My son wants a carnivorous fish.I talked him out of the gar and channel cat he wanted ,because of there adult size.What would be a good fish for him?We have a 30 gal. aquarium.Letting the aquarium cycle with some tetras and algea eaters for now.If everything looks alright in a couple weeks,I would like to get a couple fish for him........Thanks Joe
best predator for beginner?
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Christmasfish
Aquarium Advice Addict
Okay to start off..what are you meaning by predator/
Do you want a carnivorous fish or are you looking for something that rips up other fish in a cloud of gore?
You have a 30 gallon tank..too small for the larger portion single fish eaters and tight for some of the schooling type. Also a good portion of predatory fish are nocturnal. So you may never see them eat anyway.
By for a beginner you mean what? hardy, has no special needs?
What is your water pH?? You are popping up here and there but I don't think that came up.
Most of the predators that I personally can think of are from soft acidic waters. Pike gourami, climbing perch and leaf fish are among those I am thinking of. Of the three pike gourami are easiest to care for and hardest to find. But your community will be "snackmates" not tankmates. So resign yourself to some type of livebearer that has color and is small in price. Guppies..or platys. and to keep it from being too stressful you would have to provide plenty of cover for his company.
Also by gobie face, if you mean a wide mouth, you may be thinking of a polypterus.
Anyway the way nature works is the less you have to work for dinner the better. So predators are either to big for the chosen prey to fight, are in groups or are poisonous. :? Sorry I couldn't help more. More info from you will have more answers stream in though.. Like Ph, how tank is set up as in decorations...and what exactly is this predator supposed to "do". Pike gourami look like snakeheads and gar.
Do you want a carnivorous fish or are you looking for something that rips up other fish in a cloud of gore?
You have a 30 gallon tank..too small for the larger portion single fish eaters and tight for some of the schooling type. Also a good portion of predatory fish are nocturnal. So you may never see them eat anyway.
By for a beginner you mean what? hardy, has no special needs?
What is your water pH?? You are popping up here and there but I don't think that came up.
Most of the predators that I personally can think of are from soft acidic waters. Pike gourami, climbing perch and leaf fish are among those I am thinking of. Of the three pike gourami are easiest to care for and hardest to find. But your community will be "snackmates" not tankmates. So resign yourself to some type of livebearer that has color and is small in price. Guppies..or platys. and to keep it from being too stressful you would have to provide plenty of cover for his company.
Also by gobie face, if you mean a wide mouth, you may be thinking of a polypterus.
Anyway the way nature works is the less you have to work for dinner the better. So predators are either to big for the chosen prey to fight, are in groups or are poisonous. :? Sorry I couldn't help more. More info from you will have more answers stream in though.. Like Ph, how tank is set up as in decorations...and what exactly is this predator supposed to "do". Pike gourami look like snakeheads and gar.
Fruitbat
Aquarium Advice Addict
There are a number of predatory fish that you could keep successfully in a 30 gallon tank. A lot of it depends on just how much effort you want to put in to feeding such a fish.
A pair of Leaf Fish (Monocirrhus polyacanthus) would do wonderfully in a tank of that size and they are very fascinating predators. HOWEVER....these fish generally won't eat anything EXCEPT smaller live fish so you would have to be willing to make a committment to feeding them up to 1000 small feeder fish per year!
If you can find them, the smaller members of the genus Ctenopoma, like C. ansorgii or C. acutirostre are quite voracious predators on smaller fish but at the same time can often be coaxed into eating frozen foods as well. They are also fascinating fish that will fit into a 30 gallon tank.
I must have missed the part about a 'gobie face' but all of the species of Polypterus will eventually get too big for your tank and they're not very spectacular predators anyway...being as they do most of their hunting at night. Don't get me wrong....Polypterus are my own personal favorite fish but they're probably not what you're looking for.
Exodon paradoxus, a member of the tetra group, is a nasty, greedy scale eater that will sometimes take entire smaller fish. They are beautiful fish and are often kept by people who like piranhas (though usually not in the same tank).
Depending on their legality where you live, various dwarf species of snakehead, like Channa gaucha can be kept successfully in a 30 gallon tank. These are VERY predatory fish and are now illegal to ship across state lines (even the eggs are illegal to ship). Check with your local fish and game department before considering these fish.
There are a number of other possibilities....a little more information about precisely what you are looking for in your fish would be helpful.
A pair of Leaf Fish (Monocirrhus polyacanthus) would do wonderfully in a tank of that size and they are very fascinating predators. HOWEVER....these fish generally won't eat anything EXCEPT smaller live fish so you would have to be willing to make a committment to feeding them up to 1000 small feeder fish per year!
If you can find them, the smaller members of the genus Ctenopoma, like C. ansorgii or C. acutirostre are quite voracious predators on smaller fish but at the same time can often be coaxed into eating frozen foods as well. They are also fascinating fish that will fit into a 30 gallon tank.
I must have missed the part about a 'gobie face' but all of the species of Polypterus will eventually get too big for your tank and they're not very spectacular predators anyway...being as they do most of their hunting at night. Don't get me wrong....Polypterus are my own personal favorite fish but they're probably not what you're looking for.
Exodon paradoxus, a member of the tetra group, is a nasty, greedy scale eater that will sometimes take entire smaller fish. They are beautiful fish and are often kept by people who like piranhas (though usually not in the same tank).
Depending on their legality where you live, various dwarf species of snakehead, like Channa gaucha can be kept successfully in a 30 gallon tank. These are VERY predatory fish and are now illegal to ship across state lines (even the eggs are illegal to ship). Check with your local fish and game department before considering these fish.
There are a number of other possibilities....a little more information about precisely what you are looking for in your fish would be helpful.
*nods and agrees with Xmasfish*
Some clarification would help us help you figure out what type of fish would work. My guess is your son is interested in aggressive fish, even more so then a carnivorous one. There are some aggressives which might work in a 30g. Most live eating fish (if thats what you mean by carnivorous) would not tho, either due to size or the fact most will never be seen. Even piranhas are incredibly boring; the only time they are really active is when they are eating. They aren't personable otherwise. Many of the cichlids, which don't necessarily require live foods, can be pretty aggressive and wonderfully interactive tho.
Some clarification would help us help you figure out what type of fish would work. My guess is your son is interested in aggressive fish, even more so then a carnivorous one. There are some aggressives which might work in a 30g. Most live eating fish (if thats what you mean by carnivorous) would not tho, either due to size or the fact most will never be seen. Even piranhas are incredibly boring; the only time they are really active is when they are eating. They aren't personable otherwise. Many of the cichlids, which don't necessarily require live foods, can be pretty aggressive and wonderfully interactive tho.
Endgame319
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Feeder fish from the store can carry diseases and are generally not a good idea. What you could do is get another small tank (10g) and breed feeder guppys (very easy, put a male and female together and they will almost definately breed). Then you could feed the fry to your fish. Most fish will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. The Bucktoothed tetra that fruitbat mentioned is a good idea. Here's some pics: http://images.google.ca/images?q=Exodon paradoxus&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wi
I guess aggressive would be what we're looking for.He really enjoyed the channel catfish we had.It was always interesting to watch.I've had a few people suggest a pictus catfish.Right now we're just doin research.....Thanks
Endgame319
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Yeah a pictus cat would be great.
Christmasfish
Aquarium Advice Addict
pikehead
There is a pic of a climbing perch here somewhere on the site if you search. I googled for a pike pic...but they are all weak.
I did a quick sketch of what the happy fish at my lfs look like (excuse the blue lines and dots..^_^)
There is a pic of a climbing perch here somewhere on the site if you search. I googled for a pike pic...but they are all weak.
I did a quick sketch of what the happy fish at my lfs look like (excuse the blue lines and dots..^_^)
a website that might help you out could be http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/ if ur looking for something small like that. i tihnk you could probably get a couple in there if you wanted. if u are interested in them mayb u could post their too, hey coudl give u some advice on dwarf puffers.
Christmasfish
Aquarium Advice Addict
There are also a few serious puffer keepers here at AA.
they are away for the holildays I suspect ^_^. Interesting yes..svelte or beauteous? no
they are away for the holildays I suspect ^_^. Interesting yes..svelte or beauteous? no
Atlarge
Aquarium Advice Activist
Oscars are good, pretty and capable of eating just about everything.
Menagerie
Aquarium Advice Addict
An Oscar will get too big for a 30 gal.
snapcrackler
Aquarium Advice Addict
Christmasfish, you are an artist!
Atlarge
Aquarium Advice Activist
really? I've seen it work fairly well. Even at max size 30 gal should hold a singular oscar. And if it doesn't, upgrade your tank to a fifty five and put something else in the 30. That's how I got so many tanks, and so much debt, coincidentaly.Menagerie said:
Christmasfish
Aquarium Advice Addict
Heh, I wish , snap..I wish.
But to be a good animator one must take traditional art courses...^_^
now for the skills to tackle this evil grey box and I will be golden
But to be a good animator one must take traditional art courses...^_^
now for the skills to tackle this evil grey box and I will be golden
Atlarge
Aquarium Advice Activist
Does anyone know anything about African Butterflies? They eat crickets from the surface and only get to be 4 inches but I don't know if they're hard to keep or not.
Hypostomus
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
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Butterflies are very easy to keep as long as your water conditions are good, your tank cover is secure, and you have plenty of appropriately sized crickets for them to feast on (the medium ones are better than the large for adults-- younger butterflies need pinheads). I fed my butterfly two-three crickets a day-- I kept the crickets in a Kritter Keeper beforehand and fed them with nutrition-enrichment foods. All you have to do is drop them on the surface of the water near the butterfly and it'll grab it right away. Really neat. They will also eat most any other insect as long as it's sizeable, but don't just go grabbing stuff from your backyard unless you know no pesticides have been used and so on.
Atlarge
Aquarium Advice Activist
Then I would recomend them, they're pretty cheap also.
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