Need help about my Lungfish

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whats a Felix keeping fish? and I change the filter cartridge about once a month or when ever it gets really dirty.
Someone named felix who keeps fish.

I suggest do 50% water changes with water conditioner every week. If you drain the tank all the way or over 75% you will lose allot of the benificial bacteria your fish need. Trust me, I lost well over $700 worth of stingrays because I did a 90% water change. Water conditioner is very important though. Cloramines and clorine that are in ormal tap water are very very leathal to fish. Also, what are the dimentions of your tank?
 
If I'm understanding you correctly your keeping a 20 year old Lungfish in a 20-50 gallon tank and are unsure of the filtration and whether it's suitable for the size tank never mind the fish you have in it. The first thing I have to say is unfortunately you have a lot of research to do as it doesn't appear as though you have even the basics of fishkeeping down, as such it's going to take a lot more then the Lung stickies to help you. At 20 years old I'd imagine most lungs would be easily 2-3 feet long so the fact that the lung still has room in the tank that you think is between 20-50 gallons(I'm assuming) suggests that he's horribly stunted. As a 20 gallon long is 30 x 12 x 12 and a 55 is 48 x 12 x 21 which means the lung should literally be taking up the entire bottom of the tank at his/her age. Just because an animal has lived in certain conditions doesn't mean it has been thriving, many animals can live in atrocious conditions and Lungs are one of the strongest survivors alongside goldfish in the aquatic kingdom.

As for the marks/injuries they look like in my opinion to be fin rot or ammonia burns due to his/her living conditions catching up with him as while Lungs are survivors eventually the living conditions will eventually break down their resistance and diseases will take hold. The first thing to do is buy a test kit since water quality is paramount and a kit is considered standard fare for anyone keeping fish any petstore that sells fish will almost certainly have them. The cheapest test kit is the API strip test kit which costs about $3.99 but your better off getting a API Freshwater Master Test Kit which is about $16, what ever test kit you get should have a test for PH, Ammonia, Nitate, Nitrite and Carbonate Hardness. Once you know your water parameters we should be able to help you.
 
Okay well the nI am positive he is not over 30 years I think he is only a little over a foot maybe two foot. I have taken the fish out and they are going to a new home today and the dimenstions are:
Height: 18 1/2 in , length: 1foot and width is 30in.
 
Okay well the nI am positive he is not over 30 years I think he is only a little over a foot maybe two foot. I have taken the fish out and they are going to a new home today and the dimenstions are:
Height: 18 1/2 in , length: 1foot and width is 30in.

whoa, thats only 29 gallons. How big is his/her new home?
 
No hes not getting a new home the other fish the koi/gold fish mix that was wit hand two I was going ot put with him when they got bigger are going to a new home. The tank The lungfish is in I got with him and I dont have the money to get him a new one or the room right now bc my mother wont let me put him in the living room bc she thinks he is ugly and looks to much like a snake. I hate knowing this is bad for him I thought he was perfectly fine. :cry:
 
Okay well the nI am positive he is not over 30 years I think he is only a little over a foot maybe two foot. I have taken the fish out and they are going to a new home today and the dimenstions are:
Height: 18 1/2 in , length: 1foot and width is 30in.

Your tank dimensions sound strange 18L x 12H x 30W? Usually tank dimensions are listed L x W x H and if it is a 29 gallon then it's 30L x 12W x 18H which also brings up the point of the Lungs length, you can't tell if the Lung is 12inches or 24 inches? I don't expect an exact size but a 12 inch margin of error is pretty big. As far as mixing African Lungs with other fish it's usually not a good idea as African Lungs have been known to suddenly bite tankmates in half, so if your mom has a bigger tank in the living room with other fish they could be in jeopardy if the Lung gets moved in with them. If your really concerned about the Lungs well being your best bet is to put him up on craigslist for free and make the only requirement that the adopter has a 75 gallon or better to house the Lung temporarily and has plans to upgrade to a bigger tank down the road as Lungs can hit about 3 feet in captivity.
 
I've been in that situation, I had a 1.5' silver aro in a 120, even though with all the money I had saved I could afford to upgrade, my dad didn't let me.
The best thing to do is to sell him. He later died of an infection.
Then you can get new fish that won't outgrow that tank. Like dojo loaches, they sort of look like lung fish and you can have like 10 in a tank that size without having to rehome any.
 
To put things in perspective, African lungfish in the wild can inhabit small ponds or pools that totally dry up for a portion of the year. At those times the lungfish burrows into the mud and secretes a slime that forms a thick covering around its body. It then enters a state of quasi-hybernation till the rains come back, at which time it wakes up, shakes the slime off, and goes about its business in the refilled pond/pool. The point is, at different times during its life cycle many wild African lungfish endure far worse living conditions than you are providing now, so, don't feel too bad! :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PSM_V63_D037_Clod_of_earth_containing_cocoon_of_lung_fish.png

That said, it would be "nice" if you could provide your lungfish either a larger tank or perhaps pass him on to a new home? Since it sounds like you are new to the fish hobby, you might want to look into trading in the lungfish to one of your local aquarium shops in return for some smaller community type fish - angelfish, tetras, gouramis, that sort of thing. A 29 gallon tank like you have would be perfect for a small community tank, and your mom might even let you keep it in the living room. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_aquarium
 
You should take steps towards finding him a new home. There is no way you can make the situation better without a new tank.

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