red-fin datnoid

[tenxiong]

Hey I just got this fish, I don't really know much about him but that he's very aggresive and that he's a type of snapper that grows pretty big.

Do you guys/gals know anything else about this guy?
If you do, that would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[CFC]

Lutjanus argentimaculatus are commonly called Mangrove Jacks and are nothing to do with Datnoids. To survive they need first brackish water and later full marine conditions. They are extreemly predatory and most people who have kept them have reported that it difficult to get them to eat anything but live fish.

Oh and your going to need a HUGE tank as they have a adult size of 3 and half feet long.

 

[nmonks]

Hi,

CFC has hit the nail on the head there. This is a fish you're going to regret getting. The biggest specimens are 150 cm long and weigh over 8 kilos!

It is farmed in East Asia, being a popular food fish. Some specimens end up being marketed as ornamental fish instead of food.

He is a snapper, so you got that bit right. Only distantly related to Datnoides, i.e., they're both perciformes but then so are cichlids and damselfish. It's one of several snappers that inhabit brackish as well as fully marine conditions (the emperor snapper, Lutjanus sebae is another).

While it will survive for long periods in freshwater, it's really a migratory fish that moves between salt and brackish water, hunting around mangroves and in estuaries. It doesn't need constantly fully marine conditions, but it does do best if you keep the specific gravity above 1.010.

If you have Baensch's Aquarium Atlas vol. 2, this fish is in there.

Basically, take it back if you can, or else find a public aquarium willing to take it from you at some point in the next year or so.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[tenxiong]

Well thanks for the information, It's really exciting about how big he can grow and how aggresive they get. That's awsome, Now I know where I can throw the fish I don't really care about. Hmm.. you want me to give him away, no way. I bought him for a reason. He's now about 2 inches, he's doing perfectly fine in freshwater, really active. If he grows to big, I'll just eat him... haha (j/k) well I'm sure it would take a few years for him to grow 3 feet, by that time I'll have a big enough tank for him. (maybe a 1000-3000 gallon or something) You want me to buy a 3 foot long tank to put a 2 inch fish in by himself, I'll just upgrade as he grows.

P.S I don't regret getting him at all.

Thanks for all the information, I really appreciate it.

 

[andywg]

I'll be betting he gets past 12" within a year. Large fish tend to fly up to the first foot and slow down a little after that. Hence I would recommend he gets a 6 foot tank very quickly.

At 3 feet long you would need a tank at least 12 feet long and 5 feet wide and around 4 feet deep (around 1,800 gallons).