Jump to content


Banded Sculpin feeding.


  • Please log in to reply
20 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 12 September 2014 - 07:44 AM

Here is a quick video of my Sculpin eating a crawfish.

Sculpin Feeding:

#2 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 12 September 2014 - 07:53 AM

Great looking fish! (As long as you don't fit in his mouth!) Nice looking tank, too. Thanks for posting.
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#3 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 12 September 2014 - 08:04 AM

Thanks! They are so sinister looking. I'm pretty happy with the tank just wish I could get my SRBD to brighten up.

#4 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 13 September 2014 - 11:11 PM

Feeding young sculpin.:

#5 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 13 October 2014 - 06:43 PM

Well he eats from my hand now.

Feeding Banded Sculpin by hand.:

#6 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 14 October 2014 - 05:26 AM

That's a satisfied fish. Amazing how large a chunk o' chow they can make disappear in a gulp! Too dang cool. Might need to get me a sculpin, too. Funny how the little feller looks like a bearded dragon baby when you see him head on...
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#7 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 14 October 2014 - 06:21 AM

Those darters are on borrowed time. Very cool video cjohns. How long did it take you to have it eat out of your hand? I've always wanted to try wetting my hand, letting flake stick to my skin, allowing it to dry, then stick it in the tank and let all the shiners/dace go crazy. Just a dream at this point.
Nick L.

#8 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 October 2014 - 08:41 AM

Those darters are on borrowed time. Very cool video cjohns. How long did it take you to have it eat out of your hand? I've always wanted to try wetting my hand, letting flake stick to my skin, allowing it to dry, then stick it in the tank and let all the shiners/dace go crazy. Just a dream at this point.

I would say it took about two months. For a long time I would have to release it before he would strike. Now he is spoiled. ..lol So far so good with the two greensides and young sculpin. No signs of interest yet. One greenside is pushing 5 inches and the other around 4. I did learn over the weekend that small stone rollers and shiners are fair game. He would not eat and I wondered why until he turned sideways. Then I quickly noticed it looked like he had ate a golf ball. I did a quick head count and two small Shiners and a Stoneroller were missing. He then turned and slowly ate the food I had just dropped in. I was actually worried he might explode. The next couple of days he is on a diet.

Attached Files



#9 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 October 2014 - 08:46 AM

That's a satisfied fish. Amazing how large a chunk o' chow they can make disappear in a gulp! Too dang cool. Might need to get me a sculpin, too. Funny how the little feller looks like a bearded dragon baby when you see him head on...


Yes it is very amazing. The little fella got his first taste of a baby crawfish over the weekend. I was shocked! They are so aggressive. The large one name is RAMBO. I have yet to name the little guy.

#10 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guest_Skipjack_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 October 2014 - 11:41 AM

What are your tank temperatures like? I always did well with them, but my basement is pretty cool. I suspect that carolinae is a bit more tolerant than bairdi. I have seen both species in some pretty warm streams, but there are always places where they can seek out cooler temps where ground water flows in and what not. In the Little Miami they are easy to find during the cooler months. Not so much during the summer, I suspect that they retreat to areas with more ground water in flow during these times, and that is why I don't see many. Very interesting fish.

#11 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 October 2014 - 01:13 PM

What are your tank temperatures like? I always did well with them, but my basement is pretty cool.


My tanks are in the basement as well. They stay around 72°-74°. This winter I'm sure I'll have them running in the high 60's

#12 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guest_Skipjack_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 October 2014 - 02:53 PM

Yep, that is what it takes. Too bad there are not effective low cost chillers, if there were, I am sure more people would keep sculpin. Eventually your guys are going to want a tank of their own. As mentioned before the darters are on borrowed time. Keep us posted.

#13 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 October 2014 - 03:28 PM

Yep, that is what it takes. Too bad there are not effective low cost chillers, if there were, I am sure more people would keep sculpin. Eventually your guys are going to want a tank of their own. As mentioned before the darters are on borrowed time. Keep us posted.


I have a separate darter tank. I was just hoping the greensides would be large enough to not interest him. My 72 gallon is currently under reconstruction. I'm thinking of doing sunfish in it. I was wondering if any one has ever kept sculpin with longear? Do you think the sunfish would stress them out?

#14 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 14 October 2014 - 05:21 PM

Na, a large sculpin with med. to lg. sunfish is no problem. Sculpin frequently sit right out in the open (in streams) with much larger predators about. Hence the very effective cryptic coloration.
Nick L.

#15 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 October 2014 - 06:08 PM

Na, a large sculpin with med. to lg. sunfish is no problem. Sculpin frequently sit right out in the open (in streams) with much larger predators about. Hence the very effective cryptic coloration.


They blend in so well that sometimes I can't find them and they are right in front of my face.

#16 Guest_Kanus_*

Guest_Kanus_*
  • Guests

Posted 15 October 2014 - 07:30 AM

I don't know if this is widespread for carolinae but in some of the streams down here in SW Virginia we get some that have incredibly pretty orange background coloration. We also get some downright monsters, with 5-6 inchers being pretty common. Once I saw some of these impressive neon-orange and black toadfish-looking, suckers, I started thinking it might be cool to get a single large specimen and keep it in a ten gallon. They're pretty sedentary, and I imagine after a while it would probably beg for food and/or eat out of your hand (probably trying to actually swallow fingers, knowing their attitude!) This certainly reinforces my curiosity about having such a setup. Cool fish.

#17 Guest_cjohns_*

Guest_cjohns_*
  • Guests

Posted 15 October 2014 - 10:45 AM

They definitely learn who feeds them. As soon as I walk into the room he gets very excited.

#18 cjohns

cjohns
  • NANFA Guest
  • Kentucky

Posted 27 November 2014 - 10:07 PM

Sculpin eating silverside:
20L River manifold
36 Gallon bow front stream
72 Gallon bow front

#19 cjohns

cjohns
  • NANFA Guest
  • Kentucky

Posted 28 November 2014 - 12:53 AM

It's hard to believe the size food this guy can handle.
20L River manifold
36 Gallon bow front stream
72 Gallon bow front

#20 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 02 December 2014 - 08:42 AM

Don't be too surprised one day when one of your shiners goes missing. Then another. And another....!
Nick L.




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users