Stonefish anybody?

[mytosis_matth]

I've seen M. Dandaneau's post and pic of his stonefish, but has anyone else here kept one? I know about their lethal venom, but I am still interested in EVENTUALLY keeping one. What other fish do they get along with best? I know that small potential prey and "pickers" like tangs or triggers, etc., are bad choices.
When I'm out of college and I have more space and money, I'd like to set up a large tank with LOTS of live rock and a few ambush predators or something along that line.
Thanks for any help!

[BlAcK VoLiTaN ';.;']

Hmm stonefish are you ready to die when you get attacked these are the most dangerous most poisonous fish ever and I'm not even sure that they have a antidote perhaps M. Dand has a stonefish is because he has 50 years + with fish >.< I'm not sure how big they get but I know that they hide very good not much people have much exp with stonefish I bet the only way your gonna get to know stonefish is if M. Dand posts on your thread perhaps start out with a False Stonefish (S. diabola) I'm not sure that thats the Scientific name but I just got it from one of M. Dands posts on this thread 16-20 gallon idea? Scorpion and Frogfish?

[Wee Man]

i wouldnt say stonfish attack u but if you do ***** yourself on there spines u have a good chance of dying. but i would think u would tend to watch yourslef around them.

[Wee Man]

i cant say ***** hahahahahahahahah what a laugh

[Benthic Explorer]

1. Venom depends on the species and size of the stonefish.

I kept several small stonefish I caught when I used to live in Hawaii with no problems with my other fish, but all other fish were bigger than him. He was about 1 inch long.

I never got stung, but a friend of mine did and his hand got numb for awhile. This was from a 1 incher.

Back then I was young and stupid. Personally now, I would not risk getting stung to have a cool fish in my tank. Many other choices of cool fish these days that don't do damage.

[lilswanwillow]

if I were you, I'd kinda go with the advice already given...
start with less deadly, so that you get used to working with things with stings....
you don't want to make a deadly mistake.

so, if your set on it, AWSOME!!!! no discouragement from me, but instead of just jumping into a deadly one, get the false stonefish, or a leaf fish, or a lion...
leaf fish can be kept in a smaller aquarium, and that would give you time to get used to working with venomous fish.
then, if you STILL think your ready in a few years, get a deadly sucker.

[lilswanwillow]

that was fun, posting at the same time...

[JustinH]

Having seen Mikes stonefish up close and in person Id reccomend against it.Although they seem very docile{Mike feeds him by hand with no problems} they are also VERY good with camo,they tend to find a space back between some rocks and bury all but the top part of their head,and unless you are looking very closely and you happen to see it blink it looks exactly like a rock.If you want soemthing that has great camo,is venemous and is an awesome ambush predator go for a scorpion fish,atleast with them theres little to no danger as far as dieing is concerned,and you can actually see the fish.

Someone aked about an antedote to stone fish venom,I believe that it doesnt exist,you get stuck,you die.

[roseman]

A bit of over exaggeration I would say. The venom normally causes nothing more than intense pain. For example, no deaths have been recorded in Australia since European arrival. An antivenom was developed in 1959 which further reduces the likelihood of death. Stonefish are camouflage experts and stings are a result of stepping on the camouflaged fish, not from attacks! The sting causes excruciating pain and a great deal of swelling to the tissues. The severity of the symptoms depends on the depth of penetration and the number of spines penetrated.

[mytosis_matth]

Well thanks for the concern and replies everyone. I was hoping this wouldn't be just a warning thread though. I actually HAVE kept most of the "starter" venomous fish that you all mentioned. I've had a scorpionfish, a volitan lion, and a threespine toadfish (and I was trying to get a leaf fish for a long time, but there was never one available here). When I had freshwater tanks, I had an electric catfish for a while.
I know how dangerous stonefish can be. I was wanting to know how large of a setup they need as adults, what kind of luck anyone has had with feeding them (like how well they adapt to non-live foods), and what, if any, tankmates they generally fare well with.
I know I'm not super-experienced, but I'm not a beginner and I read these forums all the time so I am learning rapidly. If I were to get a stonefish, it wouldn't be for quite some time. I'm wanting to start building a tank over time so that by the time I'm through with college, I could start adding livestock, which might include a stonefish.
I don't have decades of experience, but I know that I'm more ethical and caring of the fish than most hobbyists I run into, and I am always trying to learn more and more. I think that's much more important than having a certain number of years under my belt at this point...there's no "magic number" of years of experience that determines that someone is suddenly ready to have a venomous/dangerous animal.
That said, I see where everyone is coming from and I DO appreciate that the people in here really seem to care about the well-being of themselves, each other, and the animals. I'm just trying to find any firsthand experiences anyone has had in keeping stonefish.

[M.Dandaneau]

mytosis_matth, I actually do ahve to agree with you.
Like the rest of the scorpionfish clan, the stonefish don't "attack". and you're correct in that the spines are DEFENSIVE weapons only.
Compared to many to most of the other scorpionfish and lions, I'd say the odds of getting stung are much less as these guys don't bolt if they are alarmed, rarely swimming for ANY REASON!!!.
There are several different species of the true stonefish, and mine is one of the larger ones, now about 8", but actually weighing close to 2 lbs!....talk about a fatty!
This one eats anything you offer it, dead, frozen, etc.....if you wave it i front of his mouth it's gone, ASAP.
I recently moved mine to our 300 gal. tank as it has gotten large enough that I was gettign worried about his attitude towards his tankmates on a lean day, but in the 125 gal. set up there was more than enough room.
I would suggest a DSB though...these guys don't just hide in the LR, but actually completely bury themselves, with just the eyes and mouth exposed, and even those look like LR moreso than on any other fish I've ever seen.
Compared to many of the other scorpionfish, the one I have seems to approximate an anglerfish in regards to what is acceptable for food, readily taking much larger prey than its relatives.
Then again, he's now in with 5 eels and a large stargazer, who's even more of an invisible fish than the stonefish, only electric vs venomous.
From your attitude and logic, you sound like a good candidate to me, and for the aquariust who likes laid back fish that can survive a few days with you being away, I have to highly recommend them.
I wouldn't count on antivenom in case of an emergency though...being avilable and being accessible are two different things, with most hospitals only stocking such for the local fauna.
As long as you use common sense, it's an awesome, albeit very lazy, fish.

[mytosis_matth]

M. Dandaneau,

8" and 2 lbs.?!? That is one fat fish! I can tell by looking at them that they are exceptionally heavy for their length.
Do you know what species yours is? I assume Syanceia verrucosa is the most commonly available? I've read up on them a little and seen that they typically grow fairly large...one article said 35cm, but 50 cm specimens have been recorded....so that translates to around 14 inches, but up 20 inches.
You said that yours eats anything available. Do you know if that's typical of stonefish, or did you just luck out?
One last question...I noticed that you said that you were keeping yours with morays before you moved it. Are moray eels good tankmate candidates (in general, of course). There are a couple mid-sized piscivorous moray species that I'd like to get eventually, but would they be likely to attack the stonefish or get attacked by it? I like the gold phase G. miliaris (Brazilian golden moray) and Hawaiian Dragon Moray. Also, I might try to get ahold of a Rhinopias sp. scorpionfish in a few years (if I can ever afford one). Are any of these reasonably compatible in a large tank?
Thanks for answering my questions!

Matt

[M.Dandaneau]

My pleasure.
This is the only true stonefish I've had to date, so I can't say for sure if his behavior is typical, but I suspect any of the mid-sized moreys would be ok, as long as they are too large to eat (keep in mind, they can be coiled in the stomach, so need to be bigger than first seems logical).
As to compatability, in my experience most of the moreys are scent feeders, so if the stonefish is in the tank first and you feed the eel heavily as soon as it's introduced, all should be fine....by the time they are hungry again, they quite likely won't recognize it as food.
I'm not certain which stonefish species we have, as doing a fin count just hasn't seemed like all that good of an idea, but I suspect it's the horrida, based upon superficial features.
A Rhinopias, in my opinion, remains too small to be housed with a stonefish....it may well go down as one of the most expensive live feeders in aquarium history!
:smokin:

[roseman]

A friend of mine has a Syanceia verrucosa that is also about 8" long. He will eat anything that is put into the tank. If it passes within reaching distance he has it quick. He is living in a 40 gallon breeder tank and I think this would be minimum for this fish. All this tank has is a few peices of LR, a powerhead and a red lobster. Like Mr. M said, the only time I have seen this fish move was to eat. That's why he added the lobester. I too intend to have a stonefish soon.

[M.Dandaneau]

Hi all.....I just finished taking a few new photos and thought I'd update this old thread for anyone crazy enough to still be seriously considering one.
In the photo, you'll probably first notice a green wolf or carpet eel.
This particular fish (Wolfy) is about 18" long and probably as large a specimen as I've ever seen in captivity, purchased at about 4", originally.
If you look VERY carefully at the rock he's laying on, you'll notice the "rock" has eyes and teeth (the stonefish's mouth is directly beneath the wolf eel's.)
This particular stonefish was purchased March 23rd of this year at 3" in length.

[lilswanwillow]

wow

kinda surprised that nothing else is supper

[M.Dandaneau]

LOL!
Me too......especially when you consider that there are also two stargazers approximately the same size buried in the sand as well.
My white-tailed tang (6") did get swallowed to almost half his length before the stonefish spat him back out.....for a few days he was wearing a "toothmark belt" and now avoids the bottom.
There's also a dogfaced puffer, a porcupine, 3 morays and a lion in the tank.....needless to say, no "little guys"!:D