Hello to everyone~Stone Fish question

[shovlhd]

Hello to all of you and it's great to be posting on a great forum.....I am flabbergasted by all this great info and am looking forward to learning and/or helping with our great hobby. I have a successful 125 gal. reef for over two years. I do have a question about my stone fish today. I've had Rosko for about a year and he is thriving. I would like to know a little more about him though. He looks like a colorful coral rock. He does change his color to a white as he is about to shed. I would like to know a little more about his feeding habits. I know they do thrive in brackish water; however, what is the actual salinity comfort level for him. He is in a 20 gal. tank with a deep subtrate. He eats every other day or when he's hungry. He does get all the smorgas board meals such as shrimp, flounder, and any salt water fair off the menu. He also gets the supplement of Zoecon, vitamin C, and the normal additives for the tank. Any additional information to make Rosko more comfy would be of great benefit. Thanks for any input and Rosko thanks you too. :smokin:

[FMarini]

Hey:
welcome to reefcentral.
Can i suggest you post in the aggressive fish forum. We have a couple of people there who have false stonefish.
So my first statement is why would you want a stonefish, but after that. These are predatory fish and get big (like the size of a football).

The best source for information on these fish is Scott Michaels book called "reef fish vol1" its has a whole section on stone fish. You know their lethals right?

Your feeding regamin looks great.
I suspect that 1.024-26 is prolly fine.
Again Welcome to Reef Central, make sure you check out www.reefleeping.com magazine its also real good

frank

[shovlhd]

Thanks so much for your reply and welcoming me to the big family of reefkeeping and the additional info I'm seeking regarding Rosko. Yes, utmost respect is warranted when it comes to cleaning the tank, etc. I just find him very facsinating and like my other fish extremely smart and respectfully friendly. He knows of my bounderies, I guess, because there is no defiance. (By the way, I have snakes too). I have a tank entirely devoted to him and he is considered special. I adopted him from a store who had him for over year. He is getting bigger so his accomodations will be changing with him....wow, football size, heey. Did not realize that one. I hope to take a picture of him soon. :D

[viper12775]

i have a stone fish and a lion in a 20 "i know im going to get yelled at again" and im upgrading my 20 to a 75 that should make them happy and i feed mine krill and siversides and every now and then ghost shrimp im going to look into that book fmarini recomended

[shovlhd]

Thanks for the info and that's great we share both the interest in our rockies. I'd like to know though why is it that you only give him those two foods off the menu. I've found that a selection of saltwater foods have a definite benefit. I've found carnivorous fish not to be too selective with their fair of food which may be benefial. I know that proteins are the mainstay of health in these babies and a strict menu of two items only may limit their growth in the long run. Rosko will let me know if salmon is not his taste for the day. However, if kept from food long enough he'll eat it anyway which may in turn may not be good for him at that particular time. I found that out with other fish and inverts, etc. To sum it all up, they eat better than I do. I live in Florida and flounder is nine bucks a lb. I go to the fresh fish market or select from the seafood counter at the store. I always check the labels to make sure what it is and whether it's fresh and never frozen. By the way, Rosko loves jumbo shrimp........:o :smokin:

[shovlhd]

Thanks for the info and that's great we share both the interest in our rockies. I'd like to know though why is it that you only give him those two foods off the menu. I've found that a selection of saltwater foods have a definite benefit. I've found carnivorous fish not to be too selective with their fair of food which may be benefial. I know that proteins are the mainstay of health in these babies and a strict menu of two items only may limit their growth in the long run. Rosko will let me know if salmon is not his taste for the day. However, if kept from food long enough he'll eat it anyway which may in turn may not be good for him at that particular time. I found that out with other fish and inverts, etc. To sum it all up, they eat better than I do. I live in Florida and flounder is nine bucks a lb. I go to the fresh fish market or select from the seafood counter at the store. I always check the labels to make sure what it is and whether it's fresh and never frozen. I never feed him anything that comes from fresh water because that is something he would not naturally seek anyways. By the way, Rosko loves jumbo shrimp........:o :smokin:

[viper12775]

i dont know why i never thought about going to the store and getting seafood i might do that tomorrow and we can both eat good have you ever tried feeding bait shrimp i thought about going to bonnies bait and geeting a few dozen small shrimp and keep extras in my sump for latter where about's in florida are you im in clearwater but anyway ill take your advice ang varry there diet more

[shovlhd]

I'm from Daytona which is so way close from where you are. I never would consider bait shrimp because of the stingers and not enough meat. You have to be careful of the mouthy parts of the shrimp as they done a weaponry type of stingers. My stonefish feeds off a stick with the food chunks. Have you weaned yours from live food yet? I peel the shrimp of the nasties they inflict if swallowed. It's a cruel world out there and anything goes even self defense from the shrimps. I also know that anything bait-like that has been fed out of the ocean may carry many extras you may not want in your tank. Anyways, yeah, go do some shopping. I use my ice cube tray to put little bits for selective consumption wrapped in a freezer bag. The fish is fresh and Rosko is happy. Of course, I thaw it out first before feeding it to him in saltwater. I also use a plastic syringe-like tool filled with the Zoecon to inject the food for that extra nutrition. I feed Zoecon to him once a month.:D

[viper12775]

ya every ones off live food i was lucky between the stone lion and eel they all eat off a feeding stick but i still throw live food in every now and then im going to go to tampa bay saltwater and see if i can get live siversides to raise for them as a live treat i forgot about the horn on shrimp that would have sucked thanks for the heads up