In all of my years of keeping fish, almost 45 years, that is one fish I could not master. I was 0 for 3, and finally realized that they were not the fish for me.
Baby whales and the elephant nose use electrical impulses to find their food. They prefer darker tanks, if not unlit tanks. They are a low light feeder, thus the reason for the electrical impulses.
They are a rather peaceful fish. Mine stayed in the bottom 1/3 of the tank for the most part.
They are also a truly soft water fish. I tried to keep them with my discus in a tank with a pH of around 6.6-6.8. I truly don't know where I went wrong.
Their tank was fairly well planted, but the low light levels and the plants was not a good mix. They are extremely sensitive to their surroundings. Water quality is of great importance. Filtering should not generate too much current.
They are a live feeder, smaller fish, such as guppies, should not be kept with them. I fed mine small glass shrimp and guppies.
They need to be in a larger tank, say 55 gallons or larger. Mine were in a 90g.
I don't know whether I would even try to keep them now, 20+ years after the fact. Believe me when I say that my setup here is far more advanced than anything that was around when I had them before. They are just a challenging fish to keep.
Thanks for the reply, I'll keep you updated and I'll try to get a good photo. I can't get him to eat anything, the jacka** at the fish store said he would eat flakes. I kinda knew better but bought him anyway. Well I can get him to eat frozen blood worms that's it. I don't find him too peaceful he likes to nip fins. I have him in a 75g. He is cool. I hope he survives.
Can I just say--I have never had this fish but I think they are soooo cool! I have always wanted one but just don't have the tank space. I hope he does great for you!
this is Heiko Bleher and I just saw the photos of what you all call baby whales. Well it id a mormyrid and this, and most other mormyrids or as in europe called elephant fishes, NEED fine substrate.
Where they live in Africa (and I collected many mormyrids all over, as they have and live always were is soft underground, like fine sand, mud, as they need to dig into this soft substarte and take out the accumulated microorganism.
You will never be able to keep them successfully unless you give them such a substrate and naturally feed them well (they love blood worms, daphnia, tubifex, and other live or frozen foods).
The tank decoration yo have is not adequate.
Please look also for my biotope aquariums (Bleher's Biotopes) on my website:www.aquapress-bleher.com and look for Malebo Pool Aquarium. You see the substrate and also the habitat of such mormyrids.
How is your baby whale? How has the experience been? Found any additional information on them? Anything you have learned along the way from keeping them?
i understand that the you bought the whale on a wim:shock:. and you dont have the proper conditions for your fish either. that is not very responsible and cruel to the animal:evil:.you have now made it very sad. i dont intend to get more fish for 2 years and im already planning it out.
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