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More commonly known as a 'dinosaur eel', common breeds of these are occasionally sold at Petsmarts and the like. My bad boy comes straight from the wild. . . he was the only one in a shipment of four at the Aquarium store I used to work at that survived the introduction to tank life. Personally, I'm not one for the raping of the Amazon, African cichlid lakes, or any other body of water for commercial pet fish sales. It's destroying a lot of species.
That being said. . . I worked at this place, and we got a LOT of rare species in. And this fish and I just. . . fell in love. I have ALWAYS loved Polypterus, both for their ancient, draconic look. . . and their personalities. They will quite literally eat out of your hand, and they hunt live food like ambush predators. They can breathe air, and survive out of water for however long they can stay moist. What's more, they can go weeks, nay. . . months. . . without food. Much like snakes. Which as it turns out, is a good thing when you have to move a fish cross-country. This guy has survived MULTIPLE tank moves, I have actually USED him to cycle a tank, and he managed to survive a 36 hour trip in near-freezing water, and was belly-up after a heater malfunction. . . reviving after a day or so of death spirals. . . and proceeding to chow down on a goldfish not 24 hours later.
He is over a foot long, and one bad motherf*cker. We once homed him with other fish, but. . . those days are long gone. He eats EVERYTHING we home him with. . . including other Polypterus. So the 45 gallon tank he's in is now. . . purely. . . his.
These pictures are terrible. You really can't appreciate him unless you see him in person. That banding is BRIGHT yellow, and he has a very dragon-like face. You can see the spines down his back somewhat. . . .
His specific subspecies of Polypterus is fairly rare. I have NO idea how long he will live, or how big he'll get. I THINK he's done growing, but. . . his diet might be limiting him. Sad to say, there's not much literature on these guys. Any fellow dinosaur eel lovers out there?
That being said. . . I worked at this place, and we got a LOT of rare species in. And this fish and I just. . . fell in love. I have ALWAYS loved Polypterus, both for their ancient, draconic look. . . and their personalities. They will quite literally eat out of your hand, and they hunt live food like ambush predators. They can breathe air, and survive out of water for however long they can stay moist. What's more, they can go weeks, nay. . . months. . . without food. Much like snakes. Which as it turns out, is a good thing when you have to move a fish cross-country. This guy has survived MULTIPLE tank moves, I have actually USED him to cycle a tank, and he managed to survive a 36 hour trip in near-freezing water, and was belly-up after a heater malfunction. . . reviving after a day or so of death spirals. . . and proceeding to chow down on a goldfish not 24 hours later.
He is over a foot long, and one bad motherf*cker. We once homed him with other fish, but. . . those days are long gone. He eats EVERYTHING we home him with. . . including other Polypterus. So the 45 gallon tank he's in is now. . . purely. . . his.
These pictures are terrible. You really can't appreciate him unless you see him in person. That banding is BRIGHT yellow, and he has a very dragon-like face. You can see the spines down his back somewhat. . . .
His specific subspecies of Polypterus is fairly rare. I have NO idea how long he will live, or how big he'll get. I THINK he's done growing, but. . . his diet might be limiting him. Sad to say, there's not much literature on these guys. Any fellow dinosaur eel lovers out there?
Category Photography / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 638 x 570px
File Size 310 kB
You really shouldn't encourage people to buy these, then. Whether you like yours or not, discourage people as much as you can. In most countries taking a species like this is ILLEGAL, and for good reason. Just because a few backwater places still allow it, or just because our country doesn't care about their laws doesn't make it ok.
You said yourself that you don't support it. Sorry to rant on this, but seriously...you might as well be keeping a cheetah as a pet. The rare/exotic animal trade is a trillion-dollar business because of people who skew their code of ethics to have a cool pet. Worse yet, the ivory trade still exists based on people who are more concerned with how it looks in their home than in the wild.
You said yourself that you don't support it. Sorry to rant on this, but seriously...you might as well be keeping a cheetah as a pet. The rare/exotic animal trade is a trillion-dollar business because of people who skew their code of ethics to have a cool pet. Worse yet, the ivory trade still exists based on people who are more concerned with how it looks in their home than in the wild.
If these guys are illegal, why are they listing them on their website as being sold in their stores? http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind.....ductId=3924463
I worked at an exotic fish store and kept an ornate for years. I absolutely loved him. He got along well with my fire and tiretrack eels - I think that's about it they will get along with is other large predatory fish. The ornates don't get to the monstrous size of the other bichirs - they rarely make it to 2 feet. Which is huge for an indoor/freshwater fish but nothing like the giant size that gamefish/catfish and things like arowanas, etc. can get to. The adults I've seen looked really happy in a 125 gallon tank.
Unfortunately I had to give mine up after a blunder by the guys I had helping me move at one point where they dropped both my 55 gallon and my 75 gallon tanks onto the asphalt driveway and shattered them. I had to get emergency homes for all my fish except a smaller 30 gallon plant tank because I couldn't afford to replace the tanks at the time. Since then I haven't had the time/space to get back into the hobby (and probably won't for a very long time) but these are on the top of my list of fish I'd be interested in keeping when I do. :)
Here's my dreamfish: http://anythingsaltwater.com/images.....anHeadshot.jpg - Dragon Eels!
Unfortunately I had to give mine up after a blunder by the guys I had helping me move at one point where they dropped both my 55 gallon and my 75 gallon tanks onto the asphalt driveway and shattered them. I had to get emergency homes for all my fish except a smaller 30 gallon plant tank because I couldn't afford to replace the tanks at the time. Since then I haven't had the time/space to get back into the hobby (and probably won't for a very long time) but these are on the top of my list of fish I'd be interested in keeping when I do. :)
Here's my dreamfish: http://anythingsaltwater.com/images.....anHeadshot.jpg - Dragon Eels!
Yes, we had one of those guys as well. We had a fire eel in the store, too - he was the pride of the salt tank display (and was actually out quite a lot, unlike the other morays who were 95% totally hidden in the rocks).
My favorites in the store were the freshwater rays, but I never tried to keep one and that anyone did was quite sad - even with insanely good care they have a huge mortality rate and that of transporting them in is even worse, so I just couldn't support that trade at all. Our store actually bred a lot of 'unbreedables' along with the local fish club and had a really nice off-display setup for that - something I really appreciated! I think a lot of it just boils down to space (giving the fish a huge space with lots of places to hide unbothered by other species) and then trying out different heating/cooling patterns to mimic seasonality. :)
My favorites in the store were the freshwater rays, but I never tried to keep one and that anyone did was quite sad - even with insanely good care they have a huge mortality rate and that of transporting them in is even worse, so I just couldn't support that trade at all. Our store actually bred a lot of 'unbreedables' along with the local fish club and had a really nice off-display setup for that - something I really appreciated! I think a lot of it just boils down to space (giving the fish a huge space with lots of places to hide unbothered by other species) and then trying out different heating/cooling patterns to mimic seasonality. :)
Wow, super kewl! I'm really into the prehistoric looking fish species, and the fancy ones like Lion fish but i am afraid i would be a bad owner so I dont even bother getting them. The most I would dare get is a beta xD I have always had a soft spot for jellyfish though - no pun intended, and i did a bunch of research, and found they actually aren't TOO hard to maintain, as long as oyu know what you're doin.
Still, I would wait till I can afford all my own stuff xD
I like eels too though, and this guy is awesome looking (despite quality of photos ;P)
Still, I would wait till I can afford all my own stuff xD
I like eels too though, and this guy is awesome looking (despite quality of photos ;P)
http://www.polypterus.info/index.htm,
I had the pet store version not the rare one, he was my favorite fish
I had the pet store version not the rare one, he was my favorite fish
I already asked Sangy this but, if these guys are illegal, how can Petsmart be advertising them on their website? http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind.....ductId=3924463
I figured this was something they got away with a few years ago, but I didnt expect them to still be selling them now..
Does that mean they are being bred in captivity now.. or???
I figured this was something they got away with a few years ago, but I didnt expect them to still be selling them now..
Does that mean they are being bred in captivity now.. or???
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