The End-All Mini Monster Thread

[wantokeeptrout]

I'm about out of fish but this hopefully is a monster:

Water scorpion, toe bug

Care level: easy

size; up to 2 inches not including tail snorkel

PH: same as native fish

temp range: 60-74

Origin: north america

Temperment: ambush predator, slightly territorial

Tankmates: larger fish that won't attack it

tank size: 10g for 1 should be ok, make sure it can easily acess the surface

Note: breathers air through it's tail' so water level should be low and the scorpion capable of breathing, can kill prey the same size as itself, requires cover to feel safe. Feeds by sucking the body fluids out of prey until only a husk remains

 

[wantokeeptrout]

Warty frogfish
care: easy for a saltwater fish
size: rarely more than 7 or 8 inches
PH: 8
temp: 79 farenheight
origin: pacific reefs
tankmates, larger peaceful fish
tank size: a 30 would work for 1 or 2
notes, a cool fish that can walk, go fishing for prey, and eat fish bigger than themselves. Also they are very hardy for a saltwater fish.

 

[wantokeeptrout]

Peacock mantis shrimp

care: moderate

size- up to 8 inches

pH 7.8-8.3

origin, oceans worldwide

temp, prefers 79 farenheight but can adapt to cooler water

tankmates non agressive topwater fish like large damsels. they are very territorial with one another. but don't chance expensive fish and altogeather avoid invertebrates.

Tank size, a 20 for 1, avoid other mantis shrimp or they might kill each other. Never use glass or they might shatter it, acrylic is the best choice

notes: will eat anything they can catch. they can strike with the force of a bullet to crush open the shells of crustaceans, their favourite prey, they can break fingers. a neat and very intelligent mini monster. Anything with copper in it will kill them, mostly fish medication.

 

[Motoxer777]

Common Name: Fire Tale Gourami
Care Level: Easy
Size: 1.5 Inches
PH: 6.5 - 7.5
Temperature: 75 - 85
Temperament: Peaceful
Tank Mates: Non-Agressive
Tank Size: 10 Gal. and up

(This one is from my planted tank)

 

[wantokeeptrout]

Nudibranchs

Care level: Extremly difficult

size: up to 1ft, but most are between 2 and 12 cm

PH KH: not sure, mimic their habitat, varies with species

Temp: Varies with species

Origin: shallow oceans worldwide

temperment: peaceful

Tankmates: other peaceful fish. many are poisonous and are colorful to warn predators

Diet: usually each species specializes on one particular food, such as sponges, anemones, other nudibranchs, or snails. Often they will only eat one particular species of prey. Feeding them is very difficult. And can be impossible with species imported from tropical areas. some species are cannibalistic. One pelagic species feeds on jellyfish

Tank size: a 10 should be fine for smaller ones if kept without many fish. Use a 30 for larger organisms and a 100 for the biggest of these inverts

notes: They are rare in the hobby and almost always in poor health in pet stores. They are often sold as algae eaters when in reality feeding them is almost impossible, especially if they are an exotic imported speces. If you want to keep a nudibranch the best thing to do is catch a species that lives in your area after researching their habitat and what they eat and catch that prey live off beaches, like sponges or anemones. Best just to replicate the ocean near where you caatch them They can go approx 2 weeks without feeding and remain healthy. An amazing collection of species but you must be very dedicated to their care if you want to success. There are many species and almost all are very colorful and unique. I posted tropical species but there are equally nice species in cooler waters at higher latitudes such as the frosted nudibranch posted below. Good luck and if you make the commitment to caring for them. Note that they cannot tolerate metals like copper or chamicals.

P.S Sorry but this might be impossible if you do not live near a coastal area

my personal favs are: frosted nudibranch, pajama nudibranch, clown nudibranch, sea lemons, Spanish Shawl, Giant Dendronotus, Three-lined Aeolid, Hooded Nudibranch, blue dragon nudibranch

 

[Tropicalfish34]

Scientific Name: Lepomis megalotis

Common Name: Longear sunfish

Care Level: Easy

Size in Aquaria: 13cm to 22cm depending on species

pH to kH range: Not picky

Temp Range: 60-75F

Origin: From the Great Lakes to Mexico

Temperament: Aggressive

Compatible Tankmates: Other sunfish and bullhead catfish

Diet: Meaty foods such as feeder minnows, earthworms frozen or live bloodworms and tubifex worms, live insects and leeches, and pellets.

Tank Size for adult: 30 for smaller subspecies 55 for larger species.

Narrative: One of the many sunfish species.

References: http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddballs,%20Longear%20Sunfish.htm, and http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/26034.html

 

[wantokeeptrout]

Nudibranchs

Care level: Extremly difficult

size: up to 1ft, but most are between 2 and 12 cm

PH KH: not sure, mimic their habitat, varies with species

Temp: Varies with species

Origin: shallow oceans worldwide

temperment: peaceful

Tankmates: other peaceful fish. many are poisonous and are colorful to warn predators

Diet: usually each species specializes on one particular food, such as sponges, anemones, other nudibranchs, or snails. Often they will only eat one particular species of prey. Feeding them is very difficult. And can be impossible with species imported from tropical areas. some species are cannibalistic. One pelagic species feeds on jellyfish

Tank size: a 10 should be fine for smaller ones if kept without many fish. Use a 30 for larger organisms and a 100 for the biggest of these inverts

notes: They are rare in the hobby and almost always in poor health in pet stores. They are often sold as algae eaters when in reality feeding them is almost impossible, especially if they are an exotic imported speces. If you want to keep a nudibranch the best thing to do is catch a species that lives in your area after researching their habitat and what they eat and catch that prey live off beaches, like sponges or anemones. Best just to replicate the ocean near where you caatch them They can go approx 2 weeks without feeding and remain healthy. An amazing collection of species but you must be very dedicated to their care if you want to success. There are many species and almost all are very colorful and unique. I posted tropical species but there are equally nice species in cooler waters at higher latitudes such as the frosted nudibranch posted below. Good luck and if you make the commitment to caring for them. Note that they cannot tolerate metals like copper or chamicals.

P.S Sorry but this might be impossible if you do not live near a coastal area

my personal favs are: frosted nudibranch, pajama nudibranch, clown nudibranch, sea lemons, Spanish Shawl, Giant Dendronotus, Three-lined Aeolid, Hooded Nudibranch, blue dragon nudibranch

I forgot to mention that some species may "Nuke" the tank if they are stressed be carefyul with these awesome little guys

 

[wantokeeptrout]

Typhlonectes natans

Caecilian
sometimes sold as: medusa worm, rubber eel, eel worm, worm fish

Care difficulty: moderate

Size: up to 50 cm, usually smaller

KH: soft water, PH is irrelevent

Temp: tropical temperatures are fine

origin: south america, some species from southern asia and africa.

Temperment: peaceful but will eat other fish if they fit in its mouth

tankmates: larger peaceful fish, they are delicate and cannot take a beating from aggressive fish, they can eat fish the size of swordtails no problem.

Diet: fish and invertebrates

tank size for adult: 40 breeder or a 55, keep in small groups if possible

a worm like amphibian that breathes air. they have delicate skin so avoid any sharp edges in the tank, provide cover and change the scenery every now and then to allow them to explore. They spend most of the day coiled under cover. Interestingly it appears that the neck of the caecilian is the elongated part, and they have short or no tails. They shed their skin regularly and are somewhat sensative to water quality so clean the tank frequently.

reference: http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Amphibian, Caecilian Worms.htm

 

[Wiggles92]

Would anyone actually be willing to try and catch a lamprey?

I just noticed this post, but I had some as pets last year; those, however, were least brook lampreys rather than sea lampreys.

They're definitely some of the most boring pets ever; you would never even know that they were in the aquarium unless you started digging around in the sand which would then scare them out for a whole five minutes before they buried themselves again. Ones that were kept on bare bottom tended to get stressed and died fairly quickly (in a few days), so the substrate was a necessity. Their one upside is that they eat organic particles while in their larval stage (ammocoete stage), so they basically fed off of the waste of the other fishes that were in with them. They were kept in a standard 29 gallon aquarium by the way.

I eventually got tired of them and fed them to my gars; the gars really seemed to enjoy them.

 

[wantokeeptrout]

I just noticed this post, but I had some as pets last year; those, however, were least brook lampreys rather than sea lampreys.

They're definitely some of the most boring pets ever; you would never even know that they were in the aquarium unless you started digging around in the sand which would then scare them out for a whole five minutes before they buried themselves again. Ones that were kept on bare bottom tended to get stressed and died fairly quickly (in a few days), so the substrate was a necessity. Their one upside is that they eat organic particles while in their larval stage (ammocoete stage), so they basically fed off of the waste of the other fishes that were in with them. They were kept in a standard 29 gallon aquarium by the way.

I eventually got tired of them and fed them to my gars; the gars really seemed to enjoy them.

brook lamprey are not parasitic as adults. they only eat as larva, then as adult's they're only task is to spawn. the lampreys that are parasitic such as sea and the silvers i posted as adults would probably be more interesting especially considering they are behemoths compared to many brook lamprey species