My First Lung

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
A

andyjs

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Aug 13, 2008
2,765
4
36
37
Ohio
Well, I'm a little embarrassed to say that this was sort of an impulse buy in the sense that I didn't start the day today thinking I'd be bringing home a lung, but within the last year, I've really fallen in love with lungfish (especially after writing a research paper on them for a class) and done a lot of reading up on them, so I knew what I was getting myself into.

I just happened to be in Columbus today and couldn't drive past Aquarium Adventure without stopping in even though I didn't think I'd get anything. Then I saw a tiny tank along the back wall labeled "lungfish" for a pretty reasonable price (especially compared to some of their other ridiculous ones), but couldn't tell if there were any left. I walked around for a while and thought about it. At first I tried to talk myself out of it, but then I thought some more. I already had a little growout tank set up and cycled for some clowns I was planning on bringing home tomorrow that would be perfect for one...

So, I ended up asking an associate if there really were lungs in there and he checked and there were 2 left. When I first saw them, very slender and black with little yellow/white flecks all over, I thought they were probably SALs-just what I was hoping for. The guy tried to tell me it was one of the Africans, and it even came up on the register as African, but I'm 99% sure I've got a SAL. He has settled in great and is already eating like a champ and constantly exploring.

I'll hopefully have pics tomorrow-he shouldn't be hard to get some pics of as much as he's out swimming around
 
black and yellow spots....SAL for sure.

You know, I'm kind of curious on the paper you did on lungs for class.
Maybe you can post it here?

p.s. congrats on your impuls buy.
 
The paper I did wasn't really anything special. It's just a basic overview of the sarcopterygians (all the lungs and the 2 extant coelacanths) including adult size, some info on wild range, diet, conservation status, and maybe a little on aestivation and a couple other topics. It's not on my computer anymore, but it is still in my personal folder on the schools servers and I could access it next time I'm there (which might be later this week).


Also, how are these guys with plants (at least while small, this guy's about 2.5")? He'll be in the tanks he's in (20H, but only about half full so he doesn't have to swim as hard for air) for a little while, but I'd like to upgrade him to a little bigger tank and set up a nice SA biotope with some plants and a few small, peaceful tankmates for him to grow up in for a while.
 
Sounds like a SAL to me! As for tank mates you can get away with anything that is peaceful. SALs are not aggressive and most likely wont eat any of their tankmates. I currently have mine in with 2 angels, 2 species of gymnogeophagus, 2 plecos, and a leopard ctenopoma. When mine was younger there used to be a balck kuhli loach in with him as well. As for plants, try to use anubias or java fern attached to driftwood. I would think that plants in the substrate would either get broken off or dug up biaccidently. Good luck with your new pick-up and post some pics!!!
 
Well, for now he's in a 20 gallon high with about 12 gallons or so of water, but I've got plans in the pretty near future to move him into a 29 (with shallow water that will be raised as he grows) set up as a nice Amazon biotope with some tetras and other small Amazonian fish as his first growout tank (and the obviously up from there as needed). So far his tankmates are a handful of guppies (mostly fry), and a small shoal of glowlight tetras.

I'm very glad I made this impulse buy, because not only do I have an awesome SAL, but I also have an excuse to set up a nice little biotope tank again. I miss having a nice little planted biotope with tetras and other little fish and I'm pretty excited to get this one going in the next month or so.

Also, once this guy gets up in the 2'+ size range, how succeptable will he be to bullying from tankmates? For example, I have an albino oscar and a green severum that I would like to eventually house him with if possible. The cichlids can be agressive, but really only towards each other. They leave the other tankmates alone except for the occasional quick nip, usually defending food.
 
Glad to hear you are so pumped on your new little guy! I've had mine for over a year now and I'm so glad I got him! I'm curious, why don't you fill the tank up? IMO if you leave a little space at the top, your sal should be able to get plenty of air.

As for tank mates I've had bad luck with aggressive cichlids, but everyone is different. I see you have your oscar and severum with a ornate bichir, so do they bother him? If not I would think you should be ok, BUT be ready to move if there are problems. Where I could see a problem is one of them thinking the sal's fins (arms) are worms and biting them off. Good Luck with your little guy!
 
abarilot;3164292; said:
Glad to hear you are so pumped on your new little guy! I've had mine for over a year now and I'm so glad I got him! I'm curious, why don't you fill the tank up? IMO if you leave a little space at the top, your sal should be able to get plenty of air.

As for tank mates I've had bad luck with aggressive cichlids, but everyone is different. I see you have your oscar and severum with a ornate bichir, so do they bother him? If not I would think you should be ok, BUT be ready to move if there are problems. Where I could see a problem is one of them thinking the sal's fins (arms) are worms and biting them off. Good Luck with your little guy!
Click to expand...

I started it off just deep enough for the sponge filter to function to make sure the lung had easy access to the surface (my thinking was I'd rather have the water a little shallower than it needs to be than drown my first lung the first night I had him). He mainly hangs out in the floating plants near the surface now anyways, so I'll eventually fill it up more.
 
Well, now I've got the tank filled a little more, but I added some small water hyacinths to add to the floating plants, so I'm leaving a little gap at the surface for them.

Also, I've got another question: Has anyone had success keeping plecos with SALs? I know with my bichir I was warned about plecos sucking on him and causing infections. Are lungfish equally susceptible?
 
I currently have an L18 and L200 with mine. I just keep as eye out but my plecos are fat and happy. There are some more prone to it... not to sure which ones but i think commons are on the list.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom