African lungfish

[Gambusia]

I am working at a nature center where we have a 14" African lung.

We have him with a Suriname toad. We are moving the lung by himself.

How deep do we need to keep the water and how small a tank can you keep a lung?

Thanks

We feed him mealworms and crickets

 

[vato]

one of the truely extrodinary things about a lung fish is that they can survive MONTHS without much more than moist mud to live in. My suggestion would be to put him in a tank with enough room to turn around in, and a few feet(maybe 2-3 maximum) of water. Lungfish have been known to drown if they are in water that is too deep. You could even move him by putting him in about 5-6 inches of wet mud. they can breath atmospheric air for about a year without dying. But it may require a bit more research before accomplishing this.

 

[Gambusia]

I will look into this.

Thanks

 

[RTR]

Lungfish can drown in tanks, but it is because they have a critcal angle for breathing at the surface, if the tank is lot large enough for them they may have problems breathing. These are very large fish, don't skimp on tank size.

 

[OrionGirl]

Agreed. The biggest tank you can possibly provide will be essential. I moved a lung that was about 30 inches--weighed a LOT. He was in a 55 for about a month, and clearly cramped in there. They also produce an enormous amount of waste--looked like something you'd pull out of a cat box, so the larger water volume will be crucial to keeping it clean enough for the animal.

 

[Gambusia]

Well I moved him to a half filled 15 gallon tank.

He can move fine.

We have two 125 gallon tanks sitting around for the future plus a 75 gallon.

People donate them.