Setting Up the Right Aquarium for Your Lungfish

[Wiggles92]

Author(s): Wiggles92 (Ryan Bing)
Edited, Arranged, and Referenced by: Wiggles92

*** All Information Copyright 2011 the authors and www.MonsterFishKeepers.com OR used with permission. All Images Copyright 2011 the correspondingly credited and used with permission.

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Setting Up the Right Aquarium for Your Lungfish

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There are really only a few criteria that must be taken into consideration when choosing and setting up an aquarium for a lungfish:
1. Aquarium Size (Volume and Dimensions)
2. Filtration
3. Heating and Water Temperature
4. Water Depth
5. Decorations

These five criteria will be discussed in the next few posts.

 

[Wiggles92]

Author(s): Wiggles92 (Ryan Bing)
Edited, Arranged, and Referenced by: Wiggles92

*** All Information Copyright 2011 the authors and www.MonsterFishKeepers.com OR used with permission. All Images Copyright 2011 the correspondingly credited and used with permission.

No material (listed above) may be reproduced without permission.

Aquarium Size (Volume and Dimensions)

When it comes to choosing an aquarium for your lungfish, two things must be taken into consideration: the dimensions of the aquarium, especially the footprint, and the volume of the aquarium. Please note that all dimensions will be listed as length x width x height in inches and all volumes will be in gallons.

Lungfishes, being very sedentary fishes, do not need a tremendous amount of space in their aquariums. Most lungfishes will do just fine in an aquarium that allows them to fully stretch out and turn around with ease. The volume of the aquarium is not as important as the footprint, but more water volume will help to keep the aquarium water parameters more stable. Please remember that the footprint of the aquarium is also much more important than the height of the aquarium since lungfishes tend to “walk” along the bottom of the aquarium and are poor swimmers. The height of the aquarium also comes into play with water depth, but that subject will be discussed later.

A standard 100 gallon aquarium (72” x 18” x 18&#8221 will be sufficient for housing the average adult of any of the African lungfishes (Protopterus spp.) for life, but a smaller aquarium would be fine for the gilled African lungfish (Protopterus amphibius). A standard 180 gallon aquarium (72” x 24” x 24&#8221 will be sufficient for housing the average adult South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa) for life. A standard 280 gallon aquarium (72” x 36” x 24&#8221 will be sufficient for housing the average adult Australian lungfish (Neoceradotus forsteri) for life. Please remember that these aquarium sizes are just the recommended minimums and a larger aquarium will certainly be appreciated by your lungfish.

 

[Wiggles92]

Author(s): Wiggles92 (Ryan Bing)
Edited, Arranged, and Referenced by: Wiggles92

*** All Information Copyright 2011 the authors and www.MonsterFishKeepers.com OR used with permission. All Images Copyright 2011 the correspondingly credited and used with permission.

No material (listed above) may be reproduced without permission.

Filtration

Powerful filtration is necessary for maintaining the proper water parameters for a lungfish since these fishes are extremely messy and produce a large amount of waste. Be sure to have an extremely high turnover rate in order to cope with the large amount of waste that the lungfish will produce. These fishes prefer having little to no current in their water, so there must be a low flow rate which may be difficult to achieve because of the high turnover rate.

The most important component of your filtration system for a lungfish is biological filtration because of how messy these fish are; attempts to provide biological filtration in the form of live plants will most likely prove unsuccessful because lungfishes enjoy digging up plants and may eat them. Mechanical filtration is fairly important because it will help to keep the water clear, and chemical filtration is the least important of the three types of filtration, but it will help to keep your water parameters within acceptable limits.

 

[Wiggles92]

Author(s): Wiggles92 (Ryan Bing)
Edited, Arranged, and Referenced by: Wiggles92

*** All Information Copyright 2011 the authors and www.MonsterFishKeepers.com OR used with permission. All Images Copyright 2011 the correspondingly credited and used with permission.

No material (listed above) may be reproduced without permission.

Heating and Water Temperature

Lungfishes are very hardy and can be kept within a wide range of water temperatures. The water temperature can be maintained somewhere in the 70° F to 85° F range, but 78° F will work for all species of lungfish. Please remember to keep their water temperature stable.

Make sure that your lungfish is unable to lie against its heater; it may get burned which can lead to an infection. Remember to use a heater guard or have the heater in a sump or other location that the lungfish is unable to access.

 

[Wiggles92]

Author(s): Wiggles92 (Ryan Bing)
Edited, Arranged, and Referenced by: Wiggles92

*** All Information Copyright 2011 the authors and www.MonsterFishKeepers.com OR used with permission. All Images Copyright 2011 the correspondingly credited and used with permission.

No material (listed above) may be reproduced without permission.

Water Depth

Water depth is very important for properly maintaining a lungfish because these fishes must have access to the surface since they breathe air. The water level must be kept low enough to allow the lungfish to easily surface for air since these fishes are not powerful swimmers. Generally, try to keep the water depth to being no deeper than the length of the lungfish, but the water can be shallower if need be. In the case of young lungfishes, floating plants can be added to allow them to rest near the surface in order to more readily breathe air. Australian lungfish can be kept at deeper water levels because they rely more on their gills for breathing rather than their lung while African lungfishes and the South American lungfish rely heavily on their lungs for breathing.

 

[Wiggles92]

Author(s): Wiggles92 (Ryan Bing)
Edited, Arranged, and Referenced by: Wiggles92

*** All Information Copyright 2011 the authors and www.MonsterFishKeepers.com OR used with permission. All Images Copyright 2011 the correspondingly credited and used with permission.

No material (listed above) may be reproduced without permission.

Decorations

Lungfishes are notorious for rearranging the decorations in their aquariums, so this behavior must be taken into consideration when planning out the décor for a lungfish aquarium. Sand is the preferred substrate because the lungfish can easily dig in it, and there is no fear of impaction since they generally just blow it through their gill slits while digging. Smooth stones, such as river pebbles, may be added to the aquarium, but they must be too large to be eaten and too small to hurt the lungfish should it decide to dig under the stone(s). Larger smooth stones may be used provided that they rest firmly on the bottom of the aquarium and are too large for the lungfish to move them. As previously mentioned, plants are not recommended because the lungfish will inevitably dig them up and may eat them, but floating plants should be fine, especially with young lungfishes. Driftwood can be added to their aquarium provided that it has been properly cleaned. Lungfish seem to prefer having a hiding place so provide your lungfish with a piece of driftwood or a cave that it can hide in or behind.