Kind of like our halibut up here. The big "barn doors" are all over 100 so as they get removed fewer replace them . If we aren't careful the population will collapse
Fish Story Aquarium and Rescue, Naples, FL; two 4500 gal 13'x13'x4.5'
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
Kind of like our halibut up here. The big "barn doors" are all over 100 so as they get removed fewer replace them . If we aren't careful the population will collapse
I have a younger West African lungfish, bought Aug 2015 from snookn21 at ~7", $35. It's a piglet. Today it's about 2'. It is catching up to the bigger one frighteningly quickly. But it eats 10x more than the bigger one, pellets and fish are ~ never refused. The bigger one refuses fish ~90% of the time and sometimes pellets too.
I bought 5 of Indian swamp eels from Raymond Chan last Fall of 2015. They were 15"-20". Two of them struggled greatly to feed perhaps because of my inexperience. They lasted ~6 months and perished.
Two more have been eating ok but one after 8 months and the other 13 months died for an unknown reason. One of these was bothered a bit because its tail had been tattered for a while but I have not figured out the culprit plus it wasn't bad .
This is lone survivor, ~2'-2.5'. Refuses pellets but appears to like cut fish, small whole fish. Eats so-o-o-o slowly, like a tortoise. Pushes them around with its nose for a few minutes, then sucks them in and chews thoroughly... as its parents taught it.
Two more have been eating ok but one after 8 months and the other 13 months died for an unknown reason. One of these was bothered a bit because its tail had been tattered for a while but I have not figured out the culprit plus it wasn't bad .
This is lone survivor, ~2'-2.5'. Refuses pellets but appears to like cut fish, small whole fish. Eats so-o-o-o slowly, like a tortoise. Pushes them around with its nose for a few minutes, then sucks them in and chews thoroughly... as its parents taught it.
I was lucky to get two wels catfish from Wes this summer 2016 at ~4"-5". Ju-u-ust before they got banned this Fall. I wanted natural colored but albino was all that was available. Easy cats to feed. The two have been together for the first month+, alone, then the bigger one (pictured below in the video) that was ~5" started tattering fins of the smaller one at ~4", just as Wes had warned me that they don't get along... but I needed to see for myself.
The smaller one went into a different 240 gal and grew to 8" quickly - there was a lot of well-feeding fish in there. The bigger one stayed in the original 240 gal with a few not-so-well-feeding tank mates and, consequently, didn't grow as vigorously and has been notably shyer than the smaller one in the other tank.
The originally-smaller one then graduated into another 240 gal, also stocked with a vigorously feeding gang. It tried bossing others around in there, including 5 closely related Amur catfish. In 1-2 weeks, the wels got its tail damaged (not sure by who, I'm guessing the Amurs) and went back into the prior 240 gal that was safe. The tail pretty much fell off, then grew back but in a V-shape
Anyhow, the originally-smaller wels is now around 1' and is in a 4500 gal, its 4th tank, doing well so far. Has been there about 3 weeks now. The originally-bigger-now-smaller-but-intact one is ~10" and is still in the same first 240 gal they both had been in. Its mates are a 2'+ Indian swamp eel and a 2' West African lungfish.
Both my wels profoundly prefer pellets to fish!
This is the 10" one now. If God is willing, will shoot the 1', V-tailed one later.
The smaller one went into a different 240 gal and grew to 8" quickly - there was a lot of well-feeding fish in there. The bigger one stayed in the original 240 gal with a few not-so-well-feeding tank mates and, consequently, didn't grow as vigorously and has been notably shyer than the smaller one in the other tank.
The originally-smaller one then graduated into another 240 gal, also stocked with a vigorously feeding gang. It tried bossing others around in there, including 5 closely related Amur catfish. In 1-2 weeks, the wels got its tail damaged (not sure by who, I'm guessing the Amurs) and went back into the prior 240 gal that was safe. The tail pretty much fell off, then grew back but in a V-shape
Anyhow, the originally-smaller wels is now around 1' and is in a 4500 gal, its 4th tank, doing well so far. Has been there about 3 weeks now. The originally-bigger-now-smaller-but-intact one is ~10" and is still in the same first 240 gal they both had been in. Its mates are a 2'+ Indian swamp eel and a 2' West African lungfish.
Both my wels profoundly prefer pellets to fish!
This is the 10" one now. If God is willing, will shoot the 1', V-tailed one later.
Yup. The three gulpers have gone into an empty 240 gal yesterday enjoying 4x the space and the divider is gone now, so the wels and Co have the entire 240 gal to themselves.
Got a trio of Phoenix barbs aka Spinibarbus denticulatus, 1 male, 2 females, from Wes in Aug 2015 at ~16"-18". Lovely, unusual carp with bright pink colored body areas... I have never even seen them before in pictures.
Powerful swimmers and jumpers and, oh boy, can they eat! I guess them being closely related to mahseers, they all want to eat every piece of feed that enters their water. Albeit, carp and koi are the same way, if not worse. The difference being carp and koi are not a fast water fish. Mahseers and spinibarbus are, so they don't get obscenely fat like carp do, I am guessing so they keep some kind of hydrodynamic shape They are ~2' now, all three, and solid packed...
They love their pellets of any and all kinds but cut fish and often whole bait fish are taken too readily. I've not seen them hunt any smaller tank mates in their 4500 gal. There is nothing smaller there than 8"-10" and that's too big for them to try prey on, it seems.
They exhibited some breeding behavior over summer with both females chasing and body slamming and pressing against the male and also against each other. IDK if they spawned or not because even if they did, there is 100 mouths in there to suck all the eggs up as they are released. But they have been engaged in these songs and dances for at least a couple of months if not longer, on and off.
IME, they don't like soft (KH and GH both under 3 degree) and acidic water and develop slime/skin problems. They like schooling together most of the time.
Lots of personality and smarts (for a fish). They appear to know that I'm the only human that feeds them. They come up to the front glass and swim in large circles rubbing their snouts on the glass, or up and down showing how happy and eager they are.
Powerful swimmers and jumpers and, oh boy, can they eat! I guess them being closely related to mahseers, they all want to eat every piece of feed that enters their water. Albeit, carp and koi are the same way, if not worse. The difference being carp and koi are not a fast water fish. Mahseers and spinibarbus are, so they don't get obscenely fat like carp do, I am guessing so they keep some kind of hydrodynamic shape
They are ~2' now, all three, and solid packed...They love their pellets of any and all kinds but cut fish and often whole bait fish are taken too readily. I've not seen them hunt any smaller tank mates in their 4500 gal. There is nothing smaller there than 8"-10" and that's too big for them to try prey on, it seems.
They exhibited some breeding behavior over summer with both females chasing and body slamming and pressing against the male and also against each other. IDK if they spawned or not because even if they did, there is 100 mouths in there to suck all the eggs up as they are released. But they have been engaged in these songs and dances for at least a couple of months if not longer, on and off.
IME, they don't like soft (KH and GH both under 3 degree) and acidic water and develop slime/skin problems. They like schooling together most of the time.
Lots of personality and smarts (for a fish). They appear to know that I'm the only human that feeds them. They come up to the front glass and swim in large circles rubbing their snouts on the glass, or up and down showing how happy and eager they are.
I bought my first two arapaima this summer at ~5"-6", $225 each and housed them together first in a 240 gal. They were easy and started taking cut fish readily after a couple of days or so. One also took to catfish pellets. They were jumpy though and afraid of me.
After a month or so I noted the one taking pellets and fish grew 2x faster than the other one. After another month or two, it was ~16"-18" while the one that refused pellets was only ~8"-10". They always kept together through his time (still were skittish) and I thought that the smaller one needed the bigger one for comfort. But the bigger one now would hog almost all food and I decided to separate them.
The bigger one went into one 4500 gal and at 2.5'-3' into another 4500 gal. The smaller one stayed a couple of months in the original 240 gal where, surprisingly, it became less skittish with the bigger pima gone, and where it grew to ~14"-16" taking whole bait fish greedily and refusing pellets ~99% of the time.
The smaller pima then graduated into the first 4500 gal (the bigger one had already moved on by then) where it quickly learned to like pellets with gusto because fish was offered only twice a week.
The bigger one has light-colored spots around the rear end while the smaller one's rear is colored solid black. IDK what this means. Does anyone know?
Sadly, both of them are developing a dropped eye on the left hand side. IDK why either. Perhaps it is irrelevant but none of silver arowanas I've ever raised myself have ever had DE.
Here is the smaller pima at ~16"-18" in 4500 gal, a shameless beggar:
After a month or so I noted the one taking pellets and fish grew 2x faster than the other one. After another month or two, it was ~16"-18" while the one that refused pellets was only ~8"-10". They always kept together through his time (still were skittish) and I thought that the smaller one needed the bigger one for comfort. But the bigger one now would hog almost all food and I decided to separate them.
The bigger one went into one 4500 gal and at 2.5'-3' into another 4500 gal. The smaller one stayed a couple of months in the original 240 gal where, surprisingly, it became less skittish with the bigger pima gone, and where it grew to ~14"-16" taking whole bait fish greedily and refusing pellets ~99% of the time.
The smaller pima then graduated into the first 4500 gal (the bigger one had already moved on by then) where it quickly learned to like pellets with gusto because fish was offered only twice a week.
The bigger one has light-colored spots around the rear end while the smaller one's rear is colored solid black. IDK what this means. Does anyone know?
Sadly, both of them are developing a dropped eye on the left hand side. IDK why either. Perhaps it is irrelevant but none of silver arowanas I've ever raised myself have ever had DE.
Here is the smaller pima at ~16"-18" in 4500 gal, a shameless beggar:
I got 5 gars in Aug-Sept 2015, 4 tropical (three common and one mexican variety, I was told by the vendor) from Primo Aquatics in Orlando, and 1 spotted gar from Shark Aquarium's George Fear that I believe turned out to be, unfortunately, the very common florida gar. $200 for 3 tropicals (picked up; the mexican one was a freebie) and $40 before shipping for the FL gar.
I've never had a real spotted gar and I am still looking. On top of being largely unavailable, they appear to be immensely hard to tell from FL gar, especially at smaller sizes. The gill to eye distance described in a science article is said to have been proven unreliable in the ID, or so some experienced MFK-ers are saying. Location of capture is said to be the most reliable indicator because their ranges do not overlap that much (?). IIRC, there is also an issue of (man-made or natural or both?) hybridization that complicates this further.
The tropicals were about 9"-10", the mexican smaller, ~7" and the florida was small, ~4". This was my first experience with the tropical gars. Never saw them for sale before or after. The tropicals that I got are kind of ill-suited for captive life. They are clumsy, slow, both slow-moving and slow-witted. IDK if they are all/most like that. The FL gar is the opposite.
The 3 common tropical gars have been feeding ok but growing very slowly. They are only ~14"-15" today after 1.5 years. The biggest problem was the mexican. On my oversight, its head spent some time in a tummy of an apurensis catfish tank mate, the gar was found impossible to swallow and was spit out and the catfish promptly removed, but the gar lost its skin pouch on the lower jaw altogether. The skin was burned by stomach acid and fell off little by little and the jaw was just a pair of bones with nothing in between them. I thought it'd not make it but it did and the pouch grew back but doesn't look right, as you will see from the video below if you look carefully - the mexican gar is in the first frames of the video. The mexican gar struggles to swallow whole bait fish because of it, so it's still the smallest at ~12" today.
The mexican has also been the sickly one from the beginning and has gone through several bouts of eye-affecting illnesses even before the incident with the apurensis catfish. The latest bout started a few months back and its left eye looks ill and perhaps blind now. I am not so sure it sees out of its right eye or how well it sees. The poor guys can't catch a break
Until a month ago, they all have been in a 240 gal; now in 4500 gal, much more relaxed, less skittish. They don't care for strong current, furniture, and too small a tank width for comfortable turnarounds.
The 4 tropicals have been fed only pellets before I got them, I surmise, because to this day they seek out pellets far better and are slow in feeding on bait fish, something I have never been met with before having kept long term alligator, FL, and long-nose gars in prior life.
The tropicals are often hungry and hence they are beggars, that's for sure. Ill-suited beggars. I struggle to train them to eat well.
I've never had a real spotted gar and I am still looking. On top of being largely unavailable, they appear to be immensely hard to tell from FL gar, especially at smaller sizes. The gill to eye distance described in a science article is said to have been proven unreliable in the ID, or so some experienced MFK-ers are saying. Location of capture is said to be the most reliable indicator because their ranges do not overlap that much (?). IIRC, there is also an issue of (man-made or natural or both?) hybridization that complicates this further.
The tropicals were about 9"-10", the mexican smaller, ~7" and the florida was small, ~4". This was my first experience with the tropical gars. Never saw them for sale before or after. The tropicals that I got are kind of ill-suited for captive life. They are clumsy, slow, both slow-moving and slow-witted. IDK if they are all/most like that. The FL gar is the opposite.
The 3 common tropical gars have been feeding ok but growing very slowly. They are only ~14"-15" today after 1.5 years. The biggest problem was the mexican. On my oversight, its head spent some time in a tummy of an apurensis catfish tank mate, the gar was found impossible to swallow and was spit out and the catfish promptly removed, but the gar lost its skin pouch on the lower jaw altogether. The skin was burned by stomach acid and fell off little by little and the jaw was just a pair of bones with nothing in between them. I thought it'd not make it but it did and the pouch grew back but doesn't look right, as you will see from the video below if you look carefully - the mexican gar is in the first frames of the video. The mexican gar struggles to swallow whole bait fish because of it, so it's still the smallest at ~12" today.
The mexican has also been the sickly one from the beginning and has gone through several bouts of eye-affecting illnesses even before the incident with the apurensis catfish. The latest bout started a few months back and its left eye looks ill and perhaps blind now. I am not so sure it sees out of its right eye or how well it sees. The poor guys can't catch a break
Until a month ago, they all have been in a 240 gal; now in 4500 gal, much more relaxed, less skittish. They don't care for strong current, furniture, and too small a tank width for comfortable turnarounds.
The 4 tropicals have been fed only pellets before I got them, I surmise, because to this day they seek out pellets far better and are slow in feeding on bait fish, something I have never been met with before having kept long term alligator, FL, and long-nose gars in prior life.
The tropicals are often hungry and hence they are beggars, that's for sure. Ill-suited beggars. I struggle to train them to eat well.
