# Predatory fish!



## Sidi (Mar 24, 2011)

Hey anyone keep any predatory fish?

I used to keep lots of Australian native species, would love to see some from other countries.

Used to keep: (not my photos, just photos of the species Ive kept)

Sooty Grunters
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/images/Fisheries_SpeciesIdentification/freshwater-sooty-grunter-500.jpg

Barramundi
http://www.rvjack1.com/resources/Barramundi AA.jpg

Archer Fish (great unique fish)
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/per...nimalsanimals_und_020dal002_01_archerfish.jpg


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## beetleman (Mar 24, 2011)

awesome! ive kept many sp. of freshwater predators in the past,wayyy too many sp.now i'm keeping saltwater predatory fish,anglers,toadfish,sea goblins(these things are crazy looking,and very venomous)do a goolgle search on the goblins and you will see what i mean


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## Deroplatys (Mar 24, 2011)

I've got spotted bush fish, but thats all that im limited to now, i dont have my own fish tank only the family communal one, so i cant get no snakeheads yet


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## ZergFront (Mar 25, 2011)

I kept two oscars for a couple years. They ate almost anything you put into the tank; steak cubes, shrimp, hamburger, etc. They'd eat small fish given the chance. Made that mistake with some male fancy guppies. :8o

 Weird thing I noticed about the oscars is if they got their fill of food, any extra they will often hold in their mouth until the rest passes out of the stomach. Too bad goldfish haven't figured that out.


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## pitbulllady (Mar 25, 2011)

A university Biology teacher who taught a grad course I took several years ago had a large male Mudfish(_Amia calva_, also called a Bowfin, Grinnel, Dogfish or Choupique, depending on what part of the US you live in) in a tank in his classroom.  The fish was named "Hannibal", after Hannibal Lector.  Along with Hikari Carnivore Wafers, he ate adult frozen/thawed rats and chicken quarters from the supermarket, and it was downright scary to see this thing eat.  They are prehistoric living fossils which were around at the time of the first dinosaurs, and they definitely have an attitude.  The males are in charge of guarding the eggs and fry and will attack anything that gets too close, even alligators, and more than one person has would up with a badly bitten foot after a male brooding near a river bank actually launched out of the water and clamped down!  A Mudfish is the only animal I've ever seen make an Akita dog holler in pain; years ago, I was fishing with a friend and her boyfriend and she brought her large Akita along.  Her boyfriend caught a Mudfish about 20 inches long, not too big, and tossed it on the bank, as they are virtually inedible and can live for hours out of the water.  The dog sniffed the fish out of curiosity, and it whipped around and clamped down on his nose!  It took over 20 minutes to get the panicked dog under control and pry the fish's jaws loose with a knife, as they have an extremely powerful bite and they do not let go!

pitbulllady


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## LeilaNami (Mar 25, 2011)

I have one female Mogurnda mogurnda and she's a beast.  Technically omnivorous but they're garbage disposals with fins.  The only thing that stays alive with her is my crayfish. 

@pitbulllady That reminds me, when I worked at Petco, someone brought in a fully grown Red Devil cichlid to give away.  He was gorgeous but he would bite me whenever I was trying to scrub algae and would also charge the glass of the pond aquarium (for some reason someone thought it would be a good idea to keep him with the koi but he promptly ate a few before moving the koi out of the pond).  We named him Satan and were having talks about building little villages for him to pillage in his rampage.


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## GiantVinegaroon (Mar 29, 2011)

I have an American eel (_Anguilla rostrata_).  It's very shy so I rarely get to see it eat.  I initially fed it goldfish, but learned this can pass diseases to your pet fish, so I switched to nightcrawlers for a bit.  He's also eaten a freshly molted crayfish and prawns.  Currently I offer pieces of tilapia filets.  Very awesome fish.


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## Toirtis (Mar 30, 2011)

For many years I had large tanks filled with predators...Polypterus, Amia, Hoplias, Ctenopoma, Protopterus mainly.


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## Lor&Chris (Mar 30, 2011)

Those are pretty cool fish. I've never kept predatory species like those, but I've had some different fish in the past. Something called Baby Whales, I don't know the scientific name, I had them when I was maybe 10 or 12. Their heads were rounded like a whale kinda. And I've had a black knight ghost fish. By far my most favourite fish I've ever had. 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ckBlasgNS...-M/aFTqxfQlUN0/s400/Apteronotus+albifrons.jpg


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## LeilaNami (Mar 30, 2011)

Lor&Chris said:


> Those are pretty cool fish. I've never kept predatory species like those, but I've had some different fish in the past. Something called Baby Whales, I don't know the scientific name, I had them when I was maybe 10 or 12. Their heads were rounded like a whale kinda. And I've had a black knight ghost fish. By far my most favourite fish I've ever had.
> 
> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ckBlasgNS...-M/aFTqxfQlUN0/s400/Apteronotus+albifrons.jpg


Knife fish are fun!  We kept a 15" clown knife at the store for a while and I always wanted one for my personal aquarium but *sigh* I'm limited to small species.  The only thing I know of being called a baby whale are Mormyridae.


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## Toirtis (Mar 30, 2011)

LeilaNami said:


> Knife fish are fun!  We kept a 15" clown knife at the store for a while and I always wanted one for my personal aquarium but *sigh* I'm limited to small species.


Smaller species are not always a bad thing....you need one heck of an aquarium (500g+) to properly house a mature, 48" clown knife.



> The only thing I know of being called a baby whale are Mormyridae.


From the description, and my knowledge of use of common names, I am guessing that he is referring to a Cetopsis sp. catfish.


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## LeilaNami (Mar 30, 2011)

Toirtis said:


> Smaller species are not always a bad thing....you need one heck of an aquarium (500g+) to properly house a mature, 48" clown knife.
> 
> 
> 
> From the description, and my knowledge of use of common names, I am guessing that he is referring to a Cetopsis sp. catfish.



Ack I know!  He was crowded in a 100g and not even half way done growing yet!   A hardcore fish guy with a lot of experience took him when he started ramming the aquarium glass whenever he tried to catch food.  Before that, people begged us to sell it to them (for stuff like 55G which was never gonna happen) but he was my baby!  

I've actually never seen Cetopsis before so I didn't know they were also referred to as whales.


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## Rabid538 (Mar 30, 2011)

I have a stonefish and red belly piranha right now. Deciding on either an octopus or lionfish next.


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## ZergFront (Mar 30, 2011)

ScottySalticid said:


> I have an American eel (_Anguilla rostrata_).  It's very shy so I rarely get to see it eat.  I initially fed it goldfish, but learned this can pass diseases to your pet fish, so I switched to nightcrawlers for a bit.  He's also eaten a freshly molted crayfish and prawns.  Currently I offer pieces of tilapia filets.  Very awesome fish.


 Aw man, how did I forget! I had a snowflake eel for a while, too. He was so cool. It was like having an underwater snake. Every time I put a fish in I had to watch the hunt and he persued it as well as if he had a snake's sensitive tongue. Think they hunt by smell. I fed him goldfish too (didn't know about how bad they were at the time) but one day, he got a clown fish that was too big for him. I don't know why he went for the clown, they've been in the same tank for months before the accident.


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## Toirtis (Mar 31, 2011)

Rabid538 said:


> I have a stonefish and red belly piranha right now. Deciding on either an octopus or lionfish next.


Although cephalopods are interesting, I have some issues with keeping them...they are not the most interesting in captivity (they mostly hide), they need a lot of space, and need to be mostly sealed in (they can escape through the tiniest hole/space), they have a very short life span (usually 8-18 months in captivity), and caging one is almost like caging a chimp, such is their intelligence.

The lionfish is the far better choice....showy, personable, easy to keep (with a couple of exceptions), and with some species, very long-lived.


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## RoachGirlRen (Apr 2, 2011)

Here's my little baby. Currently about ten inches so he still has a lot of growing to do. You'll have to forgive his eye; I got him as a freebie from someone because he came out on the losing end of a fight with an adult oscar when he was just a wee little 4" monster, and the damage to his eye never fully healed.


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## mitchrobot (Apr 2, 2011)

nice fish! probably one of the most impressive fish ive seen in private hands was a HUGE aimara...it had to have been around 30". there is no doubt in my mind that if that thing grabbed a hold of your hand it would be able to wrench it off. have always wanted something in that ball park, but never had the funds 

anyways, i was elbows deep into aggressive/predatory fish back in the days before T keeping. i was mostly a CA cichlid guy. heres some older pics. 

















at one point i had 13-15 tanks running. some little tanks (55g) up to big ones (600g). 
oooooolllllld pic of probably my favorite wet pet of all time. he eventually began to eat everything and got too big for my 600g before getting moved to the aquarium at the Academy of Sciences. if i ever can afford to build a huge indoor pond, im getting another.






last of my fish keeping days


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## Rabid538 (Apr 2, 2011)

Toirtis said:


> Although cephalopods are interesting, I have some issues with keeping them...they are not the most interesting in captivity (they mostly hide), they need a lot of space, and need to be mostly sealed in (they can escape through the tiniest hole/space), they have a very short life span (usually 8-18 months in captivity), and caging one is almost like caging a chimp, such is their intelligence.
> 
> The lionfish is the far better choice....showy, personable, easy to keep (with a couple of exceptions), and with some species, very long-lived.


I don't mind if they only hide but the short lifespan is certainly a downfall. That's why I am in such a debate if it is really worth it for something I can only keep a year. 
I think you're right, I will probably go with the lionfish now and consider the octopus in the future when I have the amount of time they would require.


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## Toirtis (Apr 2, 2011)

Nice tanks and fish there, Mitch....reminds me of my biggest aquarium point....about 70 aquaria amounting to nearly 3000 gallons. I found myself up at 2am far too often doing maintenance, etc and decided that I needed to not have fish as a second full-time job.


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## Sidi (Apr 6, 2011)

WOW, Some awesome posts guy, keep them coming, love seeing all these species I cant get over here in Australia.

Has anyone every kept an Mantis Shrimp? They are a fun little critter to keep.


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## Sidi (Apr 6, 2011)

Here is my only photo of my Sooty Grunter


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## bluefrogtat2 (Apr 6, 2011)

i have a 15" male dovii at my tattoo shop.he is a beast eating anything that drops in his tank.i will see if i can get a pic.(his name is mulgarath)
great thread
andy


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## tarantulatez (Apr 6, 2011)

i have x2 red tail cats one at 3ft and one at 2ft in my 1000gallon outdoor pond in my garage and i also have a huge 11" red bellied piranha


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## Sidi (Apr 6, 2011)

Please post more photos people! Would love to see them all!


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## jbm150 (Apr 6, 2011)

Some of our fish at work.  Not mine (except one) but I take care of 'em

This one was mine, a jaguar guapote caught in a local canal





She's my girl, she'll leap out of the water to take food from my hand

Redtail catfish






Snowflake eel, more a scavenger than predator...and a poor one at that 






Panther grouper, soon to be replaced with a native gag






Snook






Redfish






A new favorite, a sargassum fish


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