I introduced a Peter's Elephant Nose to my tank a couple of weeks ago. I was asking a few questions about feeding habits. As it turns out it seems that these fish don't seem to commonly kept my our members. I had done my research, but as you all probably know, theory and reality...well?
The fish seems to be thriving. No weight loss, and I think he may actually be growing a bit.
As for feeding habits, things are working out. These fish have the same brain to body mass ratio as humans so I decided that we needed to work on "communication" a bit. I observed him, worked with him, and he has responded very well.
He has staked out a feeding ground. When he goes there I know he's looking for food. On the other hand he has learned that I may not always be there to feed him on demand. (worked on this when I had a few days of vacation time). At 5:00 or so, he'll move from his sleepy place to the feeding ground. I reward him with a blood worm snack. He gets more food at about 9:30 at night when he becomes very active.
On the other hand, he has taught me that he is a very sound sleeper. I checked him out one day, and there he was, un-moving under his "root", not a flicker of movement. I thought he had died. I poked around a bit....nothing. I pulled his sanctuary away, and wow(!) what a reaction. I'm glad that he doesn't speak English, 'cause I would have gotten an earfull!
The fish seems to be thriving. No weight loss, and I think he may actually be growing a bit.
As for feeding habits, things are working out. These fish have the same brain to body mass ratio as humans so I decided that we needed to work on "communication" a bit. I observed him, worked with him, and he has responded very well.
He has staked out a feeding ground. When he goes there I know he's looking for food. On the other hand he has learned that I may not always be there to feed him on demand. (worked on this when I had a few days of vacation time). At 5:00 or so, he'll move from his sleepy place to the feeding ground. I reward him with a blood worm snack. He gets more food at about 9:30 at night when he becomes very active.
On the other hand, he has taught me that he is a very sound sleeper. I checked him out one day, and there he was, un-moving under his "root", not a flicker of movement. I thought he had died. I poked around a bit....nothing. I pulled his sanctuary away, and wow(!) what a reaction. I'm glad that he doesn't speak English, 'cause I would have gotten an earfull!