Alrighty then - new thread - what predatory fish do you keep?

[LydiaGreen]

I am having a 375 custom built for my soon-to-be basement "fish room". I have gone absolutely gaga over bichirs. I had planned on stocking this tank with senegals, albino senegals, retropinnis, delhezi, and palmas polli. My son is looking forward to "feeding time" once this tank is established and stocked (about a year away).

So, in an effort to help revive the predatory fish forum, what predatory fish do you keep and tell us a little bit about them.

 

[scubadude]

Hello Lydia! I'm new to MFT. I discovered it by chance while desparetly searching for info on RBP's. As you probably know they spawned and i pretty much flipped out because i never thought they would. Their names are Carnage and Topknot. Carnage is the largest and most aggressive when feeding, while Topknot is a couple of inches shorter and has to work quite a bit harder to get a good meal shareing with Carnage (she's a pig!). I had no idea what their sex was untill i saw the spawning behavior. During this time it seems that topknot rules the tank. He is VERY aggressive during this time and mild damage can be seen on Carnage due to his instinctive abuse. I named Carnage for obvious reasons, while Topknot got his name from the notch taken out of his head by one of his tankmates at the pet shop. I started out with 3 but lost 1 due to internal parasites or something of the like. It's name was Oddball (missing 2 fins), and i never found out the sex. The 2 i have left are identical except for size. But... the 2 that are left seem more comfortable with the extra space and I'm happy for them.

 

[LydiaGreen]

Hello and welcome. I saw some RBPs at a store in another town and was interested but, my husband does not want RBPs in the house. The bichirs he's fine with... I have no idea why it makes a difference -- a meat-eater is a meat-eater is a meat-eater, period. Maybe it's their reputation or the b-grade horror movies. It's alright though, I will MORE than happy with a bunch of bichirs.

So, spawning was an accident? Had that happen a couple of times with rainbows... in the end, the one female killed off everyone else including her mate. Still have her. She's in a 10 with a male betta and they actually get along when they absolutely should not. I won't be trying for any spawning with the bichirs... they are almost impossible to breed in captivity (I think there is only one place in Asia that has managed to do it successfully and that was with hormone injections) so it likely won't be a problem. Good luck with your RBP's.

 

[Fruitbat]

LydiaGreen....

I can certainly understand you being "absolutely gaga over bichirs".

A current list of my 'predatory fish' is below. I have included the common name of the fish where it is available. Fish species marked with an asterisk (*) are not always considered predatory but they certainly do play havoc with any fish smaller than they are.

Bichirs
Polypterus bichir lapradei - (X1)
Polypterus delhezi - Armored Bichir (X2)
Polypterus endlicheri congicus - (X1)
Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri - Saddled Bichir (X1)
Polypterus ornatipinnis - Ornate Bichir (X2)
Polypterus palmas palmas - Shortfin Bichir (X1)
Polypterus palmas buettikoferi - (X2)
Polypterus palmas polli - Marbled Bichir (X1)
Polypterus retropinnis - West African Bichir (X2)
Polypterus senegalus - Senegal Bichir (X2)
Polypterus sp. 'Congo' - Zaire Green Bichir (X1)
Polypterus weeksi - (X1)

Bush Fish
Ctenopoma acutirostre - Leopard Bush Fish (X2)
Ctenopoma kingsleyae - Tailspot Bush Fish (X2)
Ctenopoma ocellatum - Bullseye Bush Fish(X2)
Ctenopoma weeksii - Mottled Bush Fish(X2)
*Microctenopoma ansorgii - Ornate Bush Fish(X2)
*Microctenopoma fasciolatum - Banded Bush Fish(X2)

Knife Fish
Papyrocranus afer - African Featherfin Knife (X1)
Xenomystus nigri - African Brown Knife (X1)

Miscellaneous Predatory Fish
Phago loricatus - African Pike Characin (X2)
*Anabas testudineus - Asian Climbing Perch (X1)
*Belontia signata - Ceylon Combtail (X2)
*Belontia hasselti - Java Combtail (X3)
*Pantodon buchholzi - African Butterfly Fish (X2)

-Joe

 

[LydiaGreen]

I certainly like your list of bichirs! Wow. How many tanks do you have those guys spread over? I have been told that it would be difficult to keep the ornate with the smaller species like delhezi, senegal, palmas poli, weeksi and retropinnis. I want to have as many species as possible but, my husband would have a fit if I had more than one really large tank so, I have to limit mine to the one tank (375 gallons) that I am planning. Right now the only supplier of bichirs in my area (a 4.5 hour drive each way) only has the ornates on hand. I won't have the tank until summer and won't be adding any fish until likely next fall (I'll let my larger pleco start the cycling process and then add some raphael catfish who will become the bichirs cleaning crew -- I'll remove the pleco and return him to his home wth the goldfish if there is any trouble between him and the bichirs). The supplier usually receives ornates more often than the smaller species but, I do like the look of the senegals, albino senegals, and delhezis. Do you have relatively all the same size bichirs together or are they a mix of sizes and do they get along? I ask because I think a beatiful ornate would be the centrepiece of the tank but, wouldn't want to risk losing any of the smaller species if they were to fight.

No one but my son seems to understand the fascination I have with polypterids -- my son wants to be a paleontologist and loves anything prehistoric... he's amazed by the long-lived bichirs and asked me if I realized that the fish I get are the great, great, great, great, great, etc. grandchildren of fish that swimmed with dinosaurs. He's taken pictures of the different species that I want to school to show his teachers and friends.

Yep - "gaga" is definitely the word.

 

[LydiaGreen]

Fruitbat - I have read some of your bichir-related posts on feeding them and that you don't really like to give them feeder fish due to the possibility of introducing parasites. I plan on feeding my bichirs a varied diet (beefheart, shrimp, bloodworms, carnivore pellets, etc.) but also wanted to be able to provide live food so I don't need to worry about them if I go on vacation. What I wanted to do was have a tank of live-bearers (20 gallons) and allow them to breed at will producing my own stock of feeder fish. If I purchased a group of live-bearers and kept them in the 20 for several weeks, treated them for parasites and didn't introduce any new ones, do you think this would be safe for my future bichirs? I wouldn't give live food all of the time, maybe just every two weeks or so to keep them hunting.

 

[Fruitbat]

LydiaGreen....

Well quarantined feeder fish should be fine as snacks for bichirs. I've done precisely the same thing in the past but with the number of bichirs I have now I'd need a 100 gallon tank just to keep raising feeders in! (LOL) You want to avoid, if at all possible, giving your bichirs a steady diet of goldfish. Goldfish contain large amounts of an enzyme called beta-thiaminase which breaks down Vitamin D (essential for proper growth). A diet high in goldfish can cause a serious Vitamin D deficiency in predatory fish.

-Joe

 

[LydiaGreen]

Thanks Joe.

I wouldn't feed them goldfish -- the kids are all for "the circle of life", "that's the way of nature", etc., except when it comes to goldfish. We've had four of them for about two years now... actually, they were the beginning of my MTS. We started with them and others in a 10 gallon that we set up only an hour before adding the fish because the kid in the fish department said you could do that with goldfish. Most of them died during cycling. The survivors grew, and grew, and grew. So, we got another 10 gallon tank and split them up. And they grew, and grew, and grew. Then we got the 20 tall. And they grew, and grew, and grew. Then we got the 44 corner tank. And they grew, and grew, and grew. I picked up their new 55 long this afternoon. A couple thousand dollars worth of fish tanks and equipment later, they will finally be in an appropriately sized tank that accomodates their adult sizes. 'Bout time huh? Needless to say, they are family and feeding goldfish to the bichirs would really freak the kids out. We've never had guppies and it has been explained to the kids that these will be food for the bichirs. They have no problem with it. My son is looking forward to it.

I'm already thinking about a blue light so we can watch them more at night when they are hunting and feeding. Lots of planning and thinking to do it right. Have to keep reminding myself that patience and planning will result in a happy tank and a happy group of bichirs. I am NOT going to repeat the goldfish experience.

 

[scubadude]

What alternate foods could be used that contain vitamine-D?

 

[Fruitbat]

Most of the foods that a fish eats will allow that fish to produce plenty of Vitamin D for its bodily functions. It is only when you give them a diet of fish (like goldfish) that contain beta-thiaminase that you begin to see problems. The so-called 'rosy reds' do not contain high amounts of beta-thiaminase, nor do livebearers like guppies, mollies, etc.

-Joe

 

[Sandtiger]

I have two half-beakes and a betta. I know many people don't consider either predators, but they are. Half-beaks are voracious ambush predators, mine spend most of their time cruzing the upper levels waiting for food (I feed them freeze-dried daphnia, bloodworms, frozen spirulina enriched brine shrimp and flakes) to fall from on high. The rest of their time consists of the male ("Rich") trying to look important, and the female ("Vickie") beating the crud out of Rich.
My betta, "Jade", is also a voracious ambusher. She too spends most of her time waiting for "bloodworms from heaven". The rest of her time is spent trying to sucker me into giving her more bloodworms. She also likes to eat live shrimp and bugs, also chicken livers and babie platties, which my half-beaks like to eat also. (The baby platties, that is.)

 

[jessejamespdx]

I'm waiting for a couple Typhlonectes natans (Black Rubber Eel) right now. Just found someone who says they have them for sale. Not sure how well they are going to do in my current tank though???

Anyone have any experience with mixing Typhlonectes natans and Piranha???

From what I can discover in my research is that they both come from South America, but can't figure out if they would be compatible with water types. Mainly do they actually exist in natural waters with Piranha???

Any Help Anybody?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

sorry to introduce something totatally different but i have a wee baby clown knife... hes so cute. he doesnt even have rings around his spots yet. right now he is in a 30 gallon tank but i have plans of going bigger.