Ambon Scorpionfish

nateqt

nateqt

New member
This is a post directed towards those that have kept Pteroidicthys amboinensis. I am looking to get one, and before you say it YES I am aware that they do not have a good success rate and would at max probably last a year. My question is, how much did you get yours for? I am in San Diego so I am not far from the wholesalers in LA and have access to them. How much did you get yours from a LFS for or a wholesaler. The only guy I know that told me a price was $90 but that was almost 2 years ago. Any information is helpful, thanks!
 
FWIW, our specimens have lived as little as 2 weeks and as long as 10 months. From what I understand, 10 months is pretty long.

Is the yellow-spotted in your avatar yours?
If so, how long have you had it?
What is it eating?
What type of setup is it in?
 
ARGH!!!

That sux...did you have a tuff time finding them? It took us FOREVER to come across one.

I know what red-fins are...we've had three of them to date, a M-F pair and another male juvie. Our smallest is just over an inch, but he's growing. Yours is a nice-looking male, BTW.

Since I'm getting the feeling that you're a bit of a scorp nut, here are a couple of snaps of ours:

yellowhandsome700.jpg


yellowspot700.jpg


waspfishpretty700-1.jpg


waspbegging700.jpg


And since we're talking ambons...they always seem to be begging!

ambonyellow700.jpg


ambon700b.jpg


ambonsm700.jpg


ambonbig700.jpg
 
I was on the look for about 2 months and a few stores here in San Diego said it was pointless and the only way to get one is by accidental miss ID as a hawkfish or some other scorp and I randomly got a call from a store saying they had 2 in and then we came and got both, but from what I've heard exotic reef imports and sea dwelling creatures have had them lately...

I absolutely love scorps of all kind and I've been looking at your website for a while now drooling over your fish haha, here's a few shots of my fuzzy, he's mainly white, with some yellow, red, and a burgundyish color, the picture doesnt show off his true colors, the brown is more redish in person
IMG_20110813_232232.jpg


I've also kept a fu manchu and a mombasa, my life will be complete with a D. bellus though
 
I've also kept a fu manchu and a mombasa, my life will be complete with a D. bellus though
Click to expand...

Just what we need...another coolwater setup! I agree tho, a bellus would be a score!

Interesting-looking fuzzy. I bet it's really pretty when it's all colored-up and feeling spunky in person.
 
My best advice there is to get the fish cool...like low 60's. We've had good luck with 63*F.

The other thing about these fish is they seem to get bacterial infections pretty easily, and the infections are almost like RTN in coral...these fish can literally "melt" before your eyes if you don't catch it and treat it soon enuff (we went with oral antibiotics).

Here's a blurb from our upcoming lionfish article:

Personal Anecdotal Information Regarding the Husbandry of P. heterura:

This little lion is definitely a rare find, and a special case, as to have even a small chance of keeping it alive for any appreciable length of time, it must be kept under temperate conditions (less than 65ºF). We have been fortunate enough to have had our specimen under our care for well over a year, however, the early months were indeed rough.

Although some hobbyists have reported their fish simply “dropping dead”, we and at least one other hobbyist we know of have found that bluefins seem to be quite susceptible to bacterial infections, which present rapidly, and ragingly. We had one specimen that literally had its lower jaw “melt off” almost overnight (not a pretty thing to see). However, our other specimen (we had purchased two of them) would get an odd-looking “lesion” or hole in its pectoral, and we administered oral antibiotics immediately. Each time, we were able to arrest and heal the infection. I should also note that each time this occurred, we lowered the temperature of the water by a few degrees (we had begun at 70 ºF). Once the water temperature hit 63ºF, we stopped seeing these outbreaks. Coincidence? Maybe, however, there are much fewer bacteria in a closed system at colder temperatures, and a much greater dissolved oxygen content (it has been theorized by some that this fish may be sensitive to low dissolved oxygen content).

Our specimen is a solid stick feeder, accepting most of the fare we feed to our other scorps. However, although it does eat well, it doesn’t strike the food very hard, and has a small mouth, so smaller food items work best.

Bluefins seem to be available in the early-mid springtime, so if you’re looking for a real challenge and have a dedicated temperate setup for this fish, you might want to give the bluefin a try.

We don't have all the answers by any means, and are learning more every day, but we have been able to keep this fish for over a year (and counting).

blackfoot700.jpg
 
One day I plan on keeping that fish, maybe in a few years once more information about them is readily available, they are amazing lions. Have you tried an ambon in temperate conditions? Seems odd though since I have seen some in dive videos of the Lembeh Strait.
 
I have a feeling that they may do better if kept a bit cooler. The O2 sat would be higher, and there would definitely be fewer bacteria in residence. I think the next time we try with an ambon or two, the tank will be chilled, altho I can't say to what temp ATM, as I'm still pondering that (<74*F, but maybe a little cooler).
 
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