"Baby dolphin" mormyrid -- my dream fish. Advice?

[MormyridLover]

Please be kind as I'm new to everything. My only experience with tanks is my small ten gallon which I've had for about a year. I think I've been successful with it. This isn't something I'm going to do on a whim as I want to be prepared and do my research, but my dream fish is a "baby dolphin" mormyrid. I'm not sure whether it's kanume, longirostris, tapirus, etc. A lot of different websites have them under different names so it's hard to tell.

Does anyone have advice? There doesn't seem to be a lot of information about keeping them online. To begin, I'd like to know how many gallons would provide for a healthy and happy home for one adult dolphin mormyrid (no tank mates). I know they need pristine water conditions, live food, and sandy substrate. However, I'm completely lost on tank size for an adult. I'd like to hear from someone who has kept them successfully. Also, what type of filtration system would I be looking at?

 

[tlindsey]

Please be kind as I'm new to everything. My only experience with tanks is my small ten gallon which I've had for about a year. I think I've been successful with it. This isn't something I'm going to do on a whim as I want to be prepared and do my research, but my dream fish is a "baby dolphin" mormyrid. I'm not sure whether it's kanume, longirostris, tapirus, etc. A lot of different websites have them under different names so it's hard to tell.

Does anyone have advice? There doesn't seem to be a lot of information about keeping them online. To begin, I'd like to know how many gallons would provide for a healthy and happy home for one adult dolphin mormyrid (no tank mates). I know they need pristine water conditions, live food, and sandy substrate. However, I'm completely lost on tank size for an adult. I'd like to hear from someone who has kept them successfully. Also, what type of filtration system would I be looking at?

When I first saw the label say Baby Whale in a lfs many years ago I wanted one. Haven't seen them for years but tbh wasn't looking to get one. You are correct the water should be pristine and that should be for most species kept in the home aquarium. I do know that they will eat prepared foods such as frozen bloodworms. Hopefully others with present experience chime in.

 

[MormyridLover]

When I first saw the label say Baby Whale in a lfs many years ago I wanted one. Haven't seen them for years but tbh wasn't looking to get one. You are correct the water should be pristine and that should be for most species kept in the home aquarium. I do know that they will eat prepared foods such as frozen bloodworms. Hopefully others with present experience chime in.

Thank you so much! The baby whale, as far as I know, stays smaller than the baby dolphin. I think baby whale gets to about 10 inches. I thought about keeping an elephant nose or baby whale instead, but they need to be kept in large groups and I'd rather concentrate on one single water-pet. Thanks again for the input!

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Pet zone.com has them. That is all I know

 

[Joshuakahan]

Please be kind as I'm new to everything. My only experience with tanks is my small ten gallon which I've had for about a year. I think I've been successful with it. This isn't something I'm going to do on a whim as I want to be prepared and do my research, but my dream fish is a "baby dolphin" mormyrid. I'm not sure whether it's kanume, longirostris, tapirus, etc. A lot of different websites have them under different names so it's hard to tell.

Does anyone have advice? There doesn't seem to be a lot of information about keeping them online. To begin, I'd like to know how many gallons would provide for a healthy and happy home for one adult dolphin mormyrid (no tank mates). I know they need pristine water conditions, live food, and sandy substrate. However, I'm completely lost on tank size for an adult. I'd like to hear from someone who has kept them successfully. Also, what type of filtration system would I be looking at?

From what I’ve read FW dolphin fish get around 2.5 feet, i would say you would need an 8 ft by 4ft tank minimum.
They also appear to be active and not overly flexible which is why I think width is very important for turning around

 

[the_deeb]

I love mormyrids - they’re some of my favorite fish but I’ve found them to be quite challenging to keep. I’ve briefly housed Campylomormyrus rhynchophorus and Mormyrus longirostris at different times. In both cases the fish seemed to be doing fine for several months but then mysteriously passed away for no obvious reasons that I could discern.

Given I wasn’t that successful long term I’m not sure how useful my advice is, but here are some of
my impressions:

They will almost certainly be wild caught, and likely parasite infested, so give them a full treatment of prazipro or some other dewormer during quarantine. They are sensitive to metal-containing meds.

They need clean, well oxygenated water, so provide good filtration, decent current and good aeration. And keep up on your water changes.

They eat a surprising amount and seem to need a regular supply of food available or they start to get skinny. I used to feed frozen foods (bloodworms, mysis, finely chopped shrimp) twice a day and also dump in a bunch live blackworms that would burrow in the sand so they could forage throughout the day. Mine never ate any prepared/dry foods. They were reasonably aggressive eaters once they’d settled in but didn’t compete for food very well with other fish. Despite being a bit shy, they also didn’t seem to like tankmates and harassed them quite a bit. The dolphin in particular was constantly bothering other fish.

I had the elephant nose housed in a 65g and the dolphin in a 120g. The tank sizes seemed ok for the size and activity of the fish while I had them. Depending on which dolphin species (kanume get much bigger than longirostris) you’re likely going to need a much bigger tank eventually.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Pet zone.com has them. That is all I know

Sorry. I meant Petzonesd.com. I also know they can get up to 22 Kilograms, and 30 inches. I believe you are talking about the Eastern Bottle-nosed Mormyrid, or Mormyrus Longirostrus.

 

[MormyridLover]

From what I’ve read FW dolphin fish get around 2.5 feet, i would say you would need an 8 ft by 4ft tank minimum.
They also appear to be active and not overly flexible which is why I think width is very important for turning around

Oh wow! 2.5 feet is huge. Maybe I would be better off keeping a group of the smaller mormyrids like the elephant nose. I definitely wanted just one fish as a pet, but I'm also obsessed with mormyrids and willing to compromise.

 

[MormyridLover]

Sorry. I meant Petzonesd.com. I also know they can get up to 22 Kilograms, and 30 inches. I believe you are talking about the Eastern Bottle-nosed Mormyrid, or Mormyrus Longirostrus.

Yes! I was referencing longirostrus . That's a giant fish. Perhaps I'll look into smaller species.

 

[MormyridLover]

I love mormyrids - they’re some of my favorite fish but I’ve found them to be quite challenging to keep. I’ve briefly housed Campylomormyrus rhynchophorus and Mormyrus longirostris at different times. In both cases the fish seemed to be doing fine for several months but then mysteriously passed away for no obvious reasons that I could discern.

Given I wasn’t that successful long term I’m not sure how useful my advice is, but here are some of
my impressions:

They will almost certainly be wild caught, and likely parasite infested, so give them a full treatment of prazipro or some other dewormer during quarantine. They are sensitive to metal-containing meds.

They need clean, well oxygenated water, so provide good filtration, decent current and good aeration. And keep up on your water changes.

They eat a surprising amount and seem to need a regular supply of food available or they start to get skinny. I used to feed frozen foods (bloodworms, mysis, finely chopped shrimp) twice a day and also dump in a bunch live blackworms that would burrow in the sand so they could forage throughout the day. Mine never ate any prepared/dry foods. They were reasonably aggressive eaters once they’d settled in but didn’t compete for food very well with other fish. Despite being a bit shy, they also didn’t seem to like tankmates and harassed them quite a bit. The dolphin in particular was constantly bothering other fish.

I had the elephant nose housed in a 65g and the dolphin in a 120g. The tank sizes seemed ok for the size and activity of the fish while I had them. Depending on which dolphin species (kanume get much bigger than longirostris) you’re likely going to need a much bigger tank eventually.

Thank you SO much for the detailed information. When you had the elephant nose, did you keep a group or a single elephant? I don't think I can realistically go bigger than 150 gallons and so longirostris and kanume are off the table unless I miraculously win the lottery, haha. Now I'm wondering about smaller mormyrids which can be kept singly or perhaps keeping a group of elephant nose. What type of filter did you have and how often were your water changes?