I got a call today from a tattoo parlor with a bit of a fish problem. He was telling me how a year or so ago he went to this little mom and pop fish store to get a "cool" fish tank for the tattoo parlor. Since they get a lot of bikers he wanted something they'd get into.

So he went to this mom and pop fish store, told them and they "helped" him pick out fish and a tank for them. He got everything completely on their recommendation, and was told the fish he picked out would all be fine for life in a 150g tank.

So. he got the tank, got it set up and then proceeded to put in 4 Alligator Gar, a lungfish, a pacu and a couple of other fish that he doesn't know exactly what they are. One he described is a JD, so I'm assuming a few cichlids make up the other part.

So they kept growing and getting crowded in so he sold the 150 and got a 300ish and he said that they're getting close to maxing out that tank now too. The store he got them from originally is gone, otherwise he would have gone back there and "put his foot up their asses."

So now, he was looking for opinions on what can stay in this 300. He can't get anything bigger, but he wants to keep as much of them as he can without causing them any problems down the road.

He has:
4 Alligator gar, largest 18 inches.
1 Lungfish almost 22 inches.
1 Pacu "The size of a big salad bowl" I'm assuming 10 to 14 inches.
3 Other fish. (One JD I think, and two other cichlids)

I don't know a thing about lungfish, so I don't know if they can/will continue to coexist with cichlids. I sent an email to the aquarium that took that rtc/tsn about the gar to see if they'd want 'em. I know in the wild they can get 10 feet so I'm assuming they get close in the aquarium as well.

Not sure what would work best for him. From what I've been reading it sounds like he may be able to do the lungfish and the three cichlids but I'm not sure. What do you guys think?

I would have him call any aquariums in his area or any local fish clubs. I am suprised the Lung fish has not killed the Cichlids yet. I don't think it is a task you would want to get your hands wet with IMO saint. You could also direct him to MFK and ask around there. There are a lot of idiots there but there are also some that have 10 of thousands of gallon tanks that may be close that could help him out.

Holy Shiznit 4 alligator gars in a 300ish tank! Ok A. gars get anywere between 8 to 10 feet and can weigh over 100lbs and they can get that in the way in an aquarium.

The Lung fish is that SA or African? SA's get around 4 feet and Africans get 6 to 6.5 feet.

The guy would need one of those 50,000 gallon tanks like on MFK.

I stopped by today to see what was what. I gotta say, no way do I want any parts of those Gars here. MC you're totally right on that. Pictures don't really do them justice though either. Nor the lungfish for that matter too, though I do admit to finding the lungfish sort of interesting.

Thanks for the MFK and fish club tip too. I didn't think of those earlier. He's going to try calling both semi-local aquariums (Camden and Baltimore) and see if they'd be interested. I think he said he put up a Craigslist ad as well.

As for the cichlids, there is a number of places for everyone to hide, and a few places due to rocks that the lungfish (and gars) can't get into, which is what I'm guessing mostly had everyone get along. Dude is also a very generous feeder so it may be everyone was fat with shrimp and whitefish that they didn't care as much as they normally would have.

Anyway, there was 4 cichlids, one JD, two Green Terrors and an unknown. Unknown came from one of his clients and he couldn't remember what it was called. Unknown actually did come here for that matter since it was getting beat on by the GTs. He had some split tail damage and some scarring on the body. I've got him in quarantine now, with some melafix. He looks to me more like one of the CA cichlids from the mouth than the SAs, but I have no idea. I'm calling him Unknown after all.

Mike, everyone fits right now, they're all still relatively small based on what they'll turn into. He was told that all his original fish were SA, so I'm assuming the lungfish is too, I'd have to look at it again to confirm if it's SA but double checking random pics online I'm pretty sure it was a SA variety.

Mostlycichlids wrote:

I would have him call any aquariums in his area or any local fish clubs. I am suprised the Lung fish has not killed the Cichlids yet. I don't think it is a task you would want to get your hands wet with IMO saint. You could also direct him to MFK and ask around there. There are a lot of idiots there but there are also some that have 10 of thousands of gallon tanks that may be close that could help him out.

Ditto, saint. Ya think cichlids are evil...try the gar.

Anyways, from your post:

4 Alligator gar, largest 18 inches.
1 Lungfish almost 22 inches.
1 Pacu "The size of a big salad bowl" I'm assuming 10 to 14 inches.
3 Other fish. (One JD I think, and two other cichlids)

Holy cow. What to keep...well, really it's a no-brainer. Mike already hit ya up on the lungfish, and I'll add with the unlikely chance it's an Aussie lunger he's lookin' at 4-5 foot as well. Not long the gar are gonna start bangin' their noses and gettin' deformed. They should grow 12"+ the first three or four years before they start slowin' down in growth rate, and 7-8' even in captivity. You're lookin' at a 5,000+ gallon pond (very conservative, 8-10,000 would be better) to house the gars and lunger comfortably for life.

IIRC, standard 300 gallon tanks are 8'. The pacu would be okay for a while, IMO, but would still need rehomed eventually. And the cichlids should be alright. He needs to rehome the rest.


WYite

The gar are absolutely out of the question, as everyone has already stated. There are a couple of species of lungfish that may stay small enough for a 300. If you can determine the species, here's a link that gives info on the various species.

Lungfish Info

Mark

If hes looking for something bikers would like I'd suggest RBP's, anything from the Parachromis family, Black Nasties. Think aggressive and I'm sure the bikers would love it. Have him hulu the river monsters episode of the gator gars.

Oh side note S.D.D or yanker is keeping gator gars with silver aros

Yea Wyite I broke the bad news to him about the Gars earlier. He wasn't thrilled about it (actually he was kinda pissed) but he does want them to go somewhere appropriate for 'em at least. I should have mentioned the pond thing as well. I didn't even think to ask if he had his own house or whatever.

Thanks Mark, based on the latin names and pics online I'm about 90% sure from memory it's L. paradoxa.

The tank he has is 6 foot by 3 foot and a little over two feet tall. (The only 8 foot tanks I ever see around here are 380g btw) It was one of the reasons I was thinking he *might* be able to get away with keeping the Lung. From what I was reading about 'em on U. of Michigan's Zoology site, record, according to them was 49.21 inches. Does that mean the average could work?

He liked 'em all but he seemed to like the lung and the JD the most out of the lot. The lung seems to me borderline largely depending on what it grows out to. However this isn't a fish that I'm at all familiar with though and don't want to essentially recommend a 30g tank for an adult Oscar.

Mike D wrote:

Oh side note S.D.D or yanker is keeping gator gars with silver aros

Oh well, that solves the problem then. We'll just get a hold of Biggie. He can stack 'em.

Mike D wrote:

If hes looking for something bikers would like I'd suggest RBP's, anything from the Parachromis family, Black Nasties. Think aggressive and I'm sure the bikers would love it. Have him hulu the river monsters episode of the gator gars.

Oh side note S.D.D or yanker is keeping gator gars with silver aros

Yeah I was reading that last month. It got to the point where people are making fun of him on his WTB threds.

I dont know alot on lung fish but I do know they get big. Is he going to keep the pacu? If you can get some pics of the cichlids we can ID them for you.

I have mystery here healing up. I couldn't find an id on him last night so I'll take some pictures today. The others were just two GTs and a JD.

I talked to him today about it and my guess was right. If he can he'd like to keep the JD and the Lung in the 300. I mentioned the pond idea to him too but he didn't think he had the room or would his wife be okay with it.

I wish I knew just how different the SA ones are to the African ones as well. I was reading a writeup on the Africans and they seem very low movement ambush predators. The lungfish in general are very interesting almost more like a salamander than a fish.

He did get a taker for one of the Gar from his Craiglist ad though. Somebody that has a 7500 gallon indoor pond. I told him about MFK too, but I warned him there's a lot of idiots on there, so he's planning on using that as a last resort.

It's sorta interesting when the easiest fish to find a home for is a pacu.

saint_felony wrote:

I have mystery here healing up. I couldn't find an id on him last night so I'll take some pictures today.

Bring it on...LOL.

saint_felony wrote:

It's sorta interesting when the easiest fish to find a home for is a pacu.

LMAO.

Lungfish have never held much interest for me. I didn't know there were any species that stayed small, thought they all were in the 3 1/2' plus category. At 6' x 3', maybe he could keep the lungfish. I wouldn't, but thats me.

WYite

Who knew there were that many crazy bastards in my area. Through Craiglist he managed to find homes for all 4 Gars. All individual homes, but wow. Color me surprised. I just hope free isn't a motivator for stupid.

I found someone who's going to take the GTs. He's going to keep the JD, Pacu and Lung for the short term. Someone he knows wants the Pacu but isn't ready for it yet.

He's going to keep the lung and JD long term. He knows that the Lung may be a problem once it gets larger, but he's hoping it will work out. At the very least he knows to keep an eye on it and will have a year or two before it becomes an issue.