Has anyone kept a fish called the south american lungfish. I saw a pic of these fish and i instantly fell in love with them. Any info will be appreciated thanks.
Info on South American Lungfish
- Thread starter thefishgeek
- Start date
Basically, these guys have similare care to African Lungfishes, so they are tolerant of a considerable ph range. Best keep it at neutral or acidic to reflect their local Amazon, but other ranges are acceptable. Unlike Afro Lungs, SALs are much more compatible fish (generally, there are exceptions) and can be kept with a considerable range of tankmates, from Aros to Gar to Certain Characins.
They reach a size of 4 feet in the wild, but most captive individuals reach anywhere from 2 feet to 30 inches. The tank needs to be sizeable, but as these fish are not active swimmers, not as large as one may initially believe. The main point is that filtration must be strong, probably a turnover of at least 4x the tank volume, with higher being better, as these fish are messy eaters and they poop rather large crap. Ideally, scoop up the crap when you see it.
Feeding normally depends on size. A 2-5 inch baby would need to start on a diet of worms to be maintained properly and must be fed considerably often. After these rather delicate phase, at around 7-12 inches, it would be best to expand the diet to larger food items. This size range may also be the most ideal time to get it on to pellets. Consider feeding pellets, bloodworms, earthworms, mealworms, and other such suitable carnivore food.
Availability is another issue that needs mention. SALs are seasonably available only and unless you order online or buy from a store that can order fish for you, you'll have a relative challenge getting one. They aren't too expensive, however, but I would either go about ordering online or ordering from a store.
To the more experienced members: Please add or correct any missing/faulty info. Hope this helps you.
They reach a size of 4 feet in the wild, but most captive individuals reach anywhere from 2 feet to 30 inches. The tank needs to be sizeable, but as these fish are not active swimmers, not as large as one may initially believe. The main point is that filtration must be strong, probably a turnover of at least 4x the tank volume, with higher being better, as these fish are messy eaters and they poop rather large crap. Ideally, scoop up the crap when you see it.
Feeding normally depends on size. A 2-5 inch baby would need to start on a diet of worms to be maintained properly and must be fed considerably often. After these rather delicate phase, at around 7-12 inches, it would be best to expand the diet to larger food items. This size range may also be the most ideal time to get it on to pellets. Consider feeding pellets, bloodworms, earthworms, mealworms, and other such suitable carnivore food.
Availability is another issue that needs mention. SALs are seasonably available only and unless you order online or buy from a store that can order fish for you, you'll have a relative challenge getting one. They aren't too expensive, however, but I would either go about ordering online or ordering from a store.
To the more experienced members: Please add or correct any missing/faulty info. Hope this helps you.
They do get large (3' range) so make sure you'll have a tank that can house them (150g+ IMO). All the above info sounds about right. They are pretty easy fish to take care of and are pretty mellow, well at least mine is.
They're also difficult to kill. I searched for one for months before finding a place that had them. I was so happy when he arrived as a little baby. I grew him out a few inches then put him in a big boy tank with some other fish. One day he disappeared and I sadly assumed he as eaten. That tank was then redone several times over the course of a year before I finally broke it down to relocate. As I was removing the plumbing from the overflow I counted myself lucky that I'd broken down the aquarium when I did because it appeared that the rear seal was failing in the corner of the overflow..... the the "seal" moved and I slowly came to the realization than my lungfish which I thought had died 1 year past had been living in an overflow eating who knows what to survive.
He's now around a foot long and living happily in a 180 bowfront (which has had the overflows lung-proofed!)
He's now around a foot long and living happily in a 180 bowfront (which has had the overflows lung-proofed!)