Flying Gurnard

[adamwarlock13]

I just saw one of these today & want one if possible. I can only find limited info online about them.

I have 55 gal with 75 pounds of live rock & 50 pounds of live sand loaded with pods & mini brittles, Spaghetti worms, etc. Other fish in tank would be 2 Green Citron Gobies, Purple Firefish, Maroon Clown & BiColor Anthias. Inverts include Blood Shrimp, Pistol Shrimp, Anenome crab, huge Emerald Crab, blue legged hermits, scarlett hermits, turbo snails, nassarius snails, vermetid snails, Seba anenome, Rock anenomes & Tube anenome. Corals include GSP, White Bubble, Pearl Bubble, Zoos, Frogspawn, Hybrid Frogspawn, Torch, Mushrooms, Pulsating Xenias & Capnella. I run a Remora Pro skimmer with Mag & 2 Maxi Jet Powerheads. I also run a Phosban Reactor.

Any comments (Pro or Con)would be most appreciated.

 

[Torno]

I think they get quite large and need plenty of open space. With the 75 pounds of rock and only a 55 gallon tank, I don't think that's a good setup for a species like this. Liveaquaria.com has some info on them too.

 

[Bret61081]

IF you want some really good information first hand, go on the New life Spectrum webpage. They have a forum there aswell. They happen to be the owners favorite fish and he had several that he has had for several years that were eating spectrum! You may have to wait a few days to get a response, but it should be helpful

I have seen them at the LFS. They were feeding them feeder shrimp and baby guppys but would never touch anythingelse. Its hard to get them to switch over from what Ive heard. But try the NLS webpage forums!

 

[Monkeyfish]

They need large, open, sandy bottomed tanks and as previously stated can get pretty big. I wouldn't try it in a 55g tank.

 

[adamwarlock13]

The 55 is strictly a transitional tank. I plan on transferring him to a 125 when its ready.

 

[Jeffrey Porter]

i think a 125 is still too small for an adult. i've seen some here at the aquarium in the past and they were over 2 feet long.

 

[corivus]

liveaquaria says that these are not reef safe? is this a different type?

 

[fishtail22]

The flying gurnard is one of my favorite fishes. Every year a catch a couple of them and display them here at Atlantis Marine World in NY. They are usually about 2 inches long when I catch them in late summer, but by the following spring they can be over a foot long. I keep them in a 1500 gallon tank with a lot of open space along with some other locally-caught tropicals. By the time they are 1 ft, they are starting to look uncomfortable in their tank and although there is no evidence that they actually fly, they will always jump out if given the opportunity. When ours outgrow the 1500 gallon tank, we transfer them to an 80,000 gallon tank that people snorkel in. The longest we've ever had one for is about 3 years.

They usually start out as pretty finicky eaters, but once they start eating, they are voracious little predators.

So, I guess I'm saying that maybe they're not such a great fish for a 125.

I hope this helps.

 

[fishtail22]

I forgot to mention - the books say they reach a length of 3 ft, but I once saw one on a reef in Puerto Rico that must have been pushing 4.

 

[Li_fisher]

flying gurnard

flying gurnard

hi i just recently caught a flying gurnard in moriches bay every summer my little brother and i drag net at the beaches and try to catch the tropical fish that come in this year we've caught a bunch of spot fin butterfly fish 4 baby trunk fish a tun of burfish and a giant sea horse i was wondering when the gurnard got too big if the aquarium would take him i only have a 130 gallon reef tank and hes only about 2-3 inches long and since youre in the area do you know of any good places to drag net i usually go to webbies beach in center moriches cause i live on that road anyway thanks for youre time

tom

 

[Monkeyfish]

You'd be better off calling the aquarium and asking Todd directly.