Dragonfish

[Giniel]

Hi has anyone heard of a Dragon fish?? Walmart has some . They are verry neat looking but look like they could be very nasty ,as far as mean..

I think the reader said they have sharp teeth.I would be afraid to put them in with discus . they look kind of like an eel.

Debbie

[lhforbes12]

Debbie,
Did it look like this? If so, it's a kind on brackish/freshwater goby that can get to 2' Gobioides broussonnetii

[wolfbane]

Our WallyMart has them too!! Must have been a special at the fish supplier this month. I find them intriguing to look at, but never have tried them.
Agree, they look fierce!

[hexed]

I have had them, they are harmless but do require some salt added to the tank. Mine ate CBWs and FBWs and some shrimp pellets. Mine very seldom came out of the cave I gave him, even with the lights off. They perfer a sand substrate which they actually grab a mounthful and sift through the gills. They do not eat small fish. I lost mine when I did the water changes and all my discus got ill from all the chemicals waterbury added to the system. Now my discus are just starting to grow the fins and tails back.

[Kindredspirit]

Hi has anyone heard of a Dragon fish?? Walmart has some . They are verry neat looking but look like they could be very nasty ,as far as mean..

I think the reader said they have sharp teeth.I would be afraid to put them in with discus . they look kind of like an eel.

Debbie


I was going to get on once Deb ~ then I saw it in person and it is ugly IMO! I can't do ugly in my tank!! lol...however....I did read that they are very gentle and have a great disposition!


Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_2_4.gif

[demzz]

Hi, i've had a dragonfin fish also known as bichir before... Senegal kind. From my experience... they stay and hunt at the bottom of the tank. O yes, they eat FBW... but likes hunting any fish that will fit into its mouth... nice to watch on its hunting mode though:)

I would not want to keep them with discus because they can be quite aggressive.

16923

[80in55]

Hey Demzz, the Bichir isn't also known as a dragonfish. The one that debbie is talking about is considered a freshwater goby. The bichir is an air breather, while the dragonfish has gills, and doesn't need to come to the surface at all. Whoever gave you the info you have has misinformed you... not trying to be mean!
Here is what she is talking about
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/wild/dragon_fish.htm

[hexed]

Demzz,
I keep my bichirs with my discus and not had any problems :) Discus really do not mind them at all. They swim together and eat together :D the only problem is they do like to escape. Really nice looking bichir you have there ;)

Bichirs are known as dinosaur eels and the fish Debbie is refering to is known as a dragon fish/eel but is actually a harmless goby who does not eat live fish even though they look like they can LOL.
Frank

[Giniel]

The ones I saw looked like they had teeth so that is why I asked. Really neat fish but not sure I want something that big. I am sure with all the water changes that they would grow quite big.

I don't have gravel or sand in any of my tanks if I were to get one would that be a problem??

Thanks
Debbie

[hexed]

Debbie,
Unfortuately they do not do good in with discus, I tried and after about a month they started to go down hill :( I have mine in a tank with sea salt and they seem to be doing real good. After all they are really brackish fish ;) I am going to move my bumblebee gobys in with them once I get everything settled. I want to put fine sand in that tank because they use their teeth to grab a mouthful of sand and sift it through their gills for food.
Bichirs can go in with dicus though without any problems, they reach about 8 inches long - I have never seen any in person that grew any bigger. If you give them something to hide in then the bichir will be active at night only and hide all day long. That's what mine did until I removed his little cave log thing LOL.
Frank

[candyl70]

Hey Debbie,
My boyfriend and I had one of those in his community tanks that included discus. He was called a Dragon Goby. The reason he is safe for all sorts of fish is that he has very small eyes and therefore can't see very much. He was very calm and gentle. We fed him FBW and BS with a turkey baster, and he would come up to it to feed.... it was like feeding a funky baby!! LOL... He was sort of active, but like Frank and others said really liked to swim around at night.

IMO they are really fun, and their ugliness grows on you. We named ours Monster ;)