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Anyone know anything about them, I have a new 55 and the fish store has two of these guys and I was curious if they where a fun fish or if they just sat around and where boring. I have not done the leg work and I will after i am done with the rough parts of the new 55g stand, but I thought I could Ask for everyones impressions.

Thanks
Michael

i have heard mixed answers, but from what i have seen along time ago when i had them, they really didn't do much, kinda stuck to the glass or lay in the gravel. i think sand would be best. and a gentle tank.

or if they just sat around and where boring

That's exactly what they do. They bury themselves in the sand (yes, sand is required) with only their eyes showing and they sit there all day. In my experiences in keeping them, they only eat at night and they only eat things that are in or on their sand. Live Tubifex worms seem to be a good staple food for them, but they are predators and will eat small fish as well.

Their hardiness depends on the species... I find that that the Asian species are significantly more hardy than the South American species. The Asian ones are more likely to be sold as Soles rather than Flounders however. South American species are notoriously picky when it comes to water quality - individuals are known to suddenly die even in seemingly perfect water conditions (lightly brackish for most species, though they can tolerate freshwater). Getting these guys to feed in captivity is also difficult, and many of the ones imported die of starvation.

I maintained an Asian Sole at work for about eight months (it took him that long to be sold because he'd hide all day and nobody ever saw him). He was kept in a freshwater tank, and seemed to be doing well. I even got him to eat a couple times during the day, and I hand-tamed him to the point where I could pick him up and hold him underwater. He also grew about an inch while I was taking care of him, and was 7" long by the time he finally sold. The person who bought him set up a species tank just for him, and I educated the guy how I had been taking care of the fish (becuase it seemed to be working really well).

Basically, unless you've spent a long time studying these fish and their needs, it is best to leave them alone.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

They have two at the lfs and I have a freshwater 55 and a brackish 35 that i keep at a sg of 1.010 it isnt all the way there yet still aclimating, the tank and myself both. I dont mind doing the leg work for them they look cool Both of these tanks have sand bottoms. I am actually thinking of adding sand to my gravel tanks but think i am going to leave them gravel. All of my future tanks may have laterite and sand in them. If I could keep them in 1.010 I want them because i am lacking on bottom feeders for that tank, I was planning on just a single fan shrimp but not sure about that. Would it get along with a fan shrimp larger than say an inch?

It should work fine, but you may want to post a picture of the fish so we can hopefully figure out which species it is. Most are brackish fish, but some are purely freshwater.

As long as the shrimp can't fit in the Flounder's mouth, it should be fine.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I fed my entire brackish tank fairly large gut loaded ghost shrimp, including the flounders. There're many species available, so you'd probably want a definite ID prior to making any reservations.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 02-Jan-2006 20:50

i think i will get some pictures tomarrow