Freshwater Lionfish aka Toadfish

[brennae]

I was at my LFS and saw this big beast of a fish for sale. I have done a little reading on them and understand them to be brackish water. Has anyone ever kept one?

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

That beautiful beast is my picture! And yes, I have. They say keep it in a 30g but I have kept mine in a 10 for years. They don't move around at all. Except when I put Goldfish feeders in

 

[brennae]

That's awesome! This guy was about 6+ inches and was $30. That seems like a lot. It was a big box pet store so I think they probably took him as a trade in. How difficult if the care?

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Not difficult at all. Ask you LFS what type of water they keep it in. They prefer to be in brackish, but don't let that scare you. It's really not hard to keep it brackish and they are pretty forgiving if the salinity varies from time to time.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Not difficult at all. Ask you LFS what type of water they keep it in. They prefer to be in brackish, but don't let that scare you. It's really not hard to keep it brackish and they are pretty forgiving if the salinity varies from time to time.

And $30 is not too shabby for them. I've seen smaller fish go for $60.

 

[brennae]

I had marine tanks at one time so I have all the necessary stuff. I'll have to think about it. Thanks so much for the info!!

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

You should definitely give them a good study. Something my Toadfish (Allanbrachus Grunniens although i probably misspelled that) does is grunt. He grunts when I being him feeders. He grunts when I close a drawer below him. Sometimes he grunts for no reason!

 

[brennae]

You should definitely give them a good study. Something my Toadfish (Allanbrachus Grunniens although i probably misspelled that) does is grunt. He grunts when I being him feeders. He grunts when I close a drawer below him. Sometimes he grunts for no reason!

I did read that they grunt! Do you keep any tank mates since they don't move much?

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Well I keep them in a smaller than recommended tank, so no. Plus I'm sure it would eat anything it can put. It's mouth. Considering the fish is pretty much a head, it can fit a lot in there!

 

[bettaowner]

Certain freshwater lions hail from the amazon and thrive in freshwater. Often sold as Amazon dinosaur fish.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Those are sometimes seen in stores as Prehistoric Monster Fish. I have kept them too. IMO they aren't as cool as Toadfish. However the PMF does stay smaller.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

An easy way to tell them apart is eyes. Does the fish at the store have big eyes? If it doesn't, it is the Prehistoric Monster Fish.

 

[brennae]

An easy way to tell them apart is eyes. Does the fish at the store have big eyes? If it doesn't, it is the Prehistoric Monster Fish.

Not sure about the eyes. I don't think I am going to try it. I like fish that swim around more than just at meal times.