south america lungfish

[blacklabel_1988]

are there southamerican lungfish? and what can u keep in a tank with them?

[hewhorunswithscissors]

are there southamerican lungfish? and what can u keep in a tank with them?


yes. and from what people I know who have kept them long term say, you can keep them with pretty much anything. I have one, but only had it short time, so not too knowledgable. But other folks I know keep large specimins with all kinds of med-lg fish, no problems.

[Oddball]

I keep Lepidosiren paradoxa with fish that are, at least, twice the size of the LFs head. Never had a L. paradoxa harm a tankmate.

[blacklabel_1988]

thats cool kinda common sense though. is 20 bucks reasonable for a ohh say 7-8 incher?

[Oddball]

$20 is about average for that size. But, hey, if you're happy with the specimen, what's a measly $20?

[datnioides]

IMO, Lepidosiren paradoxa are the poor man's community lungfish. The rich man's community lungfish is Neoceratodus forsteri. And, of course, no African lungfish (Protopterus spp.) is a "community" lungfish given their tendency to take huge chunks out of tankmates.

[blacklabel_1988]

WTF dose spp., sp., cp. and all that suff after the first sci name mean? it has been bugging me for a long time!

[Infblue]

WTF dose spp., sp., cp. and all that suff after the first sci name mean? it has been bugging me for a long time!
sp. is the abbreviation for 'species', often used when the species name is unknown, e.g. one would say Protopterus sp. if one doesn't know what species of african lungfish an individual is.

spp. is the plural abbreviation for 'species', often used to refer to all of the species within a genus, so Protopterus spp. would refer to all of the african lungfish species.

and fyi ssp. is the abbreviation for 'subspecies'

not sure about cp. can't say i've seen it personally.

[Oddball]

IMO, Lepidosiren paradoxa are the poor man's community lungfish. The rich man's community lungfish is Neoceratodus forsteri. And, of course, no African lungfish (Protopterus spp.) is a "community" lungfish given their tendency to take huge chunks out of tankmates.

You're spot on on the compatibility of lungfish species. I have all 6 known species and only my L. paradoxa and AUL are proving to be peaceful towards other fish.

[CHUM BUCKET]

S.A.L>are my favorite

[Redtail_Watcher]

are there southamerican lungfish? and what can u keep in a tank with them?

Not mines... here a picture though.

43244

[tetrapod314]

What they all said! SALs are da bomb! I kept mine with neons and killifish until about 14" long. Now they're in a large community tank. Wouldn't hurt a fly, though they love to munch snails!

By the way, the picture above is not a SAL. That is a protopterus sp. african lung.

[Stone Like Fish]

Annectens too be precise...

[pytonson]

are there southamerican lungfish? and what can u keep in a tank with them?

As early mentioned, if the fish is only at least half the size it should not be eaten, but FYI, they are real eye suckers. I had lima's an other fishes who lost there eyes to my SAL.


And a good ol' story

A janitor in an old school here in town had a big ol' lungfish in a big aquarium on his office. Every time it was time to change water, he lift the lungfish out and put it in a bucket. When he finished, he put the ol' fish back.
But one time when he was finish and put the ol' fish back the fish sucked the janitor's index finger into his mouth. The janitor tryed push it of with no effect. He hit it and pulled it, but no. The whole time he felt a violent presure on the finger, but no pain, just the presure. 15-20 minutes after have rotated round the finger all the time, the fish suddently dropped from the finger, and the finger was striped to the bone, from flesh.

So you Lungfish keepers out there - Be careful

[fwlion]

IME with lungs and I've delt with SAL's, MAL's, many ANNECTENS, and dollois

EVERY SINGLE LAST LUNGFISH IS DIFFERENT

I TELL PEOPLE YOU CAN NOT RIGHT A OUT THE TEMPERMENT OF THESE FISH

I've had at least 2 of all these species from different ends of the TEMPERMENT spectrum from very CALM wouldn't bother anything but a small pieace of frozen shrimp

to down right EVIL KILLERS I've had em crack glass canopys of tanks trying to get at you not food

[santoury]

Oddball, so you have a new amphibius? I'd love to hear where you got it, and how this one is settling in! Photos? :)

Everyone is right about the "SAL" (South American Lungfish) being peaceful - All lungfish are mostly carnivorous, but the nice thing about the SAL is that it doesn't seem to be bent on harrassing tankmates. I, too, have never had one harm a tankmate, and I have over a dozen of them. The worst I've seen done is a nipped fin to ANOTHER SAL. That's it. I've had them in community tanks, even.
$20 is good for that size. Gofer it! They DO grow very fast, and they do get very large, just keep that in mind.