Before anyone says anything, I've googled, I've youtubed, and I've searched. Now I want to hear from those who have actual personal experience keeping greater sirens - enclosure requirements, habits, feeding, compatibility with other animals such as fish, etc.
Anyone have experience with siren lacertina?
- Thread starter rudukai13
- Start date
they cannot go with other fish, it will stress them out way too much and unless you have a huge tank, you should not try it. They are active and fun to watch so they make a good display animal. When I got mine, I read multiple times that you did not need a secure lid because they will not try and leave the water, THIS IS NOT TRUE. I found mine dead on the floor behind his tank. I am not sure if he jumped out or crawled out but in either case, a lid would have stopped it.
I've been keeping Siren intermedia for a few years, and I'm going to get some S. lacertina tomorrow. I will reiterate what Snakeguy said- a secure lid is crucial. They need hides and cover to feel secure, but will spend a lot of time in the open, cruising all over the tank. I would consider a 75 gallon the minimum size for one S. lacertina for life. Gentle current is best.
Water params are not that important as long as they are stable. Ambient temp is fine; if you want to breed them you'll probably need a cool-down period. I have used various substrates and am now using sand. Sirens are gape-and-suck feeders and will inhale smaller substrate particles when feeding. I never had any issues with impaction when keeping them on gravel (they always managed to spit the gravel out), but it worried me so I switched to sand. Bare glass would be fine too.
They are not picky eaters. My guys love nightcrawlers and bloodworms, and will also eat pellets, flakes, live or thawed shrimp, live daphnia and scuds, etc. My lessers are very bad at catching fish (I kept them with bitesize killies for more than a year and never had any killies go missing), but I have heard of people giving feeder goldies to greater sirens so maybe they are more efficient. They would probably also take pieces of fish fillets.
I disagree with Snakeguy that they can't be kept with fish, but fish selection is crucial. You need peaceable fish that won't fit in the siren's mouth, pick at its gills, or steal its food. I have had luck with bluefin killifish, pirate perch, and blackstripe topminnows; on the other hand, Seminole killifish and mosquitofish proved too nippy. Greater sirens may be too big to work with these fish.
Water params are not that important as long as they are stable. Ambient temp is fine; if you want to breed them you'll probably need a cool-down period. I have used various substrates and am now using sand. Sirens are gape-and-suck feeders and will inhale smaller substrate particles when feeding. I never had any issues with impaction when keeping them on gravel (they always managed to spit the gravel out), but it worried me so I switched to sand. Bare glass would be fine too.
They are not picky eaters. My guys love nightcrawlers and bloodworms, and will also eat pellets, flakes, live or thawed shrimp, live daphnia and scuds, etc. My lessers are very bad at catching fish (I kept them with bitesize killies for more than a year and never had any killies go missing), but I have heard of people giving feeder goldies to greater sirens so maybe they are more efficient. They would probably also take pieces of fish fillets.
I disagree with Snakeguy that they can't be kept with fish, but fish selection is crucial. You need peaceable fish that won't fit in the siren's mouth, pick at its gills, or steal its food. I have had luck with bluefin killifish, pirate perch, and blackstripe topminnows; on the other hand, Seminole killifish and mosquitofish proved too nippy. Greater sirens may be too big to work with these fish.
Thanks guys! I should clarify when I asked about fish - I really meant will it for the most part leave them alone. I understand that fish are a part of it's natural diet and as such it's a risk when keeping anything with them, so I was already prepared for it possibly picking one or two off every now and then. I was thinking about going with some blind cave tetras, as they can survive the same temperatures that the siren requires and I have always been fascinated with them. I'm keeping a few right now and as of yet I have had no problems with them being nippy.
Noto, could you post some photos of your setups for both the lesser and greaters?
Noto, could you post some photos of your setups for both the lesser and greaters?
Here's the lessers' setup:
It's a 120 gallon quarter-round riparium-style tank, moderately planted, with a small sump for filtration. Definitely more tank than they need. You can see there is plenty of cover- driftwood, plants, plant baskets. Besides the two sirens there are four blackspotted killifish, three pirate perch, a sailfin molly, and some physid and planorbid snails. I intend to introduce some grass shrimp as well.
I previously had them in a 65 gallon riparium. I think they would have been fine in a 29 gallon; they will use as much space as you give them, but don't seem to suffer if they have less space. Of course, they are also much smaller than greater sirens.
I haven't set up the tank for the greaters yet; I'm buying the previous owner's setup as well as the animals.
It's a 120 gallon quarter-round riparium-style tank, moderately planted, with a small sump for filtration. Definitely more tank than they need. You can see there is plenty of cover- driftwood, plants, plant baskets. Besides the two sirens there are four blackspotted killifish, three pirate perch, a sailfin molly, and some physid and planorbid snails. I intend to introduce some grass shrimp as well.
I previously had them in a 65 gallon riparium. I think they would have been fine in a 29 gallon; they will use as much space as you give them, but don't seem to suffer if they have less space. Of course, they are also much smaller than greater sirens.
I haven't set up the tank for the greaters yet; I'm buying the previous owner's setup as well as the animals.
Make sure you post pictures of the greater setup when you get a chance. Was there a specific reason you went with a riparium setup for the lessers? What would you suggest as a minimum tank size for a single greater? EDIT Nevermind, reread your first post, 75 gallons.
One of my guys hides more than the other, but they both come out and swim around the tank both night and day. I'd say at least one siren is visible about 50% of the time. They investigate every part of the tank, getting up into the plant baskets and uprooting some of my Ludwigia. I actually lost my first siren because it decided to investigate the filter intake; be sure your intake is screened or has a prefilter.
A note on feeding: sirens have poor eyesight and usually just nose around until their snout hits something food-like. This can result in feeding bites, so watch for this if you have more than one animal in the tank. It can also result in live foods getting away; this isn't a problem with aquatic feeders of course, but nightcrawlers may evade the sirens, burrow into the substrate, and die. It's not a bad idea to feed worms using your fingers or tongs.
A note on feeding: sirens have poor eyesight and usually just nose around until their snout hits something food-like. This can result in feeding bites, so watch for this if you have more than one animal in the tank. It can also result in live foods getting away; this isn't a problem with aquatic feeders of course, but nightcrawlers may evade the sirens, burrow into the substrate, and die. It's not a bad idea to feed worms using your fingers or tongs.