Prickly sculpin!

[warmouth]

Many of them found new homes when we took our tanks in another direction, the two we were going to keep Died to an evil pumkinseed we tried to introduce...who also found his way to a new home.

Ahhh, I see, sorry to hear that; my mean green that I used to have killed a checkered Madtom almost his size once, but then again he killed everything I tried to put in the 38g with him; anyways once again shes looking real good.

 

[Kaosu]

Ahhh, I see, sorry to hear that; my mean green that I used to have killed a checkered Madtom almost his size once, but then again he killed everything I tried to put in the 38g with him; anyways once again shes looking real good.

thank you...she is the reason my room is full of fish tanks.

Going strong without much change..but give me another week or so and ill have some new pics of her up...this is a really long running thread ^_^..im surprised more people cant keep these guys going.

I tried commenting on the sculpin thread that is up asking for help but my responses just got ignored ..oh well ^_^

 

[Umbra]

im surprised more people cant keep these guys going.

I find that my mottled sculpin does better with *less* care. I do very infrequent water changes (like once a month), clean the filter once in a while, pretty much just feed it and turn on the light and that's about it. My current sculpin is about ~3.5 inches and in an 8g by itself with a random clump of mixed moss (peacock/subwassertang/christmas moss) that takes up 2/3 of the surface/midwater area. It really diffuses the light and the sculpin seems to love it, always creeping around under it. Water temp in my basement is between 65-70 if left unheated.

All the sculpins I've lost in the past have been subjected to "regular" maintenance (water chance once or biweekly, filter cleaned every 2 weeks, etc). They did well for about a month or two then suddenly would just stress out and die, often with the tell-tale columnaris saddles. I've found that for many wild caught fish - they stress very easily in aquariums for at least the first few months (if not longer) and obsessing over water parameters seems to do more harm than good. The same thing happened with several of my mudminnow populations, they would always crash when I put them in a nice large tank with a good filter, steady water changes - over time they'd get columnaris and die. I collected about 1 dozen ~1 inch juveniles this summer, put them in a 1/3 filled 10 gallon with some mud on the bottom and a few floating plants, then threw in a handful of blackworms. No filter or air bubbler, no water changes. Just replaced the blackworms as needed. The bigger juvies are pushing well past 2 inches now and look fat and healthy.

Now I'm not telling people to neglect their fish, but I honestly think that certain wild caught fish (especially if you get them from a bait store) that have already been subjected to so much shock from capture and transit stress very easily when subjected to a large open tank with bright lighting and frequent human interference. I think for success with sculpins, have a mature tank well past the cycling stage ready to go with some good hiding spots and diffuse (if any) lighting. Have a good filter with mature media and high levels of dissolved CO2. Put the fish in there and try not to bother it for the first month or two besides offering it food. At this stage I prefer to use live aquatic food like blackworms, insect larvae and quarantined feeders so I don't have to remove uneaten food items/perform water changes as frequently.

 

[Kaosu]

I find that my mottled sculpin does better with *less* care. I do very infrequent water changes (like once a month), clean the filter once in a while, pretty much just feed it and turn on the light and that's about it. My current sculpin is about ~3.5 inches and in an 8g by itself with a random clump of mixed moss (peacock/subwassertang/christmas moss) that takes up 2/3 of the surface/midwater area. It really diffuses the light and the sculpin seems to love it, always creeping around under it. Water temp in my basement is between 65-70 if left unheated.

All the sculpins I've lost in the past have been subjected to "regular" maintenance (water chance once or biweekly, filter cleaned every 2 weeks, etc). They did well for about a month or two then suddenly would just stress out and die, often with the tell-tale columnaris saddles. I've found that for many wild caught fish - they stress very easily in aquariums for at least the first few months (if not longer) and obsessing over water parameters seems to do more harm than good. The same thing happened with several of my mudminnow populations, they would always crash when I put them in a nice large tank with a good filter, steady water changes - over time they'd get columnaris and die. I collected about 1 dozen ~1 inch juveniles this summer, put them in a 1/3 filled 10 gallon with some mud on the bottom and a few floating plants, then threw in a handful of blackworms. No filter or air bubbler, no water changes. Just replaced the blackworms as needed. The bigger juvies are pushing well past 2 inches now and look fat and healthy.

Now I'm not telling people to neglect their fish, but I honestly think that certain wild caught fish (especially if you get them from a bait store) that have already been subjected to so much shock from capture and transit stress very easily when subjected to a large open tank with bright lighting and frequent human interference. I think for success with sculpins, have a mature tank well past the cycling stage ready to go with some good hiding spots and diffuse (if any) lighting. Have a good filter with mature media and high levels of dissolved CO2. Put the fish in there and try not to bother it for the first month or two besides offering it food. At this stage I prefer to use live aquatic food like blackworms, insect larvae and quarantined feeders so I don't have to remove uneaten food items/perform water changes as frequently.

all good info!

I got mine wild from a like in high summer under an inch, she is now over 7 inches and only eats pellets. ..great fish.

i am glad others are keeping them.

......I will try and get update pics tonight.

 

[warmouth]

I find that my mottled sculpin does better with *less* care. I do very infrequent water changes (like once a month), clean the filter once in a while, pretty much just feed it and turn on the light and that's about it. My current sculpin is about ~3.5 inches and in an 8g by itself with a random clump of mixed moss (peacock/subwassertang/christmas moss) that takes up 2/3 of the surface/midwater area. It really diffuses the light and the sculpin seems to love it, always creeping around under it. Water temp in my basement is between 65-70 if left unheated.

All the sculpins I've lost in the past have been subjected to "regular" maintenance (water chance once or biweekly, filter cleaned every 2 weeks, etc). They did well for about a month or two then suddenly would just stress out and die, often with the tell-tale columnaris saddles. I've found that for many wild caught fish - they stress very easily in aquariums for at least the first few months (if not longer) and obsessing over water parameters seems to do more harm than good. The same thing happened with several of my mudminnow populations, they would always crash when I put them in a nice large tank with a good filter, steady water changes - over time they'd get columnaris and die. I collected about 1 dozen ~1 inch juveniles this summer, put them in a 1/3 filled 10 gallon with some mud on the bottom and a few floating plants, then threw in a handful of blackworms. No filter or air bubbler, no water changes. Just replaced the blackworms as needed. The bigger juvies are pushing well past 2 inches now and look fat and healthy.

Now I'm not telling people to neglect their fish, but I honestly think that certain wild caught fish (especially if you get them from a bait store) that have already been subjected to so much shock from capture and transit stress very easily when subjected to a large open tank with bright lighting and frequent human interference. I think for success with sculpins, have a mature tank well past the cycling stage ready to go with some good hiding spots and diffuse (if any) lighting. Have a good filter with mature media and high levels of dissolved CO2. Put the fish in there and try not to bother it for the first month or two besides offering it food. At this stage I prefer to use live aquatic food like blackworms, insect larvae and quarantined feeders so I don't have to remove uneaten food items/perform water changes as frequently.

Very interesting, Ive had the same sort of experience in the past with two Chinese Paradise fish; I think some fish do well in those situations as long as you have certain types of plants or moss that acts as a natural filter to help soak up ammonia and toxins; I also think that sometimes just having plant cover makes many fish feel more secure.

 

[Kaosu]

Hello everyone...Time to bump this old thread.

Shelob still lives!...and is fat and happy.
her tank sprung a peak a few weeks back so her temp tank is kinda crappy for taking pics threw..its all scratched up but holding water.
she is...ooh nearly 4 years old now.

 

[Chub_by]

That thing looks so fat and healthy! Well done

 

[Kaosu]

That thing looks so fat and healthy! Well done

Fat and lazy!!

she rarely eats feeders anymore..only male plattys I like it seems..and I am pretty sure they just bump in to her mouth at night and she swallows.
She is a stealthy pellet hunting machine.

 

[tlindsey]

She looks very happy

 

[Aweshade9]

Hello everyone...Time to bump this old thread.

Shelob still lives!...and is fat and happy.
her tank sprung a peak a few weeks back so her temp tank is kinda crappy for taking pics threw..its all scratched up but holding water.
she is...ooh nearly 4 years old now.

View attachment 975461

what the difference between prickly and mottled sculpins