Tell me about the Wasp Fish (Vespicula depressifrons )

[ctaggart]

I bought one of these from my LPS who labeled it as a Butterfly Goby. Well, it's not a goby at all. I believe it's more closely related to a lionfish. Anyways, I had it in my 5G with two Zebra Danios. In two weeks I never saw it eat. Today I found it belly up sucked against my filter. What's the trick to keeping these little monsters?

[Brookfish]

Hi ctaggart, is this the fish you were sold? (check link)

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

If so, it had no chance of surviving in your 5g and your LFS should
have explained it's requirements to you when they sold it to you.
As you can see it's a very picky eater, not to mention a brackish fish.
i'm sorry things didn't work out for you, it was an unusual specimen
for sure, and your right it does look like a little lion fish.

[ctaggart]

Hi ctaggart, is this the fish you were sold? (check link)

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

If so, it had no chance of surviving in your 5g and your LFS should
have explained it's requirements to you when they sold it to you.
As you can see it's a very picky eater, not to mention a brackish fish.
i'm sorry things didn't work out for you, it was an unusual specimen
for sure, and your right it does look like a little lion fish.


That's the fish. Here's the thing...it was kept in a freshwater tank in the pet store, so does the water HAVE to be brackish? It truly was a beautiful fish and I feel terrible that it died so quickly. The day it died I had earlier bought some blood worms for it. Irony I guess.

[Brookfish]

When the LFS wasn't keeping the fish in the right water conditions
it was probably poorly before you even purchased it and it's chance
of survival was slim, if you would like to keep them I suggest you
research their water requirements and feeding habits, set a tank up
to suit them and find a LFS that keeps healthy specimens in the
correct conditions.
It's bad that you feel terrible when the LFS was mostly to blame,
if I were you I would go back and explain the situation to them.
The very least they should do is apoligise and offer you store credit.
Keep us updated if you decide to try the fish again, I for one would
be very interested to see how you get on.

[toddnbecka]

Been there, done that, but that was beofre the internet was available for researching the requirements of a fish that caught my eye. I learned that impulse buying wasn't a good idea, most often ending badly one way or another. I once saw a juvie Aba aba knife f/s in a departemnt store pet department, but passed it up because I knew nothing about it. In retrospect that was the best thing to do, consdiering what I later learned about them...
Live and learn, and research before you buy in the future.

[Northernguy]

That is a very cool and odd looking fish.
I hope that you plan on a brackish tank one day so you can keep these little guys again.Awesome fish.

[annageckos]

That's the fish. Here's the thing...it was kept in a freshwater tank in the pet store, so does the water HAVE to be brackish? It truly was a beautiful fish and I feel terrible that it died so quickly. The day it died I had earlier bought some blood worms for it. Irony I guess.

To servive and thrive, yes, you need to keep brackish water fish in brackish water. They may live for a while in fresh water but it will kill them. For the most part you can't trust LFS imployies. It is easier for them to sell the fish as fresh water(and they may not have known either, thou they should have). That was a pretty cool looking little fish.

Anna

[luckdragonn]

I apologize in advance if anyone may become offended by my reply to this thread, but Vespicula depressifrons ie waspfish or butterfly goby, is not a strictly brackish water fish. It can thrive in all types of water and is one of a small group of animals called euryhaline type animals. This means that their bodies adapt and live/thrive in either full marine, brackish, or freshwater environments. In an aquarium setting they best and easiest way to keep them is in either fresh or brackish water. They typically have a lifespan of 8-10 yrs and do prefer live food. They can, on rare occasions, be somewhat weaned off live foods and eat some commercially made foods. They reach maximum sizes of approximately 4 inches (10 cm). I house my Vespicula in a 36 bow front tank with my 3 discus, 10 serpae tetras, gold nugget pleco, 2 julii cory cats, zipper loach, blue cheeked goby and a strange goby like fish that no one at the lfs knew anything about. My tank has been running healthily with no casualties for over 2 yrs and the fish are beautiful and thriving. When I move back into my house everyone is being upgraded to a wonderfully sized 75 gallon tank. The current 36 gallon has two 50 gallon filters running along with a heater set at 82 degrees. The water is lightly hard but somewhat soft (wish it was a little softer but not complaining since the Discus are doing so well), and the Ph is kept between a lovely 6.0-6.5. Using a discus buffer to keep it there. I do add aquarium salt every time I do a water change which occurs approximately every 1 to 2 weeks where I remove 15 gallons of water. I love my aquarium and hope this information may have helped. If not cool anyways. Thanks for reading.

[Cliff]

luckdragonn, please check the date on the threads you post in

This thread is over 2 years old. Looks like the OP got the info he was looking