Red Wolf!

[jjohnwm]

Now I’m curious about the altercation ?. Do tell.

Alas, I cannot. My wife was somewhat irked when she found out that the world had learned of her foolishness, and sternly forbade me to ever discuss it again. In deference to her willingness to feed the fish, I agreed; my digital lips are sealed. You'll have to search out the thread if you want to read it.

I'd start here:

Handling our wet pets.

I'd say for the past 12 months or so now I've been trying to get a little closer to my giant gourami. He'll feed out of my fingers which isn't a big deal really but what I really wanted to do was to be able to get to the stage where he was comfortable with me stroking, tickling and holding him...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

?

That's it! I've said too much! Just drop it!

It's post #7.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Good luck!

Love the wife story lol

 

[Omrit]

I had one of these years ago, and it was the sturdiest yet most unlucky fish I have seen.

Heater malfunctioned while I was out of town, and it lived in steaming water for who knows how long. Lost power for a week in an ice storm, the room he was in got extremely cold which also didn't kill him. He once jumped out and was not found until much later. His fins rotted off after this(guess they dried out), but he survived just fine without fins. I just put the food close to him, and eventually he was back to normal.


I got him because I heard they could be housed with medium sized fish like larger barbs or firemouth-type cichlids. He "killed for fun" the 2nd day I had him. Just shredded my cichlid grow-outs, pleco, and I forget what else. He was about 2 inches long in a 30 gallon at this time. I have heard other people whose red wolfs have been model citizens, but he just tore stuff up without eating it. I ended up not even attempting to put him in my larger communities since he was so viscous even that small.

Also they don't have that much energy. I imagine being bullied by another fish would be particularly bad for these guys as they just tucker out after a while. If I try tank mates with these guys again I will probably go for a large tank with some robust schooling fish first then think about other possibilities after.


For food mine never refused shrimp or worms. Would eat small fish, but didn't seem to hunt them down like shrimp/worms. To get him onto prepared foods I lowered the water level, this put the food in his strike range which worked. I dropped the pellets so they would splash and he struck them. After he had it once it registered as food, and he became willing to seek it out after that.


Shame these guys are kind of hard to get your hands on. They really are good fish for the hobby. Manageable size, no insane care requirements, as well as just being hardy in general. Much better options than a lot of more common predators really.


Have not seen any real evidence of captive breeding though which is such a shame.

 

[jjohnwm]

Shrimp! Why didn't I think of that? I have a 120 gallon tank that has a thriving colony of Cherry Shrimp. I have never really culled them and there are now numerous shrimp of various sizes that have reverted partially or completely to the drab natural colouration. They would be a great source of food for the wolf, and of course removing them would improve the overall genetics of the colony in terms of colour. I'll have to throw in a few dozen tomorrow.

I fly out tomorrow afternoon for another three-week work rotation, and it looks like I will do so without ever having seen my new fish.

 

[Omrit]

Shrimp! Why didn't I think of that? I have a 120 gallon tank that has a thriving colony of Cherry Shrimp. I have never really culled them and there are now numerous shrimp of various sizes that have reverted partially or completely to the drab natural colouration. They would be a great source of food for the wolf, and of course removing them would improve the overall genetics of the colony in terms of colour. I'll have to throw in a few dozen tomorrow.

I fly out tomorrow afternoon for another three-week work rotation, and it looks like I will do so without ever having seen my new fish.

I remember reading that in nature it eats mostly inverts. If you aren't sure if he is actually eating then dropping some shrimp in will guarantee have him eating.


The whole hiding thing I am not sure about. My tank had dense floating/surface plants which I heard made them more comfortable not sure how much it mattered though.

You can always try making hiding spots that the fish thinks is good, but you can see into. I used a piece of flat driftwood leaned against the glass, and a flower pot with the mouth facing the front of the tank. He seemed content with these spots, and I could always look at him.

 

[jjohnwm]

Well, I am going to update a thread on a fish that I have never seen since the first day I got it. I am currently away from home for a 3-week work rotation, and my wife is tending to my tanks. As I got the fish only a few days before flying out...not the way I like to do things, but the chance for one of these is rare around here...I certainly didn't want any commercial dried foods dumped in the tank willy-nilly, at least not before I am certain he will eat them. So I introduced another 20 half-grown guppies before leaving home, and left her strict instructions not to touch the tank. I had thought about adding some Cherry Shrimp as well, but I like to be more careful to drip-acclimate them when moving them and simply didn't have the time.

Today, a week later, I am informed by SWMBO that there are only three guppies left in the tank. This is both good news and bad news. Good...because it is almost certain proof that there is still a live Red Wolf in there. And bad...because I am stuck up here at work for another 2 weeks, so those three guppies are the end of his food supply.

And...there is no other evidence of the fish's continued existence, as my wife still hasn't seen it!!!

She's accustomed to my fascination with fish that might be considered reclusive, non-active, shy...but this is several steps beyond that. Apparently she even sat down and watched the tank for over an hour one evening, hoping to catch a glimpse...to no avail.

So now, I get to try and convince her to carefully open the jury-rigged, carefully-sealed-to-prevent-jumping cover of the tank...net another group of feeder guppies out of their tank and dump them in...and then replace the cover just as carefully and precisely as it had been before. I will also be able to experience the joy of her explaining to me that "At least these guppies look nice, not like this godforsaken invisible fish!" followed by "I really don't like doing this!' and wrapping up with the ever-popular "This is your hobby, not mine!"

I'm going to push for another 20 guppies to go in...that should keep him fed until some time into my third and final week away, so that when I get home he will be hungry and hopefully can begin switching over to frozen food, in preparation for the hoped-for transition to pellets and dried foods. But, really, any number she is willing to catch will have to do. The guppies literally swim into a net, so there won't be any difficulty catching them...beyond selling the idea in the first place, that is...

Can't wait, can't wait...

 

[Deadeye]

Well, I am going to update a thread on a fish that I have never seen since the first day I got it. I am currently away from home for a 3-week work rotation, and my wife is tending to my tanks. As I got the fish only a few days before flying out...not the way I like to do things, but the chance for one of these is rare around here...I certainly didn't want any commercial dried foods dumped in the tank willy-nilly, at least not before I am certain he will eat them. So I introduced another 20 half-grown guppies before leaving home, and left her strict instructions not to touch the tank. I had thought about adding some Cherry Shrimp as well, but I like to be more careful to drip-acclimate them when moving them and simply didn't have the time.

Today, a week later, I am informed by SWMBO that there are only three guppies left in the tank. This is both good news and bad news. Good...because it is almost certain proof that there is still a live Red Wolf in there. And bad...because I am stuck up here at work for another 2 weeks, so those three guppies are the end of his food supply.

And...there is no other evidence of the fish's continued existence, as my wife still hasn't seen it!!!

She's accustomed to my fascination with fish that might be considered reclusive, non-active, shy...but this is several steps beyond that. Apparently she even sat down and watched the tank for over an hour one evening, hoping to catch a glimpse...to no avail.

So now, I get to try and convince her to carefully open the jury-rigged, carefully-sealed-to-prevent-jumping cover of the tank...net another group of feeder guppies out of their tank and dump them in...and then replace the cover just as carefully and precisely as it had been before. I will also be able to experience the joy of her explaining to me that "At least these guppies look nice, not like this godforsaken invisible fish!" followed by "I really don't like doing this!' and wrapping up with the ever-popular "This is your hobby, not mine!"

I'm going to push for another 20 guppies to go in...that should keep him fed until some time into my third and final week away, so that when I get home he will be hungry and hopefully can begin switching over to frozen food, in preparation for the hoped-for transition to pellets and dried foods. But, really, any number she is willing to catch will have to do. The guppies literally swim into a net, so there won't be any difficulty catching them...beyond selling the idea in the first place, that is...

Can't wait, can't wait...

Good luck - might want to make that 40 at the rate he eats!
How densely planted is the tank?

 

[jjohnwm]

The ta

Good luck - might want to make that 40 at the rate he eats!
How densely planted is the tank?

It is a 40 breeder; bare tile bottom, so not actually planted in the typical sense, but jammed solid with Java Moss and thoroughly coated with Duckweed and a bit of Guppy Grass. A few pieces of driftwood, and a bunch of assorted pieces of clay pipe and flowerpots, oak leaf litter on the bottom. No shortage of hiding places, and a fish his size (around 3 inches) could and apparently does move all around without becoming visible.

I usually find that providing a .densely-structured tank causes shy fish to become more confident and thus more visible; not happening here. Part of the problem is definitely the fact that the desk is in the center of the room, so the tank itself is a bit exposed. Also, the basement is a quiet, low-traffic area. When I'm home I'm down there a lot, but now while I'm away, my wife goes down once a day to feed the other fish and then leaves...spiders, don't ya know...so the appearance of anyone suddenly tromping down the stairs is likely enough to spook the fish. He's probably cruising around and flexing his muscles all day until the basement door opens.

 

[Omrit]

Assuming these are not guppy fry that is a lot of food for him to eat in such a short time.


Ambush predators like wolf fish do not need to eat daily. I mean I would feed a small one often to speed along the growth, but it is not necessary. Besides I wouldn't overdo it especially if you are not around to actually observe the wolf.


If it were me I would ask your wife to wait a few days before adding more guppies.

 

[jjohnwm]

They're small guppies, around 0.5 - 0.75 inches in length. The wolf is perhaps 3 inches max, probably a bit less.

I am not one to "powerfeed" fish, or to try achieving maximum growth in minimum time. Certainly, an adult-sized predator can get by nicely on 1 or 2 feedings weekly. I wish I were home to monitor the food intake of this small fish more closely, but at its current small size I feel better knowing that there is always some food available. As I mentioned in my first post, it was quite thin when I first brought it home...probably less so now.

By my calculations, he has eaten approximately 22 or 23 small guppies over a span of 11 days...not at all excessive under the circumstances.