CARE AND CAUTION

The A. grunniens is not the easiest Fish to keep. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most difficult to care for, I would give them a rating of 8. They can be a challenge to keep, and some concerns will have to be taken into consideration.

THEY PREFER BRACKISH WATER

First, while they may survive in pure freshwater, it would probably be best to keep them in brackish water conditions with a salinity range of 0.5 to 35 ppt or a specific gravity of 1.0004 to 1.0015.

THEY ARE LOW-KEY PREDATORS

Secondly, since they mainly just sit and wait for their prey to come near them, feeding will be a problem if they share the same tank with open water predators. They simply cannot compete with the more aggressive predators who will probably get to the live food first. Thus, it might be better to keep them in a species tank or probably keep with Fishes who do not eat live fish. Archerfishes would certainly be good tankmates as they readily feed with commercial food and mostly just stay at the top parts of the tank.

THEY HAVE VENOMOUS SPINES

Be careful when handling the A. grunniens since the dorsal spines and the spines on the opercle are poisonous. Generally speaking, the venom is not very strong, but it will certainly leave you with a painful jab that may also result in you having a fever or an allergic reaction.

Caring for A. grunniens may be a challenge. I certainly will not recommend this to a newbie since they can be quite difficult to provide care for. But for someone who has the experience, caring for them can be quite exciting.

They are exotic looking Fish whom you won’t commonly encounter. Quite frankly, they might not even look like Fishes, but like monsters from the murky waters of the deep!

If you have any questions or inquiries about the Fish mentioned above, or if you wish to feature your Fish in this column, please write Angel Ampil at angelfishyguyampil@gmail.com.