meet gramps my wal

[chefjamesscott]

So a few months ago I go into one of the lfs here and my kids come running to me breathless. "DAD, they have a lungfish here!!!!"

Pretty much, I am like whatever!!! Ok, I will come see, are you guys sure.

Gramps was actually a surrender by a fish keeper who was moving to vancouver and got rid of all his fish, just wish I had seen his stock supposedly he had some strange fish. Thankfully, Gramps spent 2 weeks at the lfs without anyone really being serious about him. That is until a few days after I snapped him up.

Sidenote:We were actually planning a trip to drive to philli, pa. to pick up a 30 inch wal and got permission from the federal govt to bring it back on both sides and then the provincial stickywickets nixed it. It totally took the wind out of my kids to hear the road trip was cancelled

So needless to say, when I turned the corner to the tank they were pointing at I was shocked to see a wal. Immediately I told the store employee's that was my fish and sent my wife to go get $130. Half hour later gramps was on his way home with me. I call him gramps because of the way his face goes when he is eating.

Here is a ? I have for you experienced keepers.

Since his mouth only opens so far and the way I have observed him eating is by inhaling and mashing whatever enters the maw of mash. Can I put him in with fish that are way to big to fit in his mouth and be ok? Or, will he take a liking to doing a lamprey manuever on them in the future?

Anyways here is Gramps

and one of my little future fish keepers totally awestruck at this fish

I have many different options I can go with Gramps depending on what I find out here. At present I have him in a 4'x2'x2', though I have many other larger tanks I can put him in and this is definitely not his end destination.

 

[Angler]

Nice pickup! I have never seen these in person until an LFS recently got some. They are ugly fish, but intriguing. I wouldn't mind getting one someday.

 

[Pomatomus]

lol "stickywicket"

nice find. they have a lungfish at my lfs, i'm not sure what kind but it's $40. keep us posted on how it does with your other fish!

 

[chefjamesscott]

actually very cool in person I really like him he has lots of personality, though last night when I was doing his water change I had one of my fingers close to the water surface and he came swimming up. Call me flash I moved so fast, I have read a post here where a dude got bit on the thumb by his lung and not something I want to experience.

 

[chefjamesscott]

lol "stickywicket"

nice find. they have a lungfish at my lfs, i'm not sure what kind but it's $40. keep us posted on how it does with your other fish!

I have read the thread by king el and his tank.

I have before me a 180g with 11 inch aro, 12 inch shovelnose, 13 & 8 inch knifefish and 3 iri sharks 18-22 inch and depending on the answer am so thinking of putting him in there.

I am about to rehome the iri to a 250g

 

[Diskboy12]

Nice WAL.

 

[chefjamesscott]

I have to honestly confess that since I have started to amass what are called monster fish everything else has begun to look like feeders. ahahhahahahhah

 

[andyjs]

Nice fish! I just got my first lung a couple months ago, but he's a SAL and was only about 2" when I got him. He's now around 5". In a couple years when I have a more permanent housing situation, I'd like to set up a fish room and start collecting some more lungs. My goal is an Aussie, but that will be years down the road

 

[SimonL]

In terms of what he'll live with, the list gets smaller the larger the lung gets. At 30" mine will munch anything, including inanimate objects, that enter the tank. At least they don't require much room, so his eventual solitary confinement won't take up too much space.

If you want a community lung, get a SAL.

 

[GriF]

Here is a ? I have for you experienced keepers.

Since his mouth only opens so far and the way I have observed him eating is by inhaling and mashing whatever enters the maw of mash. Can I put him in with fish that are way to big to fit in his mouth and be ok? Or, will he take a liking to doing a lamprey manuever on them in the future?

.

Nice pick up Chef.
Good to have an other lung keeper here.
For your question.
If it want's it can bite big chunks out of your other bigger fish.
I recommend you keep them seperated.
There are some fish keepers who keep them with other fish.
And sometimes they succeed.
Lungfish are best to be kept allone.
In my book it is irresponsible to keep them as community fish.
lungfish are carnivores and in the wild they also prey on larger fish.
I used to have this article about lungfish and it said they were canibalistic they would wait near the fishing lines and take big chunks of flesh out of other lungfish wich got caught.

Goodluck with you new lung.