# a monster lurking in the deep



## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

this is my pet lungfish, Monster. He's pretty cool and pretty freindly but i wouldn't want him to confuse my fingers for his dinner ....lol. last time i measured him he was 26" long and he's grown since then. i keep him in a 150g rubbermaid stock tank.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Very cool! I didn't even know you could keep such a fish in home aquarium. I don't think seeing one of these even in zoos!

His face doesn't look much like fish at all. How long can he stay out of water?


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

conix67 said:


> Very cool! I didn't even know you could keep such a fish in home aquarium. I don't think seeing one of these even in zoos!
> 
> His face doesn't look much like fish at all. How long can he stay out of water?


Nice lungfish, and thats an African Lung right??? 

You can buy them at pet store from time to time (around $30 to $100+ / depending on the size and species)

During the dry season, they burrow themselves in the mud (wet and damp) and hibernate till the rainy season ^^

I'd think that as long as you keeps their body moist and not dry up. They can last a very LONG time out of the water (just like a snakehead, they breath air out of the water and not in)


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

yeah, he is an african lung. he doesn't really come out of the water here, although like bigfish said, he can stay out of the water for a long time and his species can estivate(like hybernating). when he was about 12" long he bailed from his tank and i'm guessing he was out exploring the house for quite a few hours. he had dried up a bit on his tail when we put him back in his tank, his tail puffed back out to normal and he shed his skin a week or two afterwards. he also made these weird growling and hissing noises out of water. mostly he just lounges and prowls around in the bottom. he likes to play with things and if he hears someone come near he always comes up to see what's going on and say hi. he was overpriced compared to what others who keep lungfish say they paid for them. he was $80 but worth every penny. when we found him at the lps he was a scrawny little eight incher hiding behind the filter, trying to escape the other fish he was being kept with. he does look much different than any other fish, his face is very animated and he seems to be a lot more froglike than fishlike to us.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

Very nice looking lungfish. in the last pic, it looks like a baby puppy looking up at ya.

what do you feed him?


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

shrimp, hotdog, porkchop, chicken.....other fish he'll eat any kind of meat


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Hehe, cute fishy.

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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

bluekrissyspikes said:


> shrimp, hotdog, porkchop, chicken.....other fish he'll eat any kind of meat


hotdogs? lol...


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

bluekrissyspikes said:


> shrimp, hotdog, porkchop, chicken.....other fish he'll eat any kind of meat


WOW!!!!!!!!!!


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Have to admit Im not a fan of the lungfish but it's impressive when anyone keeps one indoors and I guess I can kinda see the appeal in a fish that's sort of like a household dog or cat. Just looks too much like a huge worm to me and I hear they have human sized poos which I wouldn't want to deal with lol. 

That said, do you keep him with any other fish?


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

Hitch said:


> hotdogs? lol...


you should see him polish one off in like 2 seconds



Cory said:


> I hear they have human sized poos which I wouldn't want to deal with lol.
> 
> i don't take care of his poo.... but it floats, so bf just scoops it out with a net and flushes it.
> 
> That said, do you keep him with any other fish?


we used to keep goldfish with him but they were too messy. i just gave away all his guppies. i originally got them for him to snack on but he never bothered.


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

this is him when he was much smaller. i think about 12" max in this pic. you can see he still has his baby spots. awww.......he was soooo cute


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Can you put him on a leash and take him for walks?


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

bluekrissyspikes said:


> you should see him polish one off in like 2 seconds


You soooo need to take a video the next time.

And well it wont really be a "walk".....it would be more of a wiggle.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

I am surprised that your lung fish is so active and doesn't eat any fish that you have kept with him 

Lungfish usually stay inactive, because of their slow metabolism, but I guess you've kept it full at all time to stop him from hunting (they are lazy hunter)



$80... worth every pennies of it.. Its unique and its got a totally different personality than other lung...



and ... they GROW huge xD (have you seen a pic of one that is as big as a dog?)

3ft of terror  good luck



Sunstar said:


> Can you put him on a leash and take him for walks?


you can, if your in a swamp

--------------

the picture (not my lung) but its BIG


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

Sunstar said:


> Can you put him on a leash and take him for walks?


that would be fun. perhaps after a big rain



Hitch said:


> You soooo need to take a video the next time.


if i could, i would. i don't have enough memory in my camera to do videos yet but when i do upgrade it, i'll be sure to post some video here



bigfishy said:


> I am surprised that your lung fish is so active and doesn't eat any fish that you have kept with him
> 
> Lungfish usually stay inactive, because of their slow metabolism, but I guess you've kept it full at all time to stop him from hunting (they are lazy hunter)
> 
> ...


 thanks 
yeah, i've seen that guy over on mfk. i haven't been there in a while. he is kindof his own little guy. he does what he wants, and what he usually wants is attention. i have heard they don't like attention but i suppose he is somewhat trained because he does get so many feedings, he looks forward to us coming over to see if we have something for him. i've heard others say they feed theirs weekly or twice a week....i dunno. i feed him a lot more than that. at least once a day, some days he eats three or four times. i admit, he is spoiled. my bf calls him our 'puppy'


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

My gosh... I just think he's fantastic! O_O

Reminds me a bit of my ornate but the face of your lungfish is just adorable. :3


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

oh and if anyone got a spark of interest of keeping a lungfish (because of blue's cute pet)

I saw an african lung for sale in Big Als (Kennedy / Ellesmere (Scarborough)) for $50


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

Ciddian said:


> My gosh... I just think he's fantastic! O_O
> 
> Reminds me a bit of my ornate but the face of your lungfish is just adorable. :3


thanks. ornates are cool. i probably would have gotten one if i hadn't gotten monster



bigfishy said:


> oh and if anyone got a spark of interest of keeping a lungfish (because of blue's cute pet)
> 
> I saw an african lung for sale in Big Als (Kennedy / Ellesmere (Scarborough)) for $50


just make sure you have a big tank available. they grow fast


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

bigfishy said:


> oh and if anyone got a spark of interest of keeping a lungfish (because of blue's cute pet)
> 
> I saw an african lung for sale in Big Als (Kennedy / Ellesmere (Scarborough)) for $50


I didn't really know much about these guys...I'd heard of them but that's about it. Did a bit of googling...these things live a loooong time. There's an Aussie lungfish, supposedly fully mature when obtained, that's been in the the Shedd aquarium since it opened in 1933. 

Taking one of these on is not a light undertaking...add it to your will!

I hope the store doesn't just let it go out the door without making sure the new owner has a clue, as is often the case with H. seemanni and B.melanopterus.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Mud skippers are kinda lungfish arent' they? or do they hold water in their mouths.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Sunstar said:


> Mud skippers are kinda lungfish arent' they? or do they hold water in their mouths.


Mudskippers are in the goby family. http://www.themudskipper.org/


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## shark (Jan 28, 2009)

It's looking good


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

FYI I was at Downtown Pet Supply (the one I keep forgetting the name of, at Spadina and Dundas, in the basement) and they had a juvie African lungfish for $200.


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

really? wow. that's cool then mine was not so badly priced. 

there are a lot of other fish that can breathe air but it's not a lungfish unless it's a longfish. mudskippers are sweet though. my lps has four of them there for a few months now. i'd love to bring them home but i have too many tanks already.


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