Mixing marbled lungfishes

F

flopterus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 5, 2015
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France
Hi,

Someone has already tried to keep 2 marbled african lungfishes (2 x aethiopicus) in the same tank ?

Someone has experienced it ?

I know it's risky but maybe it's like polypterus : some sellers say that polypterus are very agressive so we can't mix them. But that's wrong.

So i wonder about MAL...

Thks for your answer !
 
T

TheLastKon

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 18, 2015
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Short answer no it won’t work.

Long answer, it has worked before with other hobbyist but it’s really really really really really really really rare. I’ve seen one wal pair in pics and heard of one marble pair by word of mouth. The wal pair said he had 30+ lungfish before he got a pair. The marble pair owner said he brought the pair from the vendor. I’m at 6 lungfish and have seen nothing but aggression towards eachother. I have read articles that state most of the lungfish caught are females; at a ratio of 1:40 (or something ridiculous like that) so I’m guessing that’s why the pairing rate is so low. You could still try...my experience is that they will show aggression really quickly. It’s the only thing they do quickly. Within the first 30 min of seeing eachother they normally start showing aggression toward one another. From what I heard if they’re a pair no aggression from day one. So as soon as there’s aggression it’s time to seperate and try with another Fish.
 
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TheLastKon

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 18, 2015
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Samaka said:
That's interesting information LastKon, especially about the ratio!
Click to expand...
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1988.tb00965.x/abstract

This is an article about one of the lungfish species. 1:98! The one I was referring to was a different article about some lady who said she was able to sex them without cutting them open...can’t find that article though. And FYI she never said how she was able to sex them. The article talked more about her than the Fish which was stupid.
 
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flopterus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 5, 2015
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Thank ou very much for your very interesting answer !

I wouldn't want to have a pair but only 2 or 3 MAL but now I know, I'll keep my MAL alone :)
 
F

flopterus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 5, 2015
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France
A fench or german seller said "the only species of African lungfish in which a scientific research has been done in respect of external differences of the sexes is P. annectens. According to that the males have a broader and longer head compared with the females".
So when they have a lot of 20-25 cm P. annectens in stock, they are able to sex them.
 
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thebiggerthebetter

thebiggerthebetter

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I have had two little MALs in 240 gal. They were ~5"-6" when I got them from Wesley Wong of Rare Fish, California, USA about 4-5 months ago. They didn't keep together but went to different parts of the 240 gal.

I don't know how big they are now - they sit in their logs all the time. Both do. Perhaps in one big log or in its different hollow "roots". I can't be certain. They do feed well though I believe.

I am sure that at some point, I will have to separate. I appreciate very much the knowledge I got from this thread.
 
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