Advice on Mormyridaes (or is that Mormyridai for the plural)?

[M. F. & 4:20]

I've been doing some research on the Elephant Nose Fish, and am
considering one for my tank. But I can't seem to find much on-line
about them. Does anybody have a direction they can point me in?

I seem to remember some one once telling me that they only live for 6
months in captivity. Is this true?

Has anybody had any person experiances with them that they would like
to share?

Thanks

[coelacanth]

"M. F. & 4:20" > wrote in message
...
> I've been doing some research on the Elephant Nose Fish, and am
> considering one for my tank. But I can't seem to find much on-line
> about them. Does anybody have a direction they can point me in?
>
> I seem to remember some one once telling me that they only live for 6
> months in captivity. Is this true?
>
> Has anybody had any person experiances with them that they would like
> to share?
>
> Thanks
>
All I know is from watching a friend try to keep them and it was
not pretty. They need live food, although sometimes they'll
take frozen foods. They really need to be in a single species
tank since they are slow moving and their electrical pulses may
make other fish uncomfortable. They need a sandy substrate.
They are really crepuscular so you need very dim light. Oh,
and to make it interesting, they are scaleless and really
sensitive to medications.

My guess would be most only live six months in captivity,
but they have a lifespan of much more--I think something
like 10 years. They do get pretty big (10"?).

-coelacanth

[M. F. & 4:20]

Thanks,

I've decided against them. The 6 month in captivity life span is just
does not sit well with me.


On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 22:59:01 GMT, "coelacanth" >
wrote:

>"M. F. & 4:20" > wrote in message
...
>> I've been doing some research on the Elephant Nose Fish, and am
>> considering one for my tank. But I can't seem to find much on-line
>> about them. Does anybody have a direction they can point me in?
>>
>> I seem to remember some one once telling me that they only live for 6
>> months in captivity. Is this true?
>>
>> Has anybody had any person experiances with them that they would like
>> to share?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>All I know is from watching a friend try to keep them and it was
>not pretty. They need live food, although sometimes they'll
>take frozen foods. They really need to be in a single species
>tank since they are slow moving and their electrical pulses may
>make other fish uncomfortable. They need a sandy substrate.
>They are really crepuscular so you need very dim light. Oh,
>and to make it interesting, they are scaleless and really
>sensitive to medications.
>
>My guess would be most only live six months in captivity,
>but they have a lifespan of much more--I think something
>like 10 years. They do get pretty big (10"?).
>
>-coelacanth
>

[NetMax]

"M. F. & 4:20" > wrote in message
...
> I've been doing some research on the Elephant Nose Fish, and am
> considering one for my tank. But I can't seem to find much on-line
> about them. Does anybody have a direction they can point me in?
>
> I seem to remember some one once telling me that they only live for 6
> months in captivity. Is this true?
>
> Has anybody had any person experiances with them that they would like
> to share?
>
> Thanks

I don't know about their life expectancy, but they are not your average
community fish to forget about. They are very interesting, and seem to
do well when their environment and tank-mates are tweaked in their
direction a bit. They are incredible escape artists. At work, they jump
over tank dividers like they weren't there, and tunnel into things which
you would not imagine that they could fit into (and then try to extract
them ;~).

NetMax