Deadeye’s Red Wolf Fish

[Deadeye]

Just got a shipment from exoticfishshop containing an ery ery. He came much larger than I expected (looks about 3 inches) and very healthy. Lots of red is already showing. Definitely could be fattened up a bit but that won’t take long.

He took acclimation very well and is already exploring the new tank!



I will begin feeding tomorrow, hopefully he takes to pellets fast. jjohnwm - he already is interested in a laser pointer.

 

[jjohnwm]

Cool! He looks just like mine did when he first got here: big head, skinny little body, and that "FEED ME!" look on his face.

 

[Deadeye]

Gave him some pellets yesterday and he already is eating like a champ (and it didn’t take much for him to be fat now).

 

[Deadeye]

One thing I’ve noticed is how he eats. I was expecting quick darts and strikes, but so far he has just slowly waltzed up to the pellets to snatch them up.

 

[Krismo962]

Very nice.I have wanted one of these for a while.

 

[DMD123]

Very cool new fish! I have one in a 65B with a bn pleco and you never see either of them, lol. I have a large ZooMed hollow “log” that they both hide in. Was thinking to redo the scape to something more like what you got Deadeye , more branches and stones. Look forward to your updates!

 

[Deadeye]

Very cool new fish! I have one in a 65B with a bn pleco and you never see either of them, lol. I have a large ZooMed hollow “log” that they both hide in. Was thinking to redo the scape to something more like what you got Deadeye , more branches and stones. Look forward to your updates!

The original scape looked more like this (at its best).

It was great for small fish, but once the wolf got large it would have very little room due to the manzanita.
I have trouble finding the wolf half the time, I’m lucky enough that most caves have some angle to be viewed inside. I’ve got to grow in the hornwort so I have a good floating plant to make him feel more secure.
I’d consider tossing a pleco or raphael in with mine, but if I have to remove it I’m not sure I’ll be able to catch it…

 

[jjohnwm]

Beautiful set-up! If he wanted to hide in that...you'd never see him. Thank goodness they like to come out to play and display themselves much of the time.

I'd be cautious with the catfish. Mine ignored a Hoplo cat for a few weeks...and then one morning the Hoplo was a complete mess, the wolf must have gone psycho suddenly. The catfish would have been dead within a few more hours if I'd left him in there. It appears as though the cat is now recovering in isolation, but a second attempt with a much bigger catfish was aborted before it started; the wolf was trying to get at the new introduction as it floated in a glass jar.

If you have access to a location that has not been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides, this is a great season for finding grasshoppers. And I believe you have mentioned that you have a culture of scuds/gammarus? These would be terrific additions to the wolf diet.

 

[Deadeye]

It’s gonna be lanternfly season soon, those would probably make good treats. I attempted small shrimp though and it seems too big at the moment.
I did have a scud culture, the scud population eventually crashed though. I am not sure the root cause. My working theories are: planaria eating them (I think I read somewhere that they eat shrimp), starving (though there was always food in there), or parameter issues (there was a lot of snail poop for a long time - probably not good for the ammonia, but I did get that under control while I still had a lot left, and scuds are tough as nails). There was damselfly larvae early on but eventually caught them all.
I tore down the culture after setting this tank up, all the snails were moved over and what little scuds were left. Hopefully they can reproduce to a sizable population again.

 

[jjohnwm]

Yeah, he sounds like he's at that awkward size where a lot of good food items are just a wee bit too big. Give him another inch or so, and the carnivore world will open up for him...