Good Lungfish to keep in a 55

[KillerKlover]

Whats a good Lungfish if any to keep in a 55?

[The TRUST]

None :(

it's too small to be a permanent tank

[beblondie]

Lungfishes
South American lungfish (L. paradoxa)- 4'South American Lungfish

Australian lungfish (N. forsteri) 5' Queensland Lungfish

West African lungfish (P.annectens annectens)3'African Lungfish
subspecies= Southern Lungfish (Protopterus annectens brieni)

marbled African lungfish (P.aethiopicus aethiopicus)6'
subspecies=Protopterus aethiopicus congicus 6'
subspecies=Protopterus aethiopicus mesmaekersi 6'

gilled African lungfish (P. amphibius)2'

spotted or slender African lungfish (P. dolloi)4'

As you can see all lungfish get far to large to be housed in a 55 gallon for life sorry -Anne

[mudskipper]

wish they were :( lungs are one of my favorates. I would flip out if a dwarf variety that only grows to 1 foot that looks like an australian lung were discovered :headbang2

[KillerKlover]

Dang thats what I thought so what is a good tank to keep one in?

[mudskipper]

wait. I heard that there are a few australians that are slow growers that would work longer than most in a 55 (if small) still, not sutabile for life

[KillerKlover]

Any names on those fish?

[Oddball]

There's only one australian lungfish species (Neoceratodus fosteri). It is NOT a good candidate for a 55gal. This species grows slowly but, will reach 67" and 88lbs. As they age they become less limber and will require a tank, at least, twice their length and 1.5 times their length in tank width. That's just to be able to turn around. This is also an expensive species to obtain. The minimum you'll find them for is $450 and then there's the shipping. The average going price is $700 and they retail for as high as $2,400.00. Basically, if you can afford this fish, you should be able to afford to house it properly.

[Oddball]

The smallest variety is the gilled LF (P. amphibius) at 2ft. I've only seen one available for sale in the last 6 years and it sold for more than the AULs. It's also the most sensitive species to keep and is prone to disease as soon as water quality drops just a fraction.

[guppy]

There is supposed to be a dwarf strain of the amphibius from Somalia that only gets 18" but maybe they just haven't caught full grown ones yet. Even for an inactive flexible fish like the amphibius you would want at least a 70g (wide) @ 48"x24"x13" and I would feel guilty keeping it in a tank that size.

[FishHeadSoup]

nice pictures and gr8 info guys!

[KillerKlover]

Yea thanks for all the info, its really helpful.

[moespeaking]

id say atleast up it to a 100 gallon or consider a different fish

[Oddball]

psssst! ...arriving next week (only took me 15 years of searching):

[Honda12]

Thats cool you found one.

[bsplenden]

psssst! ...arriving next week (only took me 15 years of searching):

You got more pictures of that?

I'm trying to ID mine.

[shekes]

From what I understand it is possible to keep a South American Lungfish in a tank that is shorter than the fish. Several fish sellers in Buenos Aires told me that they do. So I would say that you might be able to grow a SAL to 4' in a 55g but it would be very cruel. I used to keep a 3' SAL in a 130g and the fish easily needed all of the space when it was active. So I too agree with the above posts.

[Star-Flog]

As all lungfish grows pretty fast until they reach 1.5 to 2.5ft during first 1 - 3 years period. Thereafter, the growth rate will be very very slow because they need to build up the mass to grow even bigger and needing a lot of foods.

To house a lungfish properly (in my opinion) is to be able to let them, at least, turn around easily. So the tank size should be a square tank such as 3ft x 3ft x 1.5ft (Tank height is not important). So this kind tank's size, it should able to house a lungfish for at least first 5 years before need to upgrade to biggest tank.

Just my 2 cents worth comments. :) :)

[wild caught]

the aquarium i volunteer at houses a 3 foot marbled lung in a small tank. im not sure on the exact gallons tho. i feel real sorry for it, he cant even turn around.

[black_monster]

ull need a tank 2x bigger than that