a golden yellow color.

Breeding/Reproduction:
  Probably not possible in the aquarium.

   Several freshwater species of eels are known to lay their eggs in the ocean and die afterwards.

Light: Recommended light levels:
   No special requirements.

Temperature:
   No special requirements. Normal temperatures for marine fish is between 74 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit.

Length/Diameter of fish:
   Ribbon Eel, Black Ribbon Eel, Blue Ribbon Eel adults can grow to 100 cm (36 inches).

Minimum Tank Length/Size:
   A minimum 60 gallon aquarium is recommended.

Water Movement: Weak, Moderate, Strong
   No special requirements.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom
   Will generally stay in the bottom. Will bury themselves in the gravel with only their heads sticking out.

Availability:
   This fish is available from time to time.





Click to see All the comments!
Click to see all of the coolest comments!
Latest Comments
I had my eel for over three years! He has a strong and rich color. At first he would'nt eat. Then I fed him some goldfish and guppies with a little garlic solution. It had worked and now I feed him the same thing to this very day.
someone
2007-11-05
My ribbon eel is a pig. He will eat any kind of meat put infront of him, including over half of my fish in my reef tank. I had one a few months back that refused to eat, . . . and died. My suggestion to you would be, only have fish big enough that your eel can't eat. Even then my eel has grabbed onto a few big ones too. I just cant seem to feed him enough, crazy, I'm confused.
patrick brougham
2007-06-05
I have a blue ribbon, he is about 4 feet. i feed mine baby feeder guppies live, and now he is eating sliversides. I will tell you that in 15 years i have never seen one eat, and have lost one due not eating. If you are lucky enough to find one eating, you are lucky. Ghost eels almost always will eat live grass shrimp
Anonymous
2006-09-28
I have a ghost ribbion eel that is doing very well and has never had a problem eating. He likes to eat krill, also eats every day. tammy perryman
Tammy Perryman
2006-09-13
I had success starting my blue ribbon eel on fozen Krill. I made him a rock house with almost no openings so it was dark inside, and I went through the initial adaptation process with no other fish in the tank. Each evening with the tank lights off, I would present the eel with a completely thawed krill on a skewer. After two weeks of waving the krill in front of his nose, he finally ate it. After this, feeding was no problem. I fed him every 2-3 days and he was healthy for several years.
steve
2005-05-25
Some of the coolest comments:
I have a Ribbon Eel which I believe is the longest-lived Ribbon Eel in captivity. I have had it continuously since around 1985 or 1986, I believe. It has been through at least 3 house moves which were undoubtedly traumatic to it (drain tank, put eel in bucket, etc.). I feed it 2 dozen feeder guppies a week, once a week, and I keep nothing else in the tank (a 60 gallon) to make sure it is not stressed at all. It is like the Energizer Bunny! I am absolutely amazed at my success in keeping this beautiful creature alive for so long. I wish someone at the Monterey Aquarium or some institution would come study it before it goes!
Greg Earle
2008-08-04
I bought a blue ribbon eel as an impulse buy. The eel did not eat for almost 1 month and had started to loose its beautiful colour. iwas sure he was going to die. i tried all types of frozen foods, live food was not an option as my lionfish would eat them too quickly. I bought a piece of plastic sheet to seperate the lionfish from the eel and tried small goldfish and after 2 atempts he cornered the goldfish and gobbled him up. One week later i had him eating frozen fish(white bait i think?) from a skewer stick and have removed the plastic sheet. This eel requires alot of patience and effort to acclimatise.
stefan
2006-08-31
Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear!
This site is great! I am tring to find an eel to fit the tank my teacher owns, but nothing seems to fit the tank. I read this site and now I might have found the correct eel to fit the tank! Thank You!
Grace
2004-03-03


Click here to see more Eels
Back to Eels




Buy From LiveAquaria.com
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Queen Angelfish Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Butterflyfish
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater FishClownfish Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Blue Devil Damsel
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Moray Eel Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Panda Goby
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Canary Blenny Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Mandarinfish
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Blue Line Grouper Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Flame Hawk fish
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Lionfish Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Port Jackson Shark
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Stingray Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Blue Tang
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Clown Trigger Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Filefish
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Dogface Puffer Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Blue Box fish
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Porcupinefish Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Flame Hawk fish
Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Bird Wrasse Buy Saltwater FishBuy Saltwater Fish Fairy Wrasse

Copyright © [Animal-World] 1998-2008. All rights reserved.