Ribbon Eel, Fu Man Chu, Cockatoo Wasp and Marine Betta the write up.

[DoubleM 10]

Hello everyone,

A while back someone asked to to take notes on Ribbon Eels with dwarf lions.

I thought it would be a good time now to share my experience with others.

The Tank: 55gal 4' tank. 15 gal Eshopps sump. 700gph and 250gph Aqueon powerheads. 48" Aquatic life t-5 HO light fixture. Mag 9.5 dialed back with ball valve. Reef Dynamics INS-80 Protein skimmer. Life reef overflow. Temp sits at 80.1F

First i added the Betta to the tank. about 5-6in in size. the fu man chu and the cockatoo wasp went through qt together. got both eating frozen before moving them into the display with the betta. all three spent 2-3 months together. while they were together i bought the black ribbon eel.

Set up my 14gal biocube for a qt for the new eel. build a pvc for the new eel. eel went in and did not eat anything for 3.5 weeks. i bought peppermint shrimp and put them into the tank. he finally ate one. tried to feez frozen for a while and he did not take. i fed him ghost shrimp for about another 2 months and then he finally ate frozen. made sure he ate frozen agressively. them put hime into the display with the rest.

i build the eel a new pvc for the new tank. once the eel got in the tank he was very nervous. going across the tank like a runner. after a couple days he calmed down and resided in his pvc pipe.

during feeding all fish accept the betta are very agressive. the cockatoo and the fu man chu will go after any food put in the tank. the eel come completely out of his pvc to eat.

during normal day activities the eel will be protective of the pvc home. when other fish come near he will get big and go tward the invader. the other fish will usually hold its ground and no harm or anything happens. the cockatoo will mind his own business and waddle around the tank. if the cockatoo is fed he wont move far or fast. the fu man chu will cruise all parts of the tank. will sit for a couples hours after just being fed but is usually moving around most of the time. the betta minds his own business and bothes no body. shows no aggression to any one and takes no aggression from others. the eel will come out of the pvc alot and check out all the gaps between the rocks and not bother anyone during his search for whatever he is searching for(probally food). the clean up crew for this tank is only red and blue hermit crabs. they do not bother the fish and their is no coral in this tank.

in conclusion i think that a ribbon eel is a great tankmate for small-medium scorps. the eels mouth is to small for them to attemp to eat of the fish.

thank you for reading. please feel free to ask ask any questions that i might not have answered.

[Lucian]

i'm also looking at a fumanchu and an eel, they have a black ribbon at my LFS. but not sure if its the right combination with my current stock (fuzzy dwarf and a hispidus). any chance a few pics with ur tank? thanks for sharing this.

[DoubleM 10]

Originally Posted by Lucian

i'm also looking at a fumanchu and an eel, they have a black ribbon at my LFS. but not sure if its the right combination with my current stock (fuzzy dwarf and a hispidus). any chance a few pics with ur tank? thanks for sharing this.

your welcome. i will try to get pics up this evening.

if you can get the black ribbon to eat it would be a good tankmate

im not sure how it will do with the hispidus.

[DoubleM 10]

here is a pic of the tank as of not to long ago

[DoubleM 10]

This is a picture when I got home.

I'm gonna replace the bulbs in the able right now

[SDguy]

Nice writeup, thanks! Will the eel always use the PVC, or does it sometimes hang out betwen the rocks and the PVC?

[DoubleM 10]

Originally Posted by SDguy

Nice writeup, thanks! Will the eel always use the PVC, or does it sometimes hang out betwen the rocks and the PVC?

thanks you

as you can see in the pic the eel was coming out of the rocks near the pvc. so yes it will come out of the pvc but mostly stay inside of the pvc.

[Lucian]

would the eel not feel abit more comfy in a tighter pvc tube? i dont know much about them, but always seen them in tight spaces.nice setup u have there, and love ur stock. my lfs nearly sold me a cockatoo, it was nowhere near like ur one ), so i bought the hispidus instead

[DoubleM 10]

Originally Posted by Lucian

would the eel not feel abit more comfy in a tighter pvc tube? i dont know much about them, but always seen them in tight spaces.nice setup u have there, and love ur stock. my lfs nearly sold me a cockatoo, it was nowhere near like ur one ), so i bought the hispidus instead

thanks!!!! yeah my cockatoo is great! tuf as nails he is.

as for the smaller tube i did not want to do that cause when i feed him he retracts into the pvc 9 times out of 10. when he goes out in the pipe he will twist and thrash the food as eels do. i wanted to give hime a little room to do his natural stuff. thanks for asking

[small alien]

Beautiful fish but that pvc is hideously distracting. Isn't there a more natural looking way to create a den?

[DoubleM 10]

Originally Posted by small alien

Beautiful fish but that pvc is hideously distracting. Isn't there a more natural looking way to create a den?

im sure that their is a way to make it look better. that will be an ongoing project. its not easy to make it hidden in an already established tank