My Official Needlenose Fish Topic

[flamingo]

Instead of posting a ton of different posts updating on my needlenose fish, etc. I thought i'd compile it all in one thread. My journal will post basic info on my needlenose fish, new things added to it's tank, new additions, problems, pics, etc. so keep checking back as I update this!

[flamingo]

Needlenose Fish Dissection:


Dissection is always a controversial subject with people, but imho, it's not a sickening part of life, or against "nature". Examining the body of a dead animal ,may infact, save afew living animals lives.


>(if you don't want to read the parts leading up to the dissection, skip this next part:)<



PART ONE :THE STORY: So, knowing me and my Needlenose Fish fascination, I took the chance when it sprung up. I recently bought a baby needlenose, somewhat underfed and in brackish water from an lfs Fishfirst (a member here) recently worked at. When I got it home I quarantined it for a short period in my ten gallon planted tank (needlenose was only about 4 inches or close, being in a ten gallon wasn't too harsh for that short period of time, it was really relaxed and would sit in one place or swim through the plants). Keeping it in the ten gallon was mainly for observation, converting to fw, and switching it over to freeze dried krill (the main staple diet of my 3 year old dominant male needlenose...it's what I recommend for all needlenose fish!).

Well, it started going after things pretty quickly, etc. so I placed it in the 65 gallon so see how things turned, and in the end...the male needlenose took right to it. It may have even tried breeding even with one so small, but sadly the new arrival was also a male (likely another dominant male in training due to it's nature and breeding colors at such a young age). Everything was going smoothly for over a week or two, th only thing I was woried about was teh possibility of it jumping out. I keep no lid on over half of my tank, makes my bichirs happier when they go up to breathe, and the needlenose fish get more used to me that way (don't have to go banging a lid around everytime I need to feed them, etc.) But, in the end, it turned out simply dying for no apparent reason. One morning I just woke up and it's floating on the bottom...no signs of trauma or infection other then the small picking of fins and scales from my bichirs, etc.
Seeing this, it puzzled me so I thought I should dissect it. Not only did I need to know because it might have died from something that might have spread to my other fish, but I also saw this as an important learning step. I always want to get as much info out there as possible on them, and dissecting would hold some more clues on how they digest and reproduce, etc.
From my knowledge, no real studies on needlenose fish (not the other species of saltwater ones) have been done (other than a few that lead up to the basic info we have stored away on the net). It's a shame really, so I feel it's my duty to help in some way.

Dissection coming up in next post:

[flamingo]

Well, this is going to be a little long, so i'll just split this up a little...


1: Before Dissection: Before dissection was pretty straight forward. I found it in the morning dead on a monday (before school), so I just put it in a bag of water in the freezer. When I had the time to dissect I simply unthawed it, wahed it off a bit, and layed it out on a piece of white paper..got the camera ready!




And a Full pic of the head and jaws, shows a good profiel of it's capabilities to smaller fish:

[flamingo]

Well, i'll update this more later.

After about 4-5 years- the big male needlenose of mine actually died from a bad fungal disease.

[Sue Gremlin]

Cool! I want to see more!

[kuhliloach]

hey! i wonder how big do they get, what to they eat, are they aggressive, what basic temp, ph, nitrates and if it's freshwater or not?

[flamingo]

Biggest- about 13 inches, my biggest was about 10. Eats krill, fish, fillets, pellets, etc. Semi-aggressive but easily picked on. Temp- 78. ph, 7.0, nitrates etc. at zero. And they're freshwater.

I have to update this lol.

[flamingo]

Well, i'm currently in the process of writing an article about them, so keep checking back .

I'm going to include the dissection part, etc. also as to not just cut that part away.
I also started a "photo album" through Picasa here: http://picasaweb.google.com/flamingosss/NeedlenoseFish All photos, whether good or bad, are being posted if unique.

I'm also in the process of getting eggs/fry from a user on aquaticpredators! I'll update as much as I can as soon I get them in.

[Chaos553]

i like this idea, i think i'll do the same with african butterfly fish if you dont mind =P