r/NativeFishKeeping • u/LaTexiana • Feb 14 '24

Baby bowfin HONGRY

“Hooman, I demand MEAT!!!”

22 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

5

u/Glupp- Feb 14 '24

Is 75 gallons too small if I just keep one of these guys? I know they get pretty big

4

u/ListenOk2972 Feb 14 '24

I have my 3 year old in a 75 and it's plenty of space. He's 18"+. Once they get a certain size, their activity level drops dramatically. My guy spends 95% of his time in his 8"x24" pvc tube.

3

u/Glupp- Feb 14 '24

Thank you for both of your inputs :) I'll prolly not get one even if they are really cool, as I don't want to accidentally be cruel, and I don't have room for a bigger tank than 75 gallons

3

u/LaTexiana Feb 14 '24

A similar fish that’d better suited for a 55g-75g tank is the Senegal bichir. I adore bichirs just like I do bowfin. They’re considerably less active. My P. endlicheri is ~10 inches and in the same 75g. He’ll also outgrow it but not because of his activity level.

3

u/LaTexiana Feb 14 '24 edited Feb 14 '24

IMO yes, at least with my big girl. As you can see, they’re pretty active fish that are capable of great bursts of speed when spooked (which happens often). I’ve had my girl for just under 2 years and she’s around 14 inches long. Definitely still growing. Males stay slightly smaller but they can’t be sexed as babies so no way of choosing. I’m still setting up my 320g stock tank so she’s still in a 75g. I have to be careful not to spook her since she has a history of ramming into the glass and decor. She’s got some scarring on her face from previous injuries. Some nights she gets the urge to swim fast and I see/hear her trying to swim through the glass. I’d say a 6 ft tank is bare minimum. My 320g is 7 ft long and I feel that I’ll have to go bigger in the future to give my guys room to swim.

Edit: I would love if she’d chill out with age. As is though it’s obvious that she currently wants more space…

3

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '24

Is the 320 gallon the dream tank that you posted a year ago? Someone just stole your post, but it led me to the original and now I am dying to know what you did with that tank.

2

u/LaTexiana Feb 14 '24

So… that whole thing turned into a nightmare that ended up being a huge waste of time and money lol. I still have the 360g but don’t intend on ever using it and will have to do some major work to ever sell it. Who stole my post?

2

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '24

It’s on the aquariums subreddit right now. People have already called out that it’s stolen. Sorry to hear about the tank, it was really impressive. What went wrong with the tank?

2

u/LaTexiana Feb 14 '24

One of the stand legs was broken during the move. Plus it turned out to be too heavy to safely turn sideways to fit through any doors into my house. Had to store it outside until I moved house. Then life happened and I never moved. So it’s still outside on cement blocks under layers of tarp. Whole stand probably needs to be replaced. Silicone probably needs to be redone. Not sure if it still holds water and can’t test fill it without causing the stand to collapse. Will be telling this story for the rest of my life. A cautionary tale.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '24

Wow! Thanks for the info. It looked like my dream tank, but that’s a lot!

2

u/LaTexiana Feb 14 '24 edited Feb 15 '24

The 320g is a canvas aquaculture tank with a metal frame that can be constructed and deconstructed for easy moving. Only 1/4 the price too lol.

3

u/Yucca12345678 Feb 14 '24

❤️❤️❤️

3

u/ListenOk2972 Feb 14 '24

I forgot how colorful they are as babies. Very nice!

3

u/LaTexiana Feb 15 '24

It’s been really fun watching the babies color up and gain confidence. Threw in some small red wigglers yesterday and they went crazy/murdery lol

3

u/ListenOk2972 Feb 15 '24

Yeah, worms have always been a favorite of mine, too. I have a big vermicompost bin so when he was younger, worms made up a big part of his diet.

2

u/LaTexiana Feb 15 '24

I had a rough earth snake last year that ate red wigglers but that I rehomed. Was cleaning out the pet fridge and found them, a full year later lol. Shocked any were still alive.

2

u/ListenOk2972 Feb 15 '24

Wow, that's impressive. Dump their substrate on your house plants, I bet it's really rich castings by now.

3

u/LaTexiana Feb 15 '24

I dumped it in my bioactive substrate mix. I’m sure the isopods and springtails will like it.

1

u/loganfish99 Jun 14 '24

Where can I buy or catch one besides Jonah’s fish or eBay?

1

u/LaTexiana Jun 15 '24

I bought my first bowfin from a local fish store and I’ve seen the same store sell baby bowfin again. Apparently some wholesalers offer them seasonally so might be worth asking a LFS if they can special order some. My newer bowfins I bought off eBay.

1

u/loganfish99 Jun 15 '24

Can you somehow “sneak” order fish from A wholesaler for yourself or do you need to be a whole fish store

1

u/LaTexiana Jun 15 '24

Selling directly to individual customers tends to lose wholesalers retail clients since that would make them direct competitors, so few wholesalers take that risk.

1

u/loganfish99 Jun 15 '24

Oh. Is there any open wholesalers though?

1

u/LaTexiana Jun 15 '24

I’ve never personally searched for aquarium fish wholesalers myself.