questions about the red fin wolf fish

[GarNiac]

greetings,
two days ago, I bought a 4" red fin wolf fish; it is my first time to have this fish, and it is currently in my 40 g tank, well, the tank is custom made 55x55x50 cm with all 3 sides and bottom painted black.
the questions are, are they skittish?cause mine is always run away every time I come around? therefor I give him a hiding place where he can retreat himself.
will he remain skittish as he grows?should I remove the hiding place?
cheers

 

[kewskills]

Mine was 10.5" before he died (which is darn big for one of these), he still liked to hide away in his cave. In the wild these fish are on the menu of larger predators so it is in their nature to hide. Mine however was not scared to come out at food time to take food from my hands, also he would patrol his tank now and again to look around but most of the time he would be in his cave.

Give him a chance to settle, he has only been in 2 days, probably still scared. he will get more social as he realises you feed him and you are not going to hurt him. I would leave his cave in as it will make him feel secure.

 

[GarNiac]

Mine was 10.5" before he died (which is darn big for one of these), he still liked to hide away in his cave. In the wild these fish are on the menu of larger predators so it is in their nature to hide. Mine however was not scared to come out at food time to take food from my hands, also he would patrol his tank now and again to look around but most of the time he would be in his cave.

Give him a chance to settle, he has only been in 2 days, probably still scared. he will get more social as he realises you feed him and you are not going to hurt him. I would leave his cave in as it will make him feel secure.

thanks alot for the answer, this would be a boring question, but will 40g be enough to house him alone for live?I've seen some threads with similar question, but just wanna make sure as this fish can only grow up to around 10",
cheers

 

[kewskills]

most seem to get between 8-10", mine was like a giant at 10.5", he actually preferred to be in a smaller tank he was a bit more timid in a large tank, and was most comfortable in his 35 g tank.

Just to confirm as comman name can be misleading, I am talking about an erythrinus erythrinus.

 

[GarNiac]

most seem to get between 8-10", mine was like a giant at 10.5", he actually preferred to be in a smaller tank he was a bit more timid in a large tank, and was most comfortable in his 35 g tank.

Just to confirm as comman name can be misleading, I am talking about an erythrinus erythrinus.

yes indeed, I've checked and the name is erythrinus erythrinus aka red fin wolf fish, thanks for all the info,
cheers