Hey there monster fish keepers. New to the forum and to monster fish. As the title indicates I'm looking for a cool fish to fill the entertaining/interesting wet pet role as well as to manage culls from some of my breeding projects. Currently the largest tank I can work with is a 40 breeder, and though I'd like larger tanks in the future I think playing the "I'll upgrade when I need to" game isn't the right move, so ideally I'd get a fish (or a few depending) that can live it's entire life in a 40 breeder and be ok if it HAD to. I'll leave the option of upgrading open, but I think planning for the possibility that life dictates otherwise is the smart option to bank on. I'm big on planted aquariums, and a low tech heavily planted tank with an oversized canister filter is the plan. As for the culls I'd need to feed off, as of now the largest species I'm breeding is Gambusia holbrooki (fun marbled population from the everglades) and while most culls wouldn't be full grown, having the option to feed a full grown G. holbrooki female wouldn't be a bad thing. All that said though I'd like a fish that could eat prepared foods as a staple with the culls being some enrichment here and there. I've searched through many threads on this forum and others and thus far the fish I see coming up repeatedly that could meet all these requirements are red wolf fish (E. erythrinus), leopard bush fish (C. acutirostre), and Senegal bichir (P. senegalus). I'm interested in all three and the decision will likely come down to availability and behavior. It seems P. senegalus and C. acutirostre are pretty easy to come by with E. erythrinus being a bit more difficult to find, though not impossible online. Purple spotted gudgeons are another cool option I came across but those seem to be pretty difficult to find and expensive. I'm curious to hear others experiences with these fish, and what everyone thinks will or won't be a good fit. I'm very open to suggestions beyond what I've listed as well.
I'll cut myself off there as it's almost 6:30am here in east Tennessee and I've yet to go to sleep(fish research rabbithole. I'm sure some of you know how it goes lol). If I left out any details or something doesn't make sense just let me know!
Thanks
I'll cut myself off there as it's almost 6:30am here in east Tennessee and I've yet to go to sleep(fish research rabbithole. I'm sure some of you know how it goes lol). If I left out any details or something doesn't make sense just let me know!
Thanks