Marbled lungfish aquarium

Marbled lungfish aquarium

Marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) aquarium

Ornamental fishes > Marbled lungfish – Protopterus aethiopicus

Aquarium fact sheet

  • Origin: endemic to Africa
  • Lifespan: about 20 years
  • Adult size: 200 cm recorded
  • Native climatic conditions: tropical
  • Care Level: very easy
  • Availability: no restrictions; marbled lungfish is available readily with local pet shop; somewhat difficult to get very young specimens; may require ordering and importing specimens; albino variety is highly priced;

Aquarium management

  • Minimum tank size: 100 gallons
  • Tank level: bottom dweller; however sufficient clearance must be available to reach the surface for breathing air
  • Water flow and filtering: slow flow, filter to remove wastes
  • Lighting: subdued lighting
  • Water temperature: 75-86° F (25-30° C)
  • Water pH: around 7.0
  • Substrate type: Sand with a few bog wood pieces for hiding

Biology and behavior

  • Temperament: semi-aggressive
  • Tank mates: better kept alone; generally peaceful with tank mates too large to be considered as food; as has soft skin, large carnivorous fish may attack the lungfish
  • Diet type: omnivore
  • Feeding: accepts meat, earthworms, pieces of fish meat, live food (fish, shrimps, worms) and pelleted or formulated feed;
  • Breeding: in nature marbled lungfish breeds in rainy flooded conditions; have not been bred in captivity; juvenile marbled lungfish have external gills and feed on insects and insect larvae

The marbled lungfish is very easy to keep in aquarium, provided the hobbyist moves to bigger tanks from time to time as the fish has a long life and grows big. As these fish are exotic and are brought from wild, they must be quarantined and treated for at least ten days so as not pass on any infection to the tank mates. The aquarium must be clean enough for not infecting these lungfish.

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/40295335@N00/4840412198
Image author: Joel Abroad | License: CC BY 2.0 (as on 2016-10-18)edited
Current topic in Aquarium fish pictures: Marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) aquarium.

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