Any other fishkeepers out there?

blaise802001

We have tropical fish too. We used to have 2 tanks and are now down to one and I'm trying to get rid of that. So all I have in it at the moment is 1 angel and a couple of tetras. In the other tank we used to have an oscar, one of the ugliest fish ever, we did have two, but the male decided to EAT the female :eek: I will post a pic of him later, he ended up being nearly a foot long. He died a couple of years ago, he was about 6/7. Along with him were some tinfoil, they lived for about 8/9 years. Last one died a few months ago.

madfrenchgirl

Hey Jason! yeah we do have a nice community tank. Both plecos tend to hide most of the time so people think they don't exist. They do get surprised at the sailfin pleco when he come sout at night. Good on you to keep the goldfishes in a tank. I hate to see those poor things in a bowl! My mom got a fish for decorative purposes only, wanted to keep it in a weird bowl-like structure. I kept on telling her to not do it, but she got one anyway. It annoys me greatly of people like that just keeping them cos they are pretty and not understanding that they are pets that need their space to grow. And when you tell these people, they shoudl get a tank instead, they just get @rsy with you.

Pbradley, Kois can be very expensive can't they?

Blaise, and that is exactly why I don't keep semi-aggressive fishes... We had a couple of dwarf gouramis: the male kille dits only female. The male finally died of a sudden death for some bizarre reason after that. Fishes would eat any dead fish lying around anyway, so don't feel bad about the female oscar.

blaise802001

madfrenchgirl wrote: »

Blaise, and that is exactly why I don't keep semi-aggressive fishes... We had a couple of dwarf gouramis: the male kille dits only female. The male finally died of a sudden death for some bizarre reason after that. Fishes would eat any dead fish lying around anyway, so don't feel bad about the female oscar.

The oscars were only just over an inch long when we got them, they only cost us £3.50 each. No-one even told us how big they would get or that they were aggressive :eek:
I like siamese fighters, blue are my fave. But these are well known to fight with other males, so we never have other males, but they are fine with females. The oscar never even bothered with the tinfoils though..

blaise802001

blaise802001 wrote: »

In the other tank we used to have an oscar, one of the ugliest fish ever, we did have two, but the male decided to EAT the female :eek: I will post a pic of him later, he ended up being nearly a foot long. He died a couple of years ago, he was about 6/7. Along with him were some tinfoil, they lived for about 8/9 years. Last one died a few months ago.

Here he is

JasonLVC

Naw, that's not ugly.

Get yourself a Frog Fish. Now that's ugly.

I'd post a picture but don't seem to have permission - think I've got to email a moderator or something. So here's a weblink instead :-

http://www.edge-of-reef.com/antennaridi/antennaridien.htm

blaise802001

Eww yeah he's ugly Jason...see what you mean..lol
I used to tease DH and tell him that we'd be having fish and chips for tea one day and that he'd personally know the fish..:D

pink.1970

Hi all,

I also have a community tank, altho fish stocks are dwindling at the moment seem to be losing at the mo.

I have a pictus catfish, sucking loach, albino shark, golden barb (did have 4), 3 black neons, rummynose (had 5), xray tetra (had 4), 2 black widows, 2 banded tetra, and 1 lonely hatchet fish (had 5) and have had numerous amounts of neon tetra over the years.

I dont use real plants as the loach tends to up root them and make a right mess.

madfrenchgirl

Wow, pink, you must have a big tank! Pictus can grow huge! So can the sharks... We wanted to get a silver shark but we thought we should not because our tank length was a bit too small for them. You seem to have a nice collection of tetras!

Blaise, we were thinking of replacing our fighter with a blue one, ours was red and I think it must have had finrot before we got him cos his fins were half of what you see in the shops. that Oscar is not THAt bad, we went to Marwell zoo a month ago and they had one of these in their tropical pavilion and it was humongous!!! Same thing with their plecs: absolutely massive!

Jason: ewww, that is an ugly fish. Do they serve any purpose in the animal world?

Mrs_pbradley936

madfrenchgirl wrote: »

Pbradley, Kois can be very expensive can't they?

Yes if you are fussy about what you buy and where you buy them from.

We tried breeding them a few times but gave up because the poor colours grow faster than the good colours and then eat the others. You cannot put really tiny fish in the pond or they will be eaten and to have the facilities to separate them and grow them on was not something I wanted to get involved with. Far cheaper in the long run to buy a good fish that someone else has bred.

JasonLVC

madfrenchgirl wrote: »

Jason: ewww, that is an ugly fish. Do they serve any purpose in the animal world?

Not that I'm aware of, they are heavily camoflauged fish and tend to walk at the bottom of the tank or stick to the side - as their fins are just like feet. A bizarre fish and a good one to keep actually.

Back to my daughters fish tank, I had a golden snail in there to keep the tank clean and when it died, I made a note to get it out later that day. Anyway, when the time came to fish it out (or snail it out I suppose - sorry, a fish joke!) the shell was there but the body wasn't. Yep, Mr Goldfish was eating it - took him a few hours as well but he downed the lot.

I normally feed them fresh peas once a week to vary their diet but not known them to eat flesh before. You learn something every day!.