Paddle Fish
- Thread starter CAnRB
- Start date
CAnRB said:
I haven't kept them, but they get HUGE and are apparently very difficult to keep ... good luck!
JB
P.s. There is a thread here that discusses them...
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21898&highlight=LFS
Welcome to MFK!!!
If at all possible, keep the paddlefish in a round vessel. These fish just beat themselves to death in a rectangular tank. Curved walls help them 'ride out' a ramming.
Keep the paddlefish in an unheated tank with lots of water movement and tons of aeration. They're filter-feeders but once they pass a foot in length, they'll have no problem taking down the occassional rosy red minnow or two. Mine fed on FD plankton/krill, frozen daphnia, flake food, bloodworms, etc. Basically, they'll eat anything suspended in the water column or on the surface. It took my 4 inchers only about a week to learn to roll over to get at floating food.
They're scaleless except for a few patches of dermal denticles. So, adding some salt to their water will help keep fungal infections down. I kept their water on the alkaline side and they were just fine with it.
If at all possible, keep the paddlefish in a round vessel. These fish just beat themselves to death in a rectangular tank. Curved walls help them 'ride out' a ramming.
Keep the paddlefish in an unheated tank with lots of water movement and tons of aeration. They're filter-feeders but once they pass a foot in length, they'll have no problem taking down the occassional rosy red minnow or two. Mine fed on FD plankton/krill, frozen daphnia, flake food, bloodworms, etc. Basically, they'll eat anything suspended in the water column or on the surface. It took my 4 inchers only about a week to learn to roll over to get at floating food.
They're scaleless except for a few patches of dermal denticles. So, adding some salt to their water will help keep fungal infections down. I kept their water on the alkaline side and they were just fine with it.
i've have heard that they are pretty difficult to keep and to get to eat since they are plankton & filter feeders.. some say they got to feed them bloodworms but i've no one has ever got them to live long here.. good luck with yours and keep us updated with their growth 
I have never heard of any private owner successfully keeping them, Years ago there was an aquarium in North Dakota that kept a couple in a large round tank, the were fed large ammounts of brine shrimp, daphnia, and green infusoria several times a day.