Thinking about attempting a Blue Ribbon Eel

I have always been enthralled by blue ribbon eels. And have been considering livestock for my new NPS build. The tank size is 36x18x24 65g that will have a couple hundred gallons of total water volume (bio load is completely inconsequential due to the absolute overkill of the filtration needed to handle automatic continuous feeding for the NPS)

Is the tank large enough in terms of space for the creature though? I would lay out a PVC tunnel system. I want something very unique to go with the Azoox corals.

 

What about temperature?

 

I'm not going full temperate. I'll only be running at about 74 Fahrenheit. Finding good info on these creatures is even tougher than finding good info on keeping azoox corals!

 

Pretty sure for Temp for the fish, its normal range 74-80.

 

I think I'll be fine with the temps. My real worry is if the tank is big enough to try this. The only tank mates will be chromis or yellow tail damsels that the eel could chomp on when it felt like it.

 

I dont know very much about blue ribbon eels but that sounds like a pretty insane stocking option. Your tank would definitely stand out. I say go for it man!

 

If I can pull it off... it would make for a pretty amazing tank all the way around. it fits my need for difficulty and for beauty.


I'm getting so excited about this build! I truly believe it is going to blow my last 2 build out of the water.

 

If the tank size is adequate, then I'll go to work on designing the PVC tunnel system.. I think I'm going to actually drill the glass and connect the tunnel system to my return. That way I could just open a valve and push water through it to clean it out...

I would keep the valve closed unless I'm trying to clean out the tunnel system (probably either monthly or bi-weekly.)

 

Most the sites I run across say a Min of 50-100G... Im curious to see what it would say on the divers den section however. The Ghost Eel on Liveaquaria states a few comparisons to the Blue Ribbon... I think you should be fine tank size... If I read this right they had theirs in their 55G for 5 years...

5 years with our Blue Ribbon Eel - Reef Builders

 

I wish you well. I had one for a year that was a pain in the neck for a good 12 months before he finally settled in. Even after that, only employees ever saw him after the store closed for the night and most of the lights were turned off.

I would get him nice and healthy and fat and then take him from QT to the storefront. In 3 weeks he would be skinny and not eating again. Back to QT warehouse, back to store. This was a definite pattern. Eventually, he did do fine....in a 650 gallon, not a 65 gallon.

Based on my experiences, I'm not going to recommend this.