Is a long-finned waspfish a "good" fish to keep?
 

Does the Long finned waspfish (Apistus Carinatus) pretty much bury themselves in the day but stay at night? I don't need "flash", but something other than visible eyeballs would be nice.

Are there other negatives I should consider? There's not a whole lot of reading out there on them.

Dang Diver's Den. I was about to go buy him.......

But somebody beat me.

I was thinking about that one too. :)

Me Three,but i got the Blue Face and Harlequin Tusk instead :spin1:

I think hubby is really disappointed that we dragged our feet.

IMHO all waspfish are good tankmates- as long as the other fish aren't small enough to eat, however that one in specific does bury itself.

While cute as juveniles, when they get bigger they develop exceptionally long pectoral fins that posses yellow flash coloration. Their bodys however are quite drab.

BTW it was also approx2" these fish are exceptional fragile at this size, and will only eat the smallest of ghost shrimp.

Thank you for that.

So you think it was a good pass? ... well, I guess it wasn't a pass if someone RIPPED it out of my shopping cart. :-)

I was on the fence for the same reasons Frank gives.

Man,I have some heavy competition in Diver's Den.

But that's okay.... we saw someone else to take home.
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...417091-001.jpg

a bearded ghoul....Choridactylus multibarbarbus (stingfish)
awesome, awesome, awesome. I've had these fish over the years. A great fish that buries itself all day in the substrate and ambushes unsuspecting ghost shrimp. make sure you have access to ghost shrimp, mine always refused frozen of dead foods.

Both Inimicus and choridactylus have 2 or 3 lower "free" pec fin rays (unattached), that they use like fingers to crawl and dig in the substrate.

Very potent sting, far more than expected on a fish this size and BTW very tasty, go to the Philippines you can get these as a salted snack -yummy-crunchy.

He'll go nicely in the scorp tank!

I can't wait to see him grab a shrimp!

Any pointers/suggestions?

There's still about a handful of scorps we want to get a hold of for the scorp tank.

We also decided to go back to scuba diving. We have to go see a doctor that specializes in diving medicine to make sure it's okay. We've done as much research as we can and now must get a doctor's stamp of approval. We will be buying full face communication masks and won't be able to dive deep.... I think we'll be able to do it then. The point of that story? :-) W'ell be then start a cold water scorp tank with local fish. I haven't looked at licenses yet, lord knows what laws there are over here in California.

Pray for me that I don't bring home a monster.

so what other scorpionfish are you considering?

great thing about scorpionfish- they all get along as long as they are unable to eat each other

as for pointers w/ a bearded ghoul- live ghost shrimp and slow mellow tankmates- as they eat very very slowly, substrate they can dig into, and good water quality.
These are very hardy fish

BTW Renee- i need to remind you about photos- its getting close to submission time for the book

O.O

OMG! I Didn't do that! How embarrassing. My husband just bought me a big ole 8x10 agenda so I can try to remember stuff.

Lemme PM you for specifics again and I promise this weekend will not pass without you receiving them.

Renee-- your mailbox is full--please empty so i can send you my response

Our top fish is the Yellow spot Scorp (Sebastapistes cyanostigma).

We are looking out for a painted sting fish, another leaf and another ambon. Very interested in longspine/sailfin/whiteface waspfishas well.

What kind of stings are we talking here. There's going to be a lot of musical tanks coming up. I'm going to buy one of the "acclimate" boxes or whatever they are called.

*faints with embarrassment*

God lord I have PMs in there from 2004..... LOL.

Reading through my scuba books....

"Envenomation on a finger is followed almost immediately by intense, sometimes pulsating pain in the area of the injury. The pain radiates so that within 3 to 10 min. it may involve the entire finger or hand. The area around the wound may appear ischemic; bleeding dose not seem to be affected. The finger becomes red and swollen. The pain may extend up the forearm and into the axilla within 15 min of the sting. Nausea, vomiting, weakness, palor, syncopy, an urgency to urinate, conjunctivitis, inccreased perspiration, headache and diarrhea have all been reported. In severe stingings excruciating pain, causing the victims to thrash about in agony. Primary shock may occur, and in two cases the victims were taken to the hospital under oxygen administration. Respirations may become labored and painful. Pulmonary edema has been reported and "abnormal electrocandiograms" demonstrated. In one case known to the auther the patient had a pulmonary embolism and was hospitalized for 24 days."

O.o

Who wants to come clean my tank?

S cyanostigma are cool but very small (under4") and require a coral perch to hangout in. i suspect it will be too small to keep w/ your other scorps.

I would recommend ambon lions, leaf fish or Ablabys as roomates for S. Cyanostigmata

stingfish have rigid dorsal spines and glands that pump the venom so they deliver a larger dose w/o pressure- whereas in lionfish the venom oozes based on pressure- the lighter the pressure the less dose and vice versa

We were going to mix our
ambons
cockatoo
S. littoralis-like red guy
Leafs
Yellow spot scorp
Long spine scorp.
Fuzzy dwarf lionfish...if he's not too big.

The ambons will have to grow up first and I'd want to make sure the S. littoralis is indeed finished growing.

They all seem pretty small? Or were you thinking there was another variety I was putting in the same tank?

The new guy.... could he go in with with this mixture?

DMO approval? Previous diving accident or a physiological condition (i.e. pulmonary blebs, O2 toxicity, etc.)? Wish you good luck catching your "monster" and safe diving. Also, share pictures with us LOL!

Regarding collecting in california. You can not transport a live fish from the beach to your house. In other words it is strictly forbiden without a scientific collecting permit. To bad because the california scorpion fish would be a really cool addition to your collection.

Renee,

writhing with jealousy over that stingfish!!! I have been looking for one for two years now! I'm sure you'll enjoy, please post pics.

Bummer. So, if I buy a microscope can I get a scientific permit :-)

If they show up as bycatch, I can legally buy them though, right? That was going to be my next avenue..... hitting up the local fisherman. I heard they drag in scorps quite often. What do I have to watch out for legally with that. Are they allowed to sell bycatch? I'm sure not all bycatch, out do you think they would legally be able to sell sculpins?

Is there a collector or researcher in Cali you can dive with, perhaps collect off his permit?