Look Down Fish

[theirr]

Does anyone know specifics about the look-down fish? What type of tank would they go in and do they adapt to the aquarium well?
Recommend or NotRecommended for a aggresive 100 gal. tank?
Scale from 1 to 10 - Aquarium adaptability/hardiness?
Similar fish that most people like us would be familiar with?
Rob

 

[aw2x3]

Very hardy fish, but they grow to be quite large...14" - 15" round (bigger than a dinner plate). They're also a schooling fish, so 3+ is recommended. They dont do well in "aggressive" setups, but they will eat smaller fish.
I wouldnt go with anything less than a 400 - 500 gal. tank for these fish, if not bigger.

 

[ophiura]

Definitely not suitable for that size tank. Its an active fish, IMO best displayed in a circular tank.

 

[maeistero]

Originally Posted by AW2x3
Very hardy fish, but they grow to be quite large...14" - 15" round (bigger than a dinner plate). They're also a schooling fish, so 3+ is recommended. They dont do well in "aggressive" setups, but they will eat smaller fish.
I wouldnt go with anything less than a 400 - 500 gal. tank for these fish, if not bigger.
in my few months experience with them, they are not hardy initially. acclimation is very hard and then they seem to be hardy. i've heard that they usually have problems with shipping and many starve when not fed preferred food. ours are kept in a 3000 and a 5000 and get bigger everyday. definitely a schooling fish, i don't think the 3 in the 5000 like being so alone. they do very well in our aggressive setups with many 10" triggers, rays, cat hound horn and bamboos. i would venture that a rather aggressive tank is needed as these guys are intense eaters. they remind me of a school of pihranas. it's often hard to make sure the littler surgeons and wrasses get enough while not polluting the tanks.
hope that helps!

 

[jam1e]

don't put one in your 100 gallon .. they're too big

 

[yupi1982]

Originally Posted by maeistero
in my few months experience with them, they are not hardy initially. acclimation is very hard and then they seem to be hardy. i've heard that they usually have problems with shipping and many starve when not fed preferred food. ours are kept in a 3000 and a 5000 and get bigger everyday. definitely a schooling fish, i don't think the 3 in the 5000 like being so alone. they do very well in our aggressive setups with many 10" triggers, rays, cat hound horn and bamboos. i would venture that a rather aggressive tank is needed as these guys are intense eaters. they remind me of a school of pihranas. it's often hard to make sure the littler surgeons and wrasses get enough while not polluting the tanks.
hope that helps!

:scared: :scared: :scared:
YOU HAVE A 5000 GALLON TANK :scared: YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING
I WANT TO SE SOME PICS !!!!

 

[maeistero]

not personally, i just maintain them. my home big one is a 180. here's a link, you can see one of our 3 lookdowns in the first pic. he's only around a foot. the volcano tank has 12 of them around the same size although only a few are visible at the top. as oph said, all of our tanks are figure eight shaped ovals. diving the 5k shark tank rules in as one of the best things about my job!
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=226936

 

[aw2x3]

When I was at Shedd, in Chicago, we were keeping them in the 90,000gal. Caribbean Reef tank...which is circular.
We kept them with Bonnethead Sharks, Cow Nosed Rays, Parrots, a 6' Tarpon, an 8' long Green Moray and many other "semi-aggressive" fish. But, every time we'd try to introduce Triggers and such, they'd automatically start to harrass the school of 15 Look Downs.
What do you guys do as far as quarentine procedures, when you get new fish in?...also, were they juveniles, semi-adults or adult fish?

 

[maeistero]

Originally Posted by AW2x3
We kept them with Bonnethead Sharks, Cow Nosed Rays, Parrots, a 6' Tarpon, an 8' long Green Moray and many other "semi-aggressive" fish. But, every time we'd try to introduce Triggers and such, they'd automatically start to harrass the school of 15 Look Downs.
interesting to know. our triggers don't harrass them at all so far. perhaps because the 'downs are around the same length or bigger. the triggers also tend to stay around 3ft whereas the lookdowns school up top. in with the sharks, the same situation. the lookdowns only have to deal with hounds, everything else stays at mid or low level. i have yet to see anything mess with them aside from the occasional psycho tang and one spanish hog during feeding.
i would say that they are semi-adult at this point, around the size of your head if someone ran it over with a semi. quarantine was done just before my hiring, so i'm not privy to that. probably couldn't tell you anyways and keep my job although i do know that it was done by a certain prominent aquarium.