wolf fish

[Kohan Bros.]

i have been out of fw for a while been to busy with my sw tank. i was wondering if any one here has info or experance with this fish i was planing on adding it to a 75 planted all by its self

 

[jibboo]

don't know much about them, but when I asked my lfs what the most ferocious fish in the store was ... he said the wolf fish was it.

 

[Kohan Bros.]

thats why i was planing on giving it to himself i new they were quite agressive that is why i was planing on one but info on the net is hard to come by on these guys

 

[Fruitbat]

The South American Wolf Fish is a member of the either the genus Hoplias or Erythrinus. In general they are relatively inactive fish that are absolute predators and can reach impressive size depending on the genus and species you're dealing with. The most commonly available is Hoplias malabaricus, which can reach nearly 2 feet in length. I personally had a couple that were close to this size range many years ago.

Most of the time these fish are fairly sluggish, sitting on the bottom like a log with fins. However, when a prey item wanders within their field of view they can move with astonishing rapidity and their food is impaled on their rather impressive teeth almost before you can see it happen. I've kept all sorts of predatory fish over the years, including piranhas, and Hoplias is the only fish that I've ever been really nervous about putting my hand in the tank with.

I did have success feeding them all sorts of 'meaty' foods like pieces of fish, shrimp, earthworms and beef heart. They would occasionally even take a few pellets. As for tankmates....I've seen people keep them with snakeheads, bowfins and other 'bad actors' but personally I would be careful about even those fish. I remember a picture posted on another forum that showed a Red Snakehead (Channa micropeltes) and a Wolf Fish that were kept in the same aquarium. They were of roughly equivalent size. The next picture showed the Red Snakehead with roughly a third of its body chopped off (everything from the vent backwards) by a single bite from the Wolf Fish.

 

[ChileRelleno]

I remember a picture posted on another forum that showed a Red Snakehead (Channa micropeltes) and a Wolf Fish that were kept in the same aquarium. They were of roughly equivalent size. The next picture showed the Red Snakehead with roughly a third of its body chopped off (everything from the vent backwards) by a single bite from the Wolf Fish.

My kinda fish! I love predators...

 

[cdawson]

They're VERY inactive though, they lie in wait all day for prey to swim close and are only active at night time. The one at the vancouver aquarium has NEVER moved the entire time I've been going there.

 

[Kohan Bros.]

do you think a 75 would be good for life

 

[Kohan Bros.]

do you think a 75 would be good for life

 

[DaPony87]

This man currently owns a wolf fish. He keeps it in a custom built tank that has a lot larger foot print for the tank than a usaul 37 gallon. But then again his wolf fish is only 11 inches right now, not 2 feet. Maybe you can contact him to ask him for info. HTH!

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Tanks/mytank10.htm

my apologies if posting this link is against the rules

 

[timd818]

OMG...what an ugly looking thing!

 

[Kohan Bros.]

thanks i read that artical before these are some very intreging fish

 

[DaPony87]

Theyre wicked cool looking, after college I might give one of those guys a look as to taking care of one.

From what Ive been reading on the guy, a 75 could work as long as it doesnt have a lot plants (surely be ripped up from his hunting) and a good filter

 

[PK Tester]

I agree it is somewhat ugly but if its what you like...than so be it. I do not like the idea that they just sit down on the substrate like logs all the time...

 

[patryuji]

I would hazard a guess that their normally inactive state allows you to get away with a smaller than optimum (considering the large size of the fish [2 feet]) aquarium.

 

[cdawson]

Not really, large predators are really messy and need the extra space to keep the water quality where it should be. I don't recommend anything less than the previously mentioned 75 gallon. Wolf fish DO get to be about 2' in length. That's quite a bit of food a day for one fish.

 

[Kohan Bros.]

thanks i read that artical before these are some very intreging fish

 

[patryuji]

Not really, large predators are really messy and need the extra space to keep the water quality where it should be. I don't recommend anything less than the previously mentioned 75 gallon. Wolf fish DO get to be about 2' in length. That's quite a bit of food a day for one fish.

I was answering the question of whether a 75gallon would be sufficient, not any other questions concerning smaller tanks. With a more active, 2 foot long fish, a 75 gallon tank would be insufficient due to the standard 75gallon dimensions (48" X 20" X 18") not giving enough swimming room. Volume of water for waste can be handled by a sump for this particular creature but if it were an active swimmer than a sump would be useless and I would have said that I don't believe a 75gallon tank would be sufficient for a two foot long fish.

 

[Kohan Bros.]

yes they can get up to 2ft but in captivity the lagest one ive hear about or seen was 18in. i no this is not the 2ft mark i belive this number was found by the size they have been caught in the amazon. as for the tank it would be a 75 i think a 75 would work because most people recomnd that at least between a 100 or 75 the foot print is the same on both so there should be no problem

 

[Fruitbat]

Kohan Bros.

While you are generally correct that Hoplias malabaricus often does not reach its full size potential in an aquarium....I do want to remind you that I've personally had a pair of these fish that were in the neighborhood of 22 inches long (the female was a little larger than the male) so they CAN get pretty close to that 2 foot mark in captivity.