# South American Lungfish



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Anyone else have a Sal? I got mine just over a year ago and he's grown from a 3"long shoestring to a little over 2' in the first year. Started eating my community fish at about a ft.I moved him to his own tank with a couple juvinile dovii. Today I heard a ruckus coming from his tank. He caught, killed, & ate a 3.5-4" dovii. My Sal is becoming a monstrous killer. He has a crazy amount of bite & crunch power. Whole head & entire body is solid muscle & he's very strong. When he's out of water he makes a loud squawling sound.best snail eater I've ever seen or heard of. Awesome fish! I try to post pics tomarrow if I can figure it out.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Definitely post pics! Im curious to know more about these fish
What do you know about him so far? Is he active or dormant? How big do they max out at? And what his tank like? Sounds like a bad ass predator


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

He's pretty active, they're air breathers so he rises to top every 5minutes or so. They can be out of water as long as they don't dry out. I've found mine on the floor twice now. I read they can travel small distances to other ponds or pools of water. If their water source dries up they can dig down in the mud & form a cacoon, I can't remember exactly how long they can stay like this(thinking it was a year or so). He's been one of my favorites since I got him. When he chews his food you can see all the muscles in his jaws, face, & head ripple with each bite. I'm not sure on max size although I'm sure its over 3'. Watchn him grip the gravel with his four tiny legs is funny. Mine does snuggle with a Chinese algy eater(lol they're buddies).algy eater thinks he needs to be in contact with Sal most of the time. I'm really surprised they're not more popular. I've actually only seen a couple of the south American lungfishes.seems the African ones are a little more common & are a little different also. Africans have longer arms & legs than the Sal's, African have a spot pattern to them also.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Sounds awesome! I read up on them a little bit. Looks like the south americans max out at around 4 feet, but that seems to be wild caught ones, not sure if its different in the tank. Man, even some of the videos I saw those things have a fast strike!
Really cool predator you have there. I think my favorite thing about them is how prehistoric they look. Looks like the kind of predator you just imagine lurking in muddy swampy waters. Really nice fish man.


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

I wouldn't be heartbroke if he stopped at 3'.lol. I was pretty impressed him taking out a juvi dovii, when over-all he's been peaceful. He did try to bite me couple times when he got stuck in some deco a month or so ago.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Yeah all the owners Ive been reading from say keep decorations to a minimum and make sure they dont have sharp edges.


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

pics of SAL


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Pretty crazy you can bring home a tiny 3" shoestring Leach & a year later its turned into a monster.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Wow thats awesome. I had no idea you got him so tiny. What a beast hes growing into


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Very tiny! I hand fed him snails for a minute when he was a baby.thanks Central. He's one of my favorites.


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