questions for tthe experts, opinions wanted, new to lungfish

[Bcrafty]

I have a lepidosiren paradoxa( South American Lungfish), if was sold to us by aquarium concepts in Dublin ca about a year ago, before the store had a faulty pump and caught fire(miss that shop). we got him at about 8-10" still all black with yellow dots, initially he was on a diet of hikari carnivore pellets and various cichlid pellets, he now gets a varied diet of earthworms, krill, algae wafers and hikari carnivore/massivore pellets, also gets blood worms, spirulina brine shrimp, spirulina 20 flake, freeze dried tubefex worms, freeze dried rivier shrimp and silversides.
my questions,
1. near his tail he seems to have a lot lighter color which I attribute to color change, ive had fish in the past with finrot and a cichlid that got the early stages of hole in the head and this doesn't look the same, I don't know if I should be concerned or not.it spears as though the scales tword the back of him have a lighter center giving him a dotted effect,see pic for reference. is this a deficiency? something in the water that shouldn't be there? overfeeding? stress? another fish? my parameters are ....160 gal tank, 20gal sump with filter floss, carbon, biorings. ammo-0, nitrite-0 nitrate-0 ph-7.2 gh-7 kh-3 weekly 50-75% waterchange, if I get lazy and feed light Its 2 weeks between water changes at 80% but that happens once every 2 months at most. all the fish are feeding swimming breathing and generally happy(or so it seems, they haven't jumped out and said hey thanks, your doing a great job or anything but you get the idea) currently he has 2 Senegal bichirs(full grown) 8 angel fish(growouts, not their permenant home) 3 spotted Raphael cats, 1 bristlenose pleco, 1 hypostomus pleco, 2 2" mystery snails, and about 10 minnow left(for when the bichirs want to hunt)
does anyone see any issues or even potential issues with this setup/stocking? things to watch for? I'm very aware fish have personalities and what works for 1 may not work for all, but from all the knowledge on the site hopefully I can get a pretty dialed in tank for this guy(or girl)

2. how can I sex him/her, I heard something of the vent location being on the right verse the left, is it possible if they aren't in breeding condition.

3. what does lateral line erosion look like on a lungfish, can we make a photo reference as in pic1-normal, pic 2- starting pic 3- getting worried, pic4- need meds pic5 - euthanize or something to that effect,

4. breeding, as I said I have 1 SAL and being sexually dimorphic he/she would need a partner, so its more for curiosity, potentially a project for the future, but whats the ins and outs of it all
ph stable? add ro water to get the ball rolling? maybe drop water level? I would think this would inspire estivation not breeding, maybe raise water level? I read the articles about putting the female in a basket till enough hormones in the water so they don't kill each other, what happens next? are they live birth, bubblenest, mouthbrooders? do the parents eat the young after or each other, are the parents good parents?

I'm aware my tank is too small for the life of the lungfish this is just a grow out tank.
thanks to the community, you all have been very helpful

also included a pic of my "betta" hahaha

 

[Bcrafty]

ps I am not too tech savy and often respond late, but if you have any questions about anything ill try my best to respond asap

 

[Bcrafty]

ps I am not too tech savy and often respond late, but if you have any questions about anything ill try my best to respond asap

 

[Bcrafty]

Anyone? Was my essay too long? No one following the lungfish forums?

 

[Yoda1]

Been on vacation for a few weeks.
Just seen your questions.

I have had my SAL for nearly 2 years, so based on my experience:

Re the white markings on the "tail".
Seems to be on the body of the fish itself, not the fin.
To me looks like natural colour variation.

Water parameters.
From what I have read SAL are not that fussy about ph and hardness.
Keep on top of water quality and try not to let the Nitrates get too high.

Diet.
I feed mine a variety of: Sturgeon pellets, Pleco pellets, silversides, earthworms, mussle, prawns.
And it also loves cucumber slices and lettues. Apparently fresh vegetables help prevent lateral line erosion.

Tank mates.
I would try and avoid Plecos. They are known to latch onto the sides of other big fish, and it's a possible risk.
Birchirs should be ok. As long as they aren't too small when you get them.

Breeding.
No idea how to sex a SAL.
But apparently they are aggro to others of their own kind.
And considering the size they get, keeping 2 together (aggro issues aside) you would need a huge tank

 

[Bcrafty]

Been on vacation for a few weeks.
Just seen your questions.

I have had my SAL for nearly 2 years, so based on my experience:

Re the white markings on the "tail".
Seems to be on the body of the fish itself, not the fin.
To me looks like natural colour variation.

Water parameters.
From what I have read SAL are not that fussy about ph and hardness.
Keep on top of water quality and try not to let the Nitrates get too high.

Diet.
I feed mine a variety of: Sturgeon pellets, Pleco pellets, silversides, earthworms, mussle, prawns.
And it also loves cucumber slices and lettues. Apparently fresh vegetables help prevent lateral line erosion.

Tank mates.
I would try and avoid Plecos. They are known to latch onto the sides of other big fish, and it's a possible risk.
Birchirs should be ok. As long as they aren't too small when you get them.

Breeding.
No idea how to sex a SAL.
But apparently they are aggro to others of their own kind.
And considering the size they get, keeping 2 together (aggro issues aside) you would need a huge tank

Thanks for the response. Ive been monitoring him/her and the coloration issue does seem to be adult coloration coming in, i was just concerned due to lack of knowledge. I keep my nitrates consistently under 15 ppm (comes out the tap at 10 and 0 on ammo and nitrites. Added pothos growing emersed and that has helps alot. I havent been able to fint sturgeon pellets even in the fancy aquarium shops near me. Or is this a feed store item. Ive tried cucumber and zuccini and no interest shown even held an earthwom on top of it to lure him into tasting it and he spit out both (earthworms are his favorite so far). Have yet to try lettuce and spinach.
Ive removed the bristle nose pleco cause i fear he is too small and may become a spiky snack, plus never see him cause he hides all the time. The gibbliceps pleco (read common) doesnt concern himself with the other fish aside from when him and the bichers try stealing each others silversides. Other than that he is pretty docile and solitary. Although i keep a constant eye open just incase. The raphael cats are very shy and we rarely see them unless bloodworms are on the menu.
Ive heard about the aggression. Just curious of others experience outside of the one that oddball wrote of his single successful attempt at breeding them. More curiosity that anything. I have absolutely no plans of trying myself. Or even owning another simultaneously. Just extremely interested/ fascinated. Again thanks for the response.

 

[#.$]

I havent been able to get my hands on a SA lungfish. But to me it looks like its just the coloration not hole in the head nor fin rot. Good looking fish keep it updated on here

 

[Bcrafty]

Updated pics on evo. 25" measured a week ago