Stargazer Monster Fish

[simonas]

has anyone kept one and have first hand experience of keeping them

There is one in my LFS only about 2-3 inch long?

very cute hides in the sand but we switched tank light out and it became more active , it is in freshwater

I have a 24inch tank in the garage thats empty I may set that up for it

All I;ve seen is they need sand and like live food, has anyone had them feeding frozen food?

 

[BlackWidow]

has anyone kept one and have first hand experience of keeping them

There is one in my LFS only about 2-3 inch long?

very cute hides in the sand but we switched tank light out and it became more active , it is in freshwater

I have a 24inch tank in the garage thats empty I may set that up for it

All I;ve seen is they need sand and like live food, has anyone had them feeding frozen food?

I dont know of its the same fish, but look up stargazer fish in wikipedia all are marine fish and highly poisonous!

 

[nmonks]

I agree with BlackWidow, you need to be very careful here. While there are a few strictly freshwater stonefish-like creatures, notably Thalassophryne amazonica, most such fish are brackish water to marine things like Notesthes robusta, Neovespicula depressifrons and Batrachomoeus trispinosus. There are even catfish, things like Chaca chaca, that could be easily confused with stonefish or scorpionfish. Because they all look very similar -- brown and spiny with a big head -- it pays to get a Latin name first, so you can confirm the size and requirements of the fish in question. If the pet store can't give you a Latin name, then they certainly aren't in any position at all to confirm that the thing is a truly freshwater fish.

Feeding tends to be difficult, and the easiest approach will be to use home-bred feeder fish lacking thiaminase (i.e., not minnows or goldfish). Killifish, livebearers and cichlid fry would all be appropriate. Earthworms and gut-loaded river shrimp may be taken, and certainly are taken by some species (Neovespicula depressifrons in particular is greedy and lively, and easily weaned onto alternative foods). The use of frozen foods varies, but is worth trying with at least some species including Neovespicula depressifrons, though you will need to wiggle the food about with forceps to encourage an attack.

Cheers, Neale

 

[dave_oddballs]

simon they had a fish in bas on the weekend that im sure was Thalassophryne amazonica, they said it was fresh water, i asked as i liked it, they was cheap, if you could get there it would be a good buy!

 

[simonas]

simon they had a fish in bas on the weekend that im sure was Thalassophryne amazonica, they said it was fresh water, i asked as i liked it, they was cheap, if you could get there it would be a good buy!

possibly from the same supplier Dave it looks like the frshwater I have done internet searches for

has anyone kept one and have first hand experience of keeping them

There is one in my LFS only about 2-3 inch long?

very cute hides in the sand but we switched tank light out and it became more active , it is in freshwater

I have a 24inch tank in the garage thats empty I may set that up for it

All I;ve seen is they need sand and like live food, has anyone had them feeding frozen food?

I dont know of its the same fish, but look up stargazer fish in wikipedia all are marine fish and highly poisonous!

the stargazer bit is on the sticker on the tank as one of the girls has done an internet search and found that name, the supplier didn;t give them a latin name (useful) but insisted it was freshwater

 

[nmonks]

And just how often has someone ended up with a brackish water fish despite the seller insisting it was a freshwater species?

Cheers, Neale

the supplier didn;t give them a latin name (useful) but insisted it was freshwater

 

[simonas]

I agree with BlackWidow, you need to be very careful here. While there are a few strictly freshwater stonefish-like creatures, notably Thalassophryne amazonica, most such fish are brackish water to marine things like Notesthes robusta, Neovespicula depressifrons and Batrachomoeus trispinosus. There are even catfish, things like Chaca chaca, that could be easily confused with stonefish or scorpionfish. Because they all look very similar -- brown and spiny with a big head -- it pays to get a Latin name first, so you can confirm the size and requirements of the fish in question. If the pet store can't give you a Latin name, then they certainly aren't in any position at all to confirm that the thing is a truly freshwater fish.

Feeding tends to be difficult, and the easiest approach will be to use home-bred feeder fish lacking thiaminase (i.e., not minnows or goldfish). Killifish, livebearers and cichlid fry would all be appropriate. Earthworms and gut-loaded river shrimp may be taken, and certainly are taken by some species (Neovespicula depressifrons in particular is greedy and lively, and easily weaned onto alternative foods). The use of frozen foods varies, but is worth trying with at least some species including Neovespicula depressifrons, though you will need to wiggle the food about with forceps to encourage an attack.

Cheers, Neale

cheers Neale

Its not Chaca Chaca and is the spitting image of Thalassophryne amazonica from internet searches I have down however they look almost identical to some brackish/marine members of same/similar family
Its been in the shop for 3 weeks in fresh and came from the wholsealer that kept it in fresh
I may take a punt on it as they will do it for me cheap and see how it goes, reallistically if I don;t buy it it will remain in fresh and go onto a fresh water tank

waspfish are great I really enjoyed keeping them until I shut a lot of my tanks down through lack of space

 

[simonas]

And just how often has someone ended up with a brackish water fish despite the seller insisting it was a freshwater species?

Cheers, Neale

the supplier didn;t give them a latin name (useful) but insisted it was freshwater

I understand that Neale I ain;t that naive and when i posted the thread I wanted you to reply as I value your advice on these kind of fish.

The way it stands though now is there is no definitive latin name for " this" particular fish thats in the shop so I will give it a whirl, post pics on here and try and make sure i reach his needs

 

[dave_oddballs]

if it looks healthy and not skinny then the chances are a bit higher that it is indeed fresh water, if it was meant to be brackish the chances are it would be unhappy, not eat and so in turn be skinny.
if you go for it, good luck with it, i like the wierd looking fish, as you obviously do!

 

[nmonks]

To be fair, prehistoric monsterfish are quite common in the UK trade. They are usually sold quite small, about 5 cm or so in length. However, they are notoriously difficult to feed, so do read up on the needs of this species, and be sure to have some suitable live foods lined up.

Many brackish water fish can do astonishingly well in freshwater conditions for extended periods, many months even. In some cases juveniles grow up in freshwater conditions, so simply seeing a small specimen that's happy in a freshwater tank doesn't prove much of anything.

Since this type of fish is usually kept alone, there's nothing wrong with an expert fishkeeper taking a chance. If you later find the fish is a brackish water species, then adjusting water chemistry accordingly will not be too difficult.

Cheers, Neale

if it looks healthy and not skinny then the chances are a bit higher that it is indeed fresh water, if it was meant to be brackish the chances are it would be unhappy, not eat and so in turn be skinny.