hoplas Malibaracus companions

[mynheers_a_pint]

Hi all,
Been a fairly lnog time reader, but first time poster(never registered- oops!)- i've always been fairly set in my ways regarding predatory and aggressive fish but today was a relativly big step for me. My local fish store has had a Wolf fish for a little while. For obvious reason. Now, having not previously been aware of this fish, before jumpnig straight in, i did some research. Obviously, incredible aggressive fish but having had my current set up for a 3 years i thought i would give it ago. A little back ground for you-(skip ahead to the last paragraph for the question lol)

I decided on Malawi cichlids a few year ago, after having a standard community tank for a long time. having chosen my prefered fish (labs, livingstonii, frontosa) I introduced them to the tank. From my previous comunity set up, i had a Bichir (ornate) who had always been very passive and never attacked anything. until i added labs. He quicky dispatched 3 of them as i guess he liked the taste of yellow. The livingstonii and frontosa lived quite happily together for about a year, until one of my Liivingstonii got big. Much bigger than any of the others and proceeded to dominate. In that time, the Bichir had gotten bigger and seeing as he liked labs for dinner, i never bought any more. Plus my local fish supplier only stocked small malawis and i figured it wouldn't be so smart to add small malawis to a tank with medium/big fish. long story short, the smallerfish were slowly bullied until i had to take the Frontosa out as it was getting too stressed. I gave the pair to a friend who also keeps tanganynika/Malawis. The other livingstonii passed away, though for what reason i am unsure.

So after 18 months of 3 fish (plec, Bichir and Livingstonii) i decided to find a new addition as the tank was looking a bit sparce. Enter the Wolf fish. As i say, lots of research later and with caution, i introduced him to the tank. Having watched a video on youtube of one with parrot cichlids i thought it couldn't be that bad- 11" livingstonii and 13" Bichir and a 9" Wolf fish in a relativly large tank- 48" X 24" X 18". the peace lasted 20 minutes before the livingstonii was frantically darting from one end to another. i knew it wouldn't work there and then so off i went to get my spare tank set up. it's a fair bit smaller, but i am looking to upgrade my other tank in the next couple of months and i couldn't bare to give the wolf fish back to the shop. Far to cool.

Suffice it to say, he is now settling in my spare tank while the others settle down again. he didn't do any damage but i could tell he was stressing them.

So to my question (sorry for the long winded post).

Having had mixed info, i thought i would ask if anyone could recommend sturdy companions for later on? I wouldn't mind adding a cat of some description because i can imagine being predatory, it will be a messy eater. The tank he is on for the moment, is a 30" X 15"X X 18" but will eventually end up in the lank the others are in.

Cheers.

[Demjor19]

i think you meant (hoplias Malabaricus). i would really advise against any tankmates with these fish. they may last for a while but, will evenually become prey or will me mauled. they are definitely a very mean fish and should be kept by themselves (or possibly with another Hoplias).

also make sure you weigh your lids down or it will push it open...thats how i ended up losing mine. one night it slammed the glass top and slipped under the lid.

[mynheers_a_pint]

i think you meant (hoplias Malabaricus). i would really advise against any tankmates with these fish. they may last for a while but, will evenually become prey or will me mauled. they are definitely a very mean fish and should be kept by themselves (or possibly with another Hoplias).

also make sure you weigh your lids down or it will push it open...thats how i ended up losing mine. one night it slammed the glass top and slipped under the lid.

Hi,
Yeah, sorry i was writing from the top of my head so mistakes were bound to happen!

To be honest i was expecting that answer but having seen one kept with tank mates i thought it was worth an ask- i guess the example i saw was an accident waiting to happen.

....And there i was hoping a nice shoal of guppies would compliment the tank so well.

In regards to a second hoplias; it is the first time i have ever seen one forsale and am fairly sure that it will be rare to see another without a special request to the stockist i got it from. I would say it is a fairly rare species to find forsale in the UK, but someone could correct me on that one.

And i think i may put another book on top of the lid....

Cheers.

[Demjor19]

Hi,
Yeah, sorry i was writing from the top of my head so mistakes were bound to happen!

To be honest i was expecting that answer but having seen one kept with tank mates i thought it was worth an ask- i guess the example i saw was an accident waiting to happen.

....And there i was hoping a nice shoal of guppies would compliment the tank so well.

In regards to a second hoplias; it is the first time i have ever seen one forsale and am fairly sure that it will be rare to see another without a special request to the stockist i got it from. I would say it is a fairly rare species to find forsale in the UK, but someone could correct me on that one.

And i think i may put another book on top of the lid....

Cheers.

i wouldnt worrie too much if you dont find a second wolf fish...there is a good chance that wouldnt work either. i would just keep it by itself and watch it grow. the are a very impressive fish. what are you feeding it currently?

[mynheers_a_pint]

i'm trying prawns at the moment, though it doesn't seem to bothered by them. I shall try pieces of fish, and living in a restaurant means i have a great selection of sea food.

"would sir desire salmon or Bream? We have a special of Trout today."

I guess there are correct types of fish to feed other fish, but i'm hoping he/she will decided prawn is super and go for that.

And if all else fails, there are feeder fish. Though feeding it large Cichlids, as per its current tastes, could get expensive. And messy.

I'm jsut trying a king prawn...

[Demjor19]

i'm trying prawns at the moment, though it doesn't seem to bothered by them. I shall try pieces of fish, and living in a restaurant means i have a great selection of sea food.

"would sir desire salmon or Bream? We have a special of Trout today."

I guess there are correct types of fish to feed other fish, but i'm hoping he/she will decided prawn is super and go for that.

And if all else fails, there are feeder fish. Though feeding it large Cichlids, as per its current tastes, could get expensive. And messy.

I'm jsut trying a king prawn...

the diet sounds great! i was just hoping you werent planning on feeders as a staple diet. do you have any pics of this mini monster?

[mynheers_a_pint]

I'll try, but i will have to wait for the right moment. It's quite interesting watching it 'walk' accross the bottom.

Cheers.

[RainMan]

You're tank isn't large enough for that fish especially with occupants. You would need something in the 200gal or bigger range. Probably 100gal or your 48"x24"x18" (90gal) tank just for a single fish and a 250gal for a pair.

I was going to say, a 500gal might be able to house dovii (wolf cichlid) and a jaguar cichlid (or something that can really take care of itself). But, then heard it being called a "piranha killer"... ummmmm, that pretty much eliminates... ummmmm everything? It sounds like it will kill and eat anything it can catch. I watched a couple youtube videos and it is fast too.

That thing is a monster. It can grow over 20" long and will be a foot long the first year. This is coolest part... they can breathe air using swim bladders.... wohhh!

What a cool fish huh? Cool, cool, cool. Sorry, I really enjoyed reading about this fish.

[Demjor19]

You're tank isn't large enough for that fish especially with occupants. You would need something in the 200gal or bigger range. Probably 100gal or your 48"x24"x18" (90gal) tank just for a single fish and a 250gal for a pair.

I was going to say, a 500gal might be able to house dovii (wolf cichlid) and a jaguar cichlid (or something that can really take care of itself). But, then heard it being called a "piranha killer"... ummmmm, that pretty much eliminates... ummmmm everything? It sounds like it will kill and eat anything it can catch. I watched a couple youtube videos and it is fast too.

That thing is a monster. It can grow over 20" long and will be a foot long the first year. This is coolest part... they can breathe air using swim bladders.... wohhh!

What a cool fish huh? Cool, cool, cool. Sorry, I really enjoyed reading about this fish.

i do think a Dovii (wolf cichlid) would take care of itself! pound for pound a dovii will hang with anything out there. i actually wouldnt be surprised to see the dovii kill the wolf fish. either way not a good combo. i would say a 180 (6 x 2 x 2) would be a fine tank for this fish for a long time...if not life. i would just recommend you keep him by himself. just to eliminate any risks.

[RainMan]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking... Eventually, someone is going to try and see how the other tastes and it won't be pretty.

[mynheers_a_pint]

The plan was always to upgrade (see the original post). The current tank is a short term solution as i couldn't take him back to the shop and couldn't keep him with the others- as i said, he will end up in the 48"X 24" X18" tank, while the others are moved into something even more spacious to accomodate further company of a similar size. If it is required, i can always upgrade again.

[RainMan]

That's a lot of dedication for one fish... I couldn't imagine keeping a single fish in such a large tank. My hat goes off to you.

He is pretty amazing.... and it's not everyday you see one of them. I can understand the appeal.

[mynheers_a_pint]

I've kept fish for years, and in between my motorsport escapades and work i still find time for my fish. I wish i could keep more than 1 fish in the tank but needs must and i'm certain he will provide ample entertainment during feeding times and the like.

I managed to snap one poor picture of him- I only had my camera phone at the time so please excuse the quality;

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Hes not the most active sole, with the lights on but he stroles arround the substrate every so often...

[RainMan]

Yup... he's a looker alright. Not a bad pic for a camera phone. How big is he now? Looks larger than I expected.

[mynheers_a_pint]

He's 9" at the moment, but they grow to afoot fast, so i'm told.

he has a pretty mean smile as well....

[RainMan]

yeah... an inch a month is what I remember. I bet his smile is pretty mean... Is he all teeth?

[Demjor19]

nice looking wolf! i really liked mine while it lasted.

[mynheers_a_pint]

plenty of big teeth. Apparently he had bitten 2 part timers at the shop i got him from, when they tried to clean his tank.

[RainMan]

Nice... that's a conversation-piece for sure. Better get a chainmail glove. :)

[mynheers_a_pint]

i just thought it was funny. Except i basically laughed in the face of one of the part timers. He didn't look happy.


hehe....

[mynheers_a_pint]

just a quick update;

Well after very shy beginnings, he is certainly now incredibly agressive and i am definatly having to be very careful cleaning the tank. It is quite cool that he responds to me walking past the tank though. heres a pic; i pulled the camera out and went to sit by the tank and he shot over-

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he's grown 2 inches very quickly and will soon need to leave his current dwellings. He is happily taking good sized prawns and on the odd occasion a tiger prawn or 2. great entertainment :c12: