The paddlefish are still doing well, most of them anyway, i have two that do not want to eat pellets, they are not feeding and are getting weak, I'm gonna give them daphnia tonight, but they do not seem to be doing well no matter if they eat or not...
Paddlefish
Started by
Guest_Moontanman_*
, Jun 23 2010 10:09 PM
113 replies to this topic
#64
Guest_Moontanman_*
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Posted 18 September 2010 - 10:34 AM
Fast forward six months -
All the paddlefish are dead!
Wow Irate you are so up lifting!
So far the fish have down really well, I'd have 8 left if not for a pump that died on me. I think these fish are keepable, I am thinking of a guide to keeping them but it's basically start them out tiny in a small tank and slowly move them up as they grow and few other small details but eventually these fish are going to need a 125 or bigger tank for sure and there are many people who go there for big fish. I'm more worried about having too many than not having any 6 months out. The best thing about them is the constant swimming, the odd look of these fish is fascinating and watching them go into a feeding frenzy is so shark like it's almost makes you hesitate before putting your hand in the tank. Very robust, very shark like, very active fish. The idea they would just beat themselves to death in a tank is simply not true, they do get tiny dings on their paddle but it's hardly noticeable in most of them. Like any animal some have different dispositions than others, some individuals seem to have a harder time adapting to pellets than others but the ones that do eat like pigs and are great fish... You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just might be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
#65
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Posted 03 October 2010 - 10:18 PM
The paddlefish are doing well, all six are eating pellets now. they are doing a little bit better than me but I am recovering from my surgery. i am going to try and clean out filters and siphon out some debris tomorrow. don't tell my wife, she still thinks i should be laying around and doing nothing but my fish need some attention. The 75 has turned greenish, i am thinking of using the filter section of my marineland emperor 400 to hold some small Asian clams and see if they help filter out the green, i can keep them in the filter and remove them easily when the water clears up. I am still enthralled with the paddlefish, they would go good with some shovelnose sturgeon, (hint hint hint)
#67
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Posted 19 October 2010 - 12:22 AM
So, we are down to 6 from the original 11 - the next disaster is waiting patiently in the wings...
Yes, six from the original 12, two were DOA, two wouldn't eat, and two died from mechanical failure. The remaining ones are in aquariums with new equipment. I am thinking of selling a few of them, i expected more of them to die but i am almost five months out from day one, are you talking about 6 months from day one or six months from now?
#68
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Posted 28 November 2010 - 09:23 PM
My paddlefish are still doing great, they gobble down floating pellets and manage to look like films I've seen of big fish like sharks feeding as they seem to take huge bites of water to sweep in the pellets. They flip upside down gulp and grab at the pellets, their flesh shakes and shimmers like the flesh and skin of big sharks feeding, it's a weird effect, multiplied by all the fish feeding at once in the same place, looks like a feeding frenzy. They are mesmerizing to watch, they swim with a fluid motion reminiscent of sharks. They never stop swimming, always riding the currents, they are both primal and silly, accomplishing both depending on which direction they are swimming....
#70
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Posted 14 January 2011 - 10:24 PM
My paddlefish are still doing well, the daphnia cultures are long crashed and frozen over. These very shark like fish are captivating to watch, not really difficult to keep. They are feeding well on floating pellets and seem to have a pecking order, bigger fish donminate, they interact often throwing water fronm the tank. Great fish...
#73
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Posted 24 June 2011 - 06:37 PM
Wow, those like sharks. The way they move, and their skin. That's really neat. I wonder if, given more room between the surface and the lights, they'd stick their whole paddle nose up out of the water to eat?
Edited by EricaWieser, 24 June 2011 - 06:38 PM.
#75
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Posted 25 June 2011 - 02:12 PM
are they using their fins to knock pellets down into the water collum and swimming upside down to get food? Those are awesome, but do not see myself setting up a 180 to keep them.
They flip upside down and gulp pellets from the surface, the feeding action looks like an aggressive move by a shark when feeding. Mine are in a 75 right now but a 180 would be a better tank for them for sure.
#76
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Posted 25 June 2011 - 02:16 PM
Wow, those like sharks. The way they move, and their skin. That's really neat. I wonder if, given more room between the surface and the lights, they'd stick their whole paddle nose up out of the water to eat?
I have not seen them put their paddle out of the water but sometimes when they get excited feeding they will strike the top of the aquarium with their paddle and throw water out of the tank with their tails. They do look very much like sharks in their swimming behavior, fin placement and shape, and the sheen of their skin but their skin is more like a catfishes skin than a shark.
#77
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Posted 25 June 2011 - 02:23 PM
Have they taken any more fish? I recall sometime back one of them ate a small banded sunfish and you were curious as to what they would do to a school of minnows. Have you ever tested that?
They will take an unwary fish occasionally but most fish avoid them quite easily, I was planning on catching a large number of pop-eyed mullet babies this spring (at about 3/4 of an inch or so) and see if they would eat them or if the mullet would naturally avoid them but other things intervened and I wasn't able to do that. Most of the fish they catch are fish that are prone to hovering either at the surface or in mid-water, the non aggressive posture of the paddlefish lures them into ignoring the paddlefish but the paddlefish will eventually grab them out of the water column, I'm not sure but I think this is an artifact of being confined and not representative of a feeding behavior they would employ in the wild but I have never observed wild paddlefish so i really don't know if other fish come to ignore the presence of the paddlefish in the wild like they do in an aquarium.
#78
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Posted 25 June 2011 - 02:50 PM
I have not seen them put their paddle out of the water but sometimes when they get excited feeding they will strike the top of the aquarium with their paddle and throw water out of the tank with their tails. They do look very much like sharks in their swimming behavior, fin placement and shape, and the sheen of their skin but their skin is more like a catfishes skin than a shark.
Interesting, do you know if adult paddlefish do this?
#79
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Posted 25 June 2011 - 03:22 PM
Interesting, do you know if adult paddlefish do this?
I have no idea, it's my hypothesis that the surface feeding behavior is linked to wild paddlefish feeding off floating insect larvae hatches like mayflies or similar large hatches of insects. I would be interested to know if wild paddlefish have been seen feeding on surface insects in this manner.
#80
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Posted 25 June 2011 - 03:37 PM
I have no idea, it's my hypothesis that the surface feeding behavior is linked to wild paddlefish feeding off floating insect larvae hatches like mayflies or similar large hatches of insects. I would be interested to know if wild paddlefish have been seen feeding on surface insects in this manner.
Hmm, I'll have to speak with one more qualified than myself. This would certainly open up new possibilities for paddlefish fishing.
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