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FAQs about Trumpetfishes

Related Articles: Trumpetfishes, Seahorses & their Relatives

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An Aulostomus maculatus in amongst a gorgonian in the Bahamas.

Juvi trumpet fish...Barbados   1/29/09 Hi Bob, <Misty> It's still a little blurry, but you can definitely tell what it is, and how TINY it is. If you need some Caribbean pics for any of your pages, let me know and I'll look through some of my best shots. <Thank you for this> Great having you as our guest this past weekend. Hope you had a fun weekend, too. Cheers, Misty <Indeed I did. Thank you once again for your and the club's generous sharing. Bob Fenner>

Aulostomus sp.  8/25/06 Hi Bob <Johanna... now I can't get that Bobby Dylan tune of your name out of my head> I work in an aquarium and we got in 3 Trumpetfish, Aulostomus sp. I am not sure what species they are but I an leaning towards A. chinensis. <Easy enough to tell... do you know which ocean they originated in? Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/aulostomidae.htm> They are about 8 inches in length, and I was wondering if they can be housed in the same aquarium. <Yes... if this is large enough> My boss wants them in a 500 gallon system. <Could be kept together here... but oh my! I would not like to try catching them back out> I have not found any information on what kind of water parameters they need either. Thanks for you time and help! Sincerely, Johanna Wren <Trumpetfishes can be kept in captivity... do eat small fishes, motile invertebrates... Bob Fenner> Trumpetfish Dear Bob: <Anthony Calfo in your service> First of all, thank you for writing such an informative, user-friendly book (my husband teases me that I've hardly put it down since buying it about a month ago:-)) and for maintaining this website. I have a question regarding Trumpetfish.  <an interesting but inactive predator> I am planning on setting up a 180 gallon fish and invertebrate system next summer. I'm currently in the research/planning/saving stage. My wish list for fish at this point is as follows: 1 - Snowflake Eel 1 - Tassel Filefish* 1 - Longnose Hawkfish 1 - Yellow Tang* 1 - Purple Tang (realize there could be a problem with two so closely related) 1 - Orchid Dottyback 1 - Flame Angel 2 - 3 Hippo Tangs* 1 - Trumpetfish* Does this sound like a compatible group to you? <alas... there are many problems with this mix. You really need to decide if you want a large fish/predator tank or a tank of small/medium community fish. The Tassled file, eel and trumpet all get close to two foot each and will take up most of the entire bio-load for the tank as adults in 2-3 years... that means NO OTHER fish. And if you try... the orchid, hawk and angel will be swallowed whole if they are not harassed and killed first. My advice is to keep your list without the three big boys.. add a lot of live rock and some nice invertebrates (filefish eat most inverts by the way!!!) and have a tank that seems to satisfy most of your wishes> *I started a small (40 gallon) marine system back in the dark ages (about 15 years ago). I maintained the system for about 5 years before I sold it due to relocation. My livestock consisted of the above *'d fishes along with a couple of damsels and a few hermit crabs. As indicated, I kept a small (approximately 9" Trumpetfish) and fed him, you guessed it: Comet Goldfish. <Uggghhhh!!!> He was an amazing fish, in my opinion, and I'd really like to have one in my new set up. Have you ever seen a Trumpetfish in captivity that accepted non-live food via a feeding stick or otherwise?  <they really need live crustacean and marine fishes to survive... will die on freshwater feeder fish and they are hard to wean off of live> I have searched your site and the web but haven't been able to find any info specifically pertaining to keeping Trumpetfish. <not commonly kept due to its inactivity and strict diet>



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