Just got 2 baby bowfin

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bahamaqt00

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 7, 2009
765
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kirkland wa
I hope this is the right place to post about these guys. I picked the last two up at the LFS today and they're so cute! I got them because they look a lot like snakeheads (which are illegal here) But anyways, They are currently about 1"-2" and in a 55gal grow out with a baby indo datnoid and a bagarius bagarius. Any advice you can give me?

But wait.....before you do...

I KNOW THEY'RE GOING TO NEED A MASSIVE TANK, I KNOW HOW BIG THEY GET.

Thanks guys! I will post pictures after they get settled in!
 
these fry are very fragile. feed bloodworms 3 to 4 times a day, keep good water flow and cover them as much as possible with low or no lighting and some kind of hide to reduce stress. make sure they are in a small enough area to find their food and make sure they have access to the surface to breath at all times. oh yeah, dont heat the tank...
 
Good luck with them mate, bowfin fry seem to be difficult to raise from fry, once they get older they get more stronger...Similar with channa pluero, i had to very young pluero's,,they grew up ok then the female killed the male, but i was always warned that theres a 90% mortality rate with juvi's....So good luck...Not saying to scare you just a word of warning, makes it that much better once you've raised them to adult
 
Thanks for the advice/warnings! They are currently eating bloodworms and small guppies a couple times per day. At the lfs they were in water that was heated to 75 degrees. So when we brought them home we adjusted the heat in the tank to 75. Is is possible for them to live in heated waters? They seem to be doing fine and the datnoid and the bagarius can't really live in un-heated water. We have the light turned off for most of the day and have live plants and a piece of bogwood for them to hide in. The background is also painted black which I think makes them a little bore comfortable.

thanks again!
 
bahamaqt00;4039314; said:
Thanks for the advice/warnings! They are currently eating bloodworms and small guppies a couple times per day. At the lfs they were in water that was heated to 75 degrees. So when we brought them home we adjusted the heat in the tank to 75. Is is possible for them to live in heated waters? They seem to be doing fine and the datnoid and the bagarius can't really live in un-heated water. We have the light turned off for most of the day and have live plants and a piece of bogwood for them to hide in. The background is also painted black which I think makes them a little bore comfortable.

thanks again!
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when they hatch in the wild the water is usually under 70 but you should be ok if you have good current. how big are the datnoid and the bagarius? arent they stressing the little bowfin?
 
chasingtime;4039451; said:
when they hatch in the wild the water is usually under 70 but you should be ok if you have good current. how big are the datnoid and the bagarius? arent they stressing the little bowfin?
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Okay that is good. I didn't know they needed a lot of current. I have a canister filter that is making a little bit of a current, should I get a powerhead too? The bagarius is about 2" and the datnoid is no more than an inch. The bagarius doesn't bother anything but the dat chases them every now and again. No harm done though. Thanks for the info
 
bahamaqt00;4039599; said:
Okay that is good. I didn't know they needed a lot of current. I have a canister filter that is making a little bit of a current, should I get a powerhead too? The bagarius is about 2" and the datnoid is no more than an inch. The bagarius doesn't bother anything but the dat chases them every now and again. No harm done though. Thanks for the info
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as long as the water is moving. you dont want to knock them around. i just like to see movement especially at the surface to increase the oxygen in the warmer water. not so sure them getting chased at all at this stage is a good idea...
 
chasingtime;4039781; said:
as long as the water is moving. you dont want to knock them around. i just like to see movement especially at the surface to increase the oxygen in the warmer water. not so sure them getting chased at all at this stage is a good idea...
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I know there is enough water movement in the water. The outtake is making a nice current and we have a large airstone in the water. Do you think a divider would be a good idea at this point? To separate the datnoid from the rest? Any other tips on keeping these guys happy? I have never seen bowfin around here so I really want to keep them alive and happy.
 
bahamaqt00;4039823; said:
I know there is enough water movement in the water. The outtake is making a nice current and we have a large airstone in the water. Do you think a divider would be a good idea at this point? To separate the datnoid from the rest? Any other tips on keeping these guys happy? I have never seen bowfin around here so I really want to keep them alive and happy.
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get a little breeder unit that floats in your tank or attaches to the side. i would do whatever you can to minimize stress and make sure their bellies are full. air stones are nice but do very little to oxygenate water. surface agitation is the way to go. if you have power heads point them toward the surface. i can actually see my fish working harder to breath when i dont have enough surface agitation...
 
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