Lungfish!

[Randolph XX()]

snakehead is amazing fish, i used to keep Channa bleheri, and it's the most colorful dwarf species among all snakeheads

 

[Wade]

If the lungfish is indeed illegal anywhere, I'm guessing it's in the extreme southeast US. Here in VA, the state bans almost anything that there is even the slightest risk of survival if they escape...piranah, African clawed frogs, marine toads...but nothing about lungfish.

Wade

 

[ilovebugs]

wow, I just saw one on Animal Planet. those are really cool.

 

[Scorpendra]

well, i'd like to say that i got it earlier today, and everyone is getting along.

 

[Scorpendra]

okay, here's some pics:

 

[Scorpendra]

in the last pic, you can see most of my clown knife, and behind the lungfish is my tiger shovelnose.

 

[Hoosier]

I like the pics! Where did you get your lungfish and what do they eat?

 

[Scorpendra]

i got it at a pet store on long island, and it eats everything it can fit into it's mouth; fish, worms, brine shrimp, etc.

 

[ilovebugs]

amazing.

keep us up to date for a while, this is pretty interesting.

what about the mud-cocoon thing? will you have to let it do that or not in captivity?

what would you do with a mudball for like two years? haha

 

[Scorpendra]

my fish tank doesn't have a dry season >.>;

and i won't experiment with it for a few reasons:

1. the substrate is gravel (not mud), and not deep enough

2. i'd have to get rid of all the water and substantially heat everything up to trigger the response. i have other fish in the tank, and only one of them can breathe air besides the lungfish.

3. the fish would snap the cocoon in half while flopping around gasping for water.

 

[GATORGAR56K]

i guess its time i step in, seein as you may have a big problem on your hands. first, dont keep lungfish with other fish. they seem to get along for a while, but lungfish will randomly kill tankmates, and they have the equipment to do it with. secondly, dont let it bite you, when they get bigger, ive heard they can bite with the force of a car door slmming on your hand. if you want a lot of good info on keeping lungfish, get Jurassic Fishes by Haruto kodera is a very good book to read.

 

[Scorpendra]

no offence, but i perfectly know what i'm doing. i'm not a small child who's in over his head because he wanted a fancy pet.

i am waiting until my parents finally get me another fish tank, and monitoring my fishes intently in case of any troubles. in fact, the lungfish is the only one to have taken any damage so far, and hides inside a fake cave most of the day (not including when it goes up for air). therefore, i doubt anyone is in a rush before the lunfish takes out an achara cat, shovelnose cat and clown knife, all larger than it, 75 gallon tank.

and i'd have to be some moron to allow myself to put my hands near it for too long, and unprotected for that matter.

 

[Scorpendra]

(and in addition to the second part)

and the bicher is always by the surface, or inside another cave.

 

[Wisdom16]

It appears to be a West African Lungfish ( P. annectans I believe.) They are the most unpredictable with tankmates as far as African Lungfish are concerned. You'll probably wake up one morning to find your Clown Knife without the end of it's tail, your shovelnose and achara with a large chunk taken out of it's stomach, and you won't be able to find your bichirs head. Not to mention the sized tank you'll need to house all those fish. I hope you plan on an 8'x4'x3' tank just to house your shovelnose cat and Knife (and depending on what species of bichir you have.) The lung will need a 6'x3x tank by itself.

What size tank are they in right now? What size are the fish? I really hope you know what you've gotten yourself into....

 

[GATORGAR56K]

well, if your getting a new aquarium soon it shouldnt be much of a problem, but you really should have waited until you got the aquarium before getting the lungfish. cause if you ask me, it wasnt worth putting your other fish in harms way, but there isnt much you can do now. also, wisdom16 pretty much hit the nail on the head with the issue of aquarium size. so please heed our advice. goodluck on the lungfish

 

[Scorpendra]

they are in a 75-gallon tank, and, when i last checked, the cats and knife were about 11 inches, and the bicher (a gray bicher) was two or three inches less.

 

[Scorpendra]

You'll probably wake up one morning to find your Clown Knife without the end of it's tail, your shovelnose and achara with a large chunk taken out of it's stomach, and you won't be able to find your bichirs head.

thank you for that wonderful sentiment.

 

[Scorpendra]

and whenever the lungfish tried to attack the others (during the first two or three days), they just knocked him upside-down with their tails and swim off. by the time he grows large enough to counter that, there'll definitely be a seperate tank ready. and obviously, he's smart since he hasn't done it in several days, and even tolerates the others lying next to his cave m oreso than previously.

 

[jarrell]

that thing looks awsome. in a website it said it is illegal in some places. i live in nc i hope they dont bann to much species. but on animal planet i heard this dude got a permit to have a muntain lions in the mountain region. these lungfishes are getting me into fishes.