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what are smaller lung fish? i am curious in this fish type.

generally what do they eat, and does it change when they get huge.

The South American lungfish are the smallest species....usually the only ones that most aquarists can reasonably keep. Food is just about anything meaty....mostly invertebrates like worms, molluscs, etc.

i had the privlege of "babysitting" a 12in. S.A. lungfish for about 3mths(long story). they dont do alot, just sit on the bottom of the tank n wait...for food...which is pretty much anything. the specimen i took care of loved shrimp, krill, scallops, n of course feeders. they certainly have an attitude. when i would sit and watch this fish after awhile it seemed to get "angry" and would crawl toward me and bump the glass. when i turned him over to his rightful owner we saw a glimpse of the power these fish possess. i go to net this thing and POW! with one flip of its tail it hurtled from a e position at the bottom of the tank, straight up out of the aquarium. its entire body came roughly a foot n a half out of the aquarium. reminded me of something on animal planet when they show whales n dolphins breeching. it was pretty killer

i am working on an african tank, and that pooped into my mind, kinda of a bad idea, b/c of there size, and i guess now power.

I did some work at the cotswold wildlife park a few years ago - and I fed the african lungfish there.

It ate two whole chicks in a day- you could hear it crunching them up through the glass. Jaw power an issue too methinks. Imagine if it got hold of your fingers.

Not to mention how much filtration youd need to handle all that waste.

Last edited by longhairedgit at 19-Sep-2005 12:12

I have seen lung fish and they do get big even the small ones but they can live outside water for periods of time
but still i would *NOT* recommend them to anybody exept experts they can grow about 140 cm if you have the protopterus aethiopicus witch is the biggest one i know of.
the smallest protopterus annectens grows to about 60 cm.
ps how do you feed them chicks?

Size of a tank has nothing to do with expertise. Any intermediate fishkeeper with a large enough tank could take care of a lungfish, but not so with a stingray (just as an example of a fish that really is expert-level).

On top of the problems with size and power, the few African species of Lungfish can also be quite aggressive and should be housed alone.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

yea string rays i have no dieser for, but a lungfish is something that i could handle. jusy another basic question,

they dont need a dry season right, they can be in water all year round with no problems, or do they need to once a year go into cacoon stage.

That is correct , most species dont require to be cocooned because of dry conditions, most can live happy fully aquatic lives all the time, although for some species it might act as a stimulant for breeding as it marks seasonal change.

Not that youll probably be breeding them as theyre likely to tear each other apart, and any amateur efforts at dehydrating the animal will probably lead to its death.

Dont forget they are very likely to jump out of tanks , hurt themselves and go walkies when youre out or on holiday.Youll probably find it dead on the floor all dried out without mud to cocoon itself in. Youd need a tanklid strong enough that you couldnt push it off casually.Add that to the fact that they prefer water so dark youd hardly be able to see it , and most of time they stay almost completely stationary. Youd probably get bored with it in no time, and get sick of doing huge water changes, and getting your fingers broken whenever you try to scrub the algae off the tank.

Still want one?

It is true that Lungfish do not need to aestivate to live happy lives and you shouldn't try it at home 'cuz it can be potentially dangerous. It is also true that a heavy or a solidy attached top is necessary, but this is the case for any large fish that has propensity for escape, and even those that do not.

I've never heard that about dark water and Lungfish. I've seen perfectly healthy lungfish in clear water. Also, though lungfish are aggressive and one should be careful, I doubt that they're going to bite the hand that feeds it, so to speak, unless of course said hand is still holding food.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I was referring to the fact that they prefer low light conditions, clear water will do them no harm.As to the feeding of the african lungfish I helped look after- it was recommended that I didnt put my hands in the tank as it was primarily responsive to movement, bit first and asked questions later. Common in a large fish that hunts opportunistically in often zero visibility.

This was well demonstrated to me by a keeper with armpit length gloves on when he was taking algae off the tank. The lungfish immediately bit once and then let go quickly , i was informed that even despite the gloves it was fairly painful.The exclamation OOOOOW !!followed by a stream of blue language was enough to convince me to be glad of not having his job. Not saying they all bite, but this one did.



Last edited by longhairedgit at 07-Oct-2005 23:35