What Is Your Next Monster Fish ?

[amiidae]

READ THIS !!

Probably one of the most common mistakes made by hobbyists knowingly or unknowingly is buying a monster fish and trying to keep them in a typical home aquarium. These are typically large predators that can reach adult sizes exceeding 3ft, like most gar species, arapaima, cat fishes like red tail cat, Amazon cat, Kong Ming, iridescent shark etc

The proper housing and maintenance of these fishes, require much more than the usual 2ft, 3ft, 4ft or even 6ft home aquarium. Sadly, a great number of these giants are sold just like any other local fish species, without a warning label on the potential “size-issue”.

I am not here to force my personal conviction on you but just wish to dissuade anyone from keeping these large fish unless they can be properly housed and maintained. For example, just about every fish store in Singapore stock the iridescent shark, as a community fish. If properly maintained, it can reach well over four feet and requires a large open swimming space. These fish are sold every year, and my guess is that most of these buyers will not able to maintain large pond setup for the adult fish. So what actually happens to these giants?

Imagine the worst that can happen if you get yourself an alligator gar or arapaima, especially when they will need a large outdoor pond in order to house them properly.

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of keeping monster fishes but not many people are prepared mentally or have the means to sustain the maintenance through the years


Just wish to tell you my story before I end here;

For many months, I’ve wanted to get a clown fish and surgeon fish for my daughter – Ashley, because she was so excited about the pair after watching the movie “Finding Nemo”. The urge grew even stronger yesterday because she will turn 3 on Monday. As a father, you will probably understand my feeling of wanting to see the excitement of my little princess if I bring her the fishes, especially since it will only cost me a few bucks each on the fish.

I struggled for hours in a LFS in China town but finally held back from buying them.

While typing this, I am thankful for coming to my senses. If I did brought these salt water fishes home without a proper marine setup at home, I wonder how long my new fishes will last. The fishes will end up to be living toys for Ashley, and I am not certain if she will learn to look after live animals the right way or is this just a passing novelty till her fascination with the next show (what if it’s 101 Dalmations ???!!!).


Remember, You are committed for the animal’s life

So do some research prior to buying them.

Cheers

Ben


Here is a good site for “size” checking
FISHBASE

[amiidae]

Do they look foreign to you?

Maybe... but the juvenile specimens can be found in our LFS.

Unless you own a large pond or some private lake, your 10ft by 3ft tank is still not fitting to house them.

Here are some photos

http://bigfishesoftheworld.blogspot....s-spatula.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_irving/3748890305/

http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/w...aima_gigas.htm