# Sculpin Tank



## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

my cold water sculpin Tank
22 gallons glass
plants: anubis, java moss, pennywort(new)
Filters: 2 HOB, 1 whisper 55 gallon, 1 tetra 25 gallon
1 55 gallon air pump
Fan cooled to below 70o
Sculpin need High DO
Stock,
1 4 1/2 inch prickly sculpin (had just sens it was 1 inch..about a 1 1/2 years now)
2 1- 1/2 inch prickly sculpin(9 mon)
2 1-1 1/2 inch mottled sculpin(9 mon)
1 Paradise fish (new)
i have tons more pics of all these fish..
Sculpin Diet: frozen shrimp/prawns, fish chunks(any kind from store), frozen blood worms, night crawlers, guppies (breed my own) glass shrimp, krill, crushed snails, pellets, silver sides.

they get fed every other day depending on what they get fed ^_^
enjoy, questions and comments are welcome!
..the tank(updated pics to come)








cooling/filters








Prickly Sculpin Female 4 1/2 - Name: Angry Fish 
































Prickly baby 1








prickly baby 2








Mottled 1








mottled 2









enjoy!


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

nice looking tank!

the large Prickly is a neat looking species for sure


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

automatic-hydromatic said:


> nice looking tank!
> 
> the large Prickly is a neat looking species for sure


Thank you! ^_^ 
and yes she is i have tons of pics...and some still on my cam..
the babies are coloring up nicely as well and the two mottles ones switch colors and patterns so fast its hard to keep track of


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

updates coming soon.


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## seannjif (Dec 6, 2010)

Sweet tank :fish-in-bowl:


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

cool


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

I used to catch a very similar fish on the Oregon Coast. There the water temp was below 60 degrees most of the time. Because of ocean currents, winter water temp stayed above 50. My impression is that they will eat anything. I have caught them as long as 12 inches. They live in the same environment as the Pacific Salmon so they have very high O2 requirements. I would call them the Cories of the Oregon Coast!


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

NeonShark666 said:


> I used to catch a very similar fish on the Oregon Coast. There the water temp was below 60 degrees most of the time. Because of ocean currents, winter water temp stayed above 50. My impression is that they will eat anything. I have caught them as long as 12 inches. They live in the same environment as the Pacific Salmon so they have very high O2 requirements. I would call them the Cories of the Oregon Coast!


yes this is a fish native to the then NW acutely its all over the US^_^ and yes high DO and cold water is what they require clean clean water as well, they do eat almost anything^_^.

right now i feed,
earth worms, blood worms, talopia, various pellets, krill, silver sides, home grown guppies, shrimp, chopped prawns, any chunks of fish we might buy,

i think the only thing they dont like it flakes...they will eat them and spit them out like...uh....what is this crap....the larger female will not accept flakes any more but the smaller 4 still will.
some of the neatest fish i have ever had the pleasure of keeping.

Her 40 gallon home got put on hold..its been up a month now but i had added a few guppies (new ones) and the tank had a small ick out break..its nearly gone now so a few more days and i can finish scaping it....so close^_^

...few update shots of one of the baby pricklys.....she is very friendly
















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these fish respond when they see me and beg for food, they even play with my kitten threw the glass.
..there soon to be new tan







k...ALOT more stuff is going in it^_^


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

update^_^


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Just a couple of comments. These fish have spines on the top of their head (behind their eyes) and on their pectoral fins (like Cories), so be careful!. I have found them only on a sandy bottom. They have a pretty good set of teeth in their mouths. Rather then swim, these guys like to hop on the bottom. In their home territory they are subject to very stronge currents, both tidal and river. They are thus exposed to constantly changing salinities, from fresh to salt and back again.
Have fun with these guys!


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

NeonShark666 said:


> Just a couple of comments. These fish have spines on the top of their head (behind their eyes) and on their pectoral fins (like Cories), so be careful!. I have found them only on a sandy bottom. They have a pretty good set of teeth in their mouths. Rather then swim, these guys like to hop on the bottom. In their home territory they are subject to very stronge currents, both tidal and river. They are thus exposed to constantly changing salinities, from fresh to salt and back again.
> Have fun with these guys!


the larger is a prickly sculpin as well as 2 of the younger ones and 2 young mottled sculpin.
i have done tons of research on them and have kept the larger of my group for nearly 2 years....no teeth or spines to be seen.
though i did get a neat shot of the prickly showing why they are called prickly.there skin had little hair type things on there skin..^_^










they are awesome to watch as well , they have a bone in the back of there neck that other fish lack, that allows them to look up^_^


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

update!
got a new 40 gallon..its been up and running over a month now and nearly ready for the big sculpin the 4 smaller ones have already been added..let me know what you think


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## piranha (Apr 4, 2011)

I just caught 3 sculpins and not sure how to get them on prepared food. i have only been able to get them to eat worms. Any suggestions? Thanks


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

> I just caught 3 sculpins and not sure how to get them on prepared food. i have only been able to get them to eat worms. Any suggestions? Thanks


 There are a few ways..mostly starving them and offering only the pellets..

i could help you out more if you gave me some info
do you know what kind you have?
what size are they
where did you get them
what size tank do you have them in,
what are there tank mates.
how are you keeping the tank cool?
filtration?

give me those questions and i can help you out a bit more^_^
these are awesome fish!


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## piranha (Apr 4, 2011)

they look like the big sculpin you have i think its the prickly sculpin. 2 of them are about 3' long and the other one is a little over 6'. i caught them in a river near my house. right now there in a 10gallon quarantine tank and soon going into a 200gallon pond. tank mates are 4 pumpkin seed sunfish. the tank is at about 50F. its in a cold room. it has a hang on the back filter. i have an air pump running into it. theres also a strong power-head in there is make more like a river. do you need more info?


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

^_^ sounds like you have the perfect set up..though they might beat each other up in th10 gallon.

best thing to do is to not feed them for about 3 days.then offer them the prepared foods, maybe some small raw shrimp (peeled) dump it in in front of the power head or water flow so it will fall down towards or past them if they do not snatch then give them a few moments and remove the food, repeat untill food is eaten,

they are scavengers and if hungry enough they will eat anything, they are more of the lay and wait for food to fall in to there face.

so get them nice and hungry and then let food float by there face ^_^ 
hope that helps. 
I had no trouble at all getting mine to eat pellets and other non living things, though i still feed live, and they still take pellets, bloodworms ext.


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## piranha (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks! i'll let you know how it goes.


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## piranha (Apr 4, 2011)

It worked they're all on shrimp now! Thanks!


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## Kaosu (Nov 13, 2010)

yay!!

you are very welcome.. enjoy your new pets! they are awesome, iv had mine for almost 2 years now.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.


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