bamboo, ribbon + lion?

[dave_b]

i have a baby bamboo, and also a ribbon eel, would i be able to add a 1" volitan/radiata? just something im wondering due to the eel being quite a clumsy swimmer and if he swam into the lion will he die etc

thanks

david

[FMarini]

David:
Can i recommend you buy Scott michael book entitled "reef fish vol1". I say this becuz you really should rea duup on these fish first. The ribbon eels are very diffuclt to keep alive mainly becuz they do poorly in a tank w/ other fish, and second becuz they don't feed well. So if you can get it to feed or stick feed it frequently it migh do okay. But in general its a fish which is not recommedned for inexperienced hobbists

Second, how big is this tank?
The bambo shark, and volitans will get large. A 1" volitans (if you can find on that small), will be 10+ " in one yr and another 5" the following yr. A radiat will max out at 10" radiata are a bit more touchy than volitans, so a radiata is a fish I would not recommend to inexperienced hobbists.

Lastly, lions use the venom as a defensive weapon. I would not concern myself w/ the eel bumping into the lion and getting zapped, the lion has to be ****ed off to use it, or somehow the eell have to impale himself on the spines.
Please get the book
frank

[Mad Scientist]

Frank,

I've read that book and it among many other sources, scared me away from ribbons, michael reccommends keeping a ribbon in a smaller tank to trying to get it to feed (I guess then it will have more of a chance of runnning into feeders) after which you can try to train it to feed off stick. Do you know anyone who has kept successfully, how hard are they really? Do you think now that many people keep systems with lots of LR they might have a better chance. I'd love to try one, but, not if the odds are 1 in a thousand or even one in a hundred. I always though if I was going to try one I would get a juvie (my friend works at a top-notch LFS and could get me a nice one) and put him alone in a 33L with LR in my basement where no one goes. Any thoughts?

[dave_b]

i have a white/ghost ribbon eel. imo easy to keep, but i may just be lucky. got him to feed easily, but that may just have been me being lucky.

the reason i said about a 1" volitan, a lfs has two that were captive bred and looks fantastic

i have read many books, most that say all contraversal things, one book says do and one book says doesnt etc. but i dont think ive got that book so i will go buy it

[FMarini]

Dave:
Interesting I have heard that the white versions of these eels(they are not really ribbon eels they are a similar looking form) fair actually better and are active feeders. Well good luck them.
About the lion, I seriously doubt the volitans has been captive bred, MY suspision is that it is a baby volitan plucked from the ocean, in a best case senario it is one of these larveal grow-outs that FFE has ben touting.
Well i haven't written a book, but i have a tank full of lions w/ 2 zebra morays which spend they days wrapping themselves around the lions as if their buddies(also see my pictures below-check out the green wolf eel), they have never been stung.

Mad:
I have only read accounts of people keeping the blue ribbons successsfully, they have been posted here, and honestly I susp[ect it can be done-as long as- you have a species only tank and can ween these eels over to prepared foods. Supposedly these eels will readily take ghost shrimp and live feeders in the rock work, and once feeding "supposedly" can be weened over. I have also considered trying it, becuz i do see these eels locally.
frank

[dave_b]

not one to disagree, as you have more years experiance then me. i can only say what the books tell me :-)

my eel is a Pseudechidna Brummeri/White ribbon eel according to Scott w.Michaels marine fish book and is rated the same aquarium suitability as the normal ribbons. it doesnt look like the normal ribbons as it doesnt have the large nose fins. if its a moray, then fine, i just say what i see :-)

well, the lion came from a company called tmc in uk, quote from site "Tropical Marine Centre is Europe's largest ornamental marine livestock wholesaler and hatchery and the UK's leading manufacturer and distributor of innovative commercial filtration equipment and quality branded aquatic products." so whether or not it was bred/hatched?!? i believe it is a good specimen :-)

i shall post some pics as soon as they are downloaded of my mates camera

thanks for your help Fmarini much appreciated