0 for 2 with Bullrouts

[dan521]

Fellow Fishies--
Anyone have knowledge of the Bullrout (a species of scorpionfish usually found in the waters in and around Australia)?
I just lost my second one this past week, after having it about the same amount of time I had the last one--just about a year. It appeared to be doing well, then just started slowing down and finally died (same as before). I kept a supply of ghost shrimp in the tank (125g, 1.010-1.015 salinity) and he would occasionally eat frozen brine shrimp. He was my favorite as he would often "play" in the bubbles from the aerator and the currents from the filters.

[OrionGirl]

Salinity? As I recall, these fish tend to migrate to full marine conditions, so that might be part of the problem. The other is dietary--a wider variety of foods would be better. Ghost shrimp, unless gut-loaded, are pretty nutritionally limited, and frozen brine are not any better.

[dan521]

The frozen shrimp were spirulina enhanced. I'm not sure what else to feed a bullrout. It seems to completely ignore flakes. I can try gut-loading the ghost shrimp. Thanks for the info.

[OrionGirl]

Frozen prepared foods, or chuncks of raw shrimp or raw fish would be my first choice. Also, how often are you feeding them? Many marine predators routinely die from overfeeding--they have very slow digestive systems, so daily feedings put too much food in their gut, and the food starts to rot, creating lots of problems and usually killing the fish. Every other or every third day, with a moderate meal, should be enough.

[dan521]

Might the bullrout have overfed on live shrimp in the tank? To keep my two large silver-tipped sharks and the bullrout fed, I was putting 50 ghost shrimp in about every week to 10 days. The shrimp would be gone in a matter of a day or two. Additionally, I was feeding the frozen brine shrimp every two-three days. I notice the fish had a round belly in its last days.
To replace the bullrout, I now have what the LFS called a stonefish, but I believe to be a oyster toadfish. I am still putting live shrimp in and there are a couple dozen guppies (who are actively reproducing) in the tank. Do you think the toadfish will take just what it needs or might there be danger of the toadfish overfeeding as well?

[OrionGirl]

Yes, I'd say that's a definite possibility. Fish lack the internal voice reminding them to watch their waistlines, and will basically eat whenever they can--even if it's way too much. The guppies are probably okay, since they will learn to avoid the stonefish, but the shrimp will probably be snapped up pretty quickly. If possible, setup a tank for the shrimp where you can gut load them and feed just a few at a time rather than giving them one big buffet.

[dan521]

Good suggestion. I'll try that.