South American Lungfish

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I have a SA that is about two feet. I like him a lot, but he really does not do much. If the 125 is your sole tank I would not recomend going with the lungfish. Mine is great , but I can really go a couple days without seeing him. The only reason I know he is still alive is because he is not on the floor and the food is still there. Unlike SAL mine is kind of agressive. I had a large oscar in the tank with him that he would beat on until I removed it. They were the only two fish in the tank.
 
SAL is very awesome fish....heard they eat a lot and **** a lot....but I think you could add some other fishes like gars and tiger shovel nose and also Jurenses....
 
the sal is blackish blueish when young and looks like the one posted above when there larger. i curently have a african lung in with orante,lapraide, palmas, 2jags, andamidas .my lung is aprox 17 to 18 inchs long right now and wont even eat a dead fish . yet alone my other fish at this moment. The sal arent as hardy when young and are suceptableto bein picked on by other fish when little. i say go with a african some bichirs and twoort three cichlids.
 
I love the SAL's hands down. Here are some Juvies we caught in Argentina: (11" or so)

lungfish3.jpg


Freshly caught:

lungfish1.jpg
 
Interesting colors. Where and did you catch them?

My SAL is a bit bigger that "LungfishUK"s but is totally black.
He remains relatively still during the day but will swim around and eat if fed, and in the evening he is turning and twisting like a gymnast, taking up most of the 130g for his excercises.
 
In my opinion lungfish are in no way boring fish. If you can get it at a small size and have it used to having other fish around, you would have a lot of possibilities as for tankmates. And if you are willing to dedicate a tank to one lungfish, an african would be better suited to your needs. I keep my african with other fish and its fine but whether or not you want to even try that is up to you.
 
I have three South American Lungs in my large community tank with Clown knives, bichirs and catfish. They're very active and seldom hide. They eat out of my hand every day, let me pet them and even pick them up. They're my favorite fish. The biggest is 28" now and weighs more than my dog (a papillon). My kids love to pet them and feed them. They're easy to keep and easy to feed. They grew from 3" to 28" in a year and a half.
 
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