Mili, Pet Fish Question...

[Jamies Mommy]

My daughter has been bugging me and bugging me for an aquarium and some fish. Someone on freecycle is giving an aquarium away with two fresh water fish in it. Does you or anyone else know what kind these are and how easy to care for they might be...or not :)

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t39/rebelwithkidz/fish3.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t39/rebelwithkidz/fish1.jpg

Thanks

[mrsdoubtfyre]

The top one is a Plecostomus ...they eat algae off the glass, bottom etc.
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/scavengers/plecostomus.htm
When I was in Florida I saw a photo of an crane eating one of these that was over 12 in long! The pictures were about tropical species let loose in the canals there. here is another picture:
http://elmersaquarium.com/10plecostomus.htm

The bottom looks like a loach. There are albino loaches and gray ones.
They tend to come out and swim alot when the weather changes. We called ours a "weather loach".
This is one pic of a weather loach:
http://elmersaquarium.com/10loach_weather.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/loaches1/p/weatherloach.htm

Both of these look large and so they are not really very young. They are established already. They are tropical and need a heater.

We found both pretty hardy. The loach needs a hidey spot, and the plecostomus also likes to hide sometimes too.

[callyflower]

And they need LOTS of algae to eat!!!! You may even have to supplement them with algae. Do lots of reading before adding fish to the tank, and go slowly. A tank full of pretty fishies is not usually a healthy tank (and doesn't stay "full" for long).

Enjoy. Fish can be quite fun. My dd still has her goldfish she got when she was five (she's 10.5 now). There are just two of them in a 55 gal tank and they are huge.

Cally

[mrsdoubtfyre]

in a tank. Both of these qualify as bottom dwellers. But they move around some too. Don't get any more catfish or bottom ones.

For first fish some nice guppies or neons are good. They live at the top zone of the tank. They are inexpensive and pretty. Start with 5 of one kind. and see how it goes.

I have seen plecostomuses eat off the surface if very hungry. They will eat regular fish food too.

The loaches are very active and swim around alot. zoom zoom

[Jamies Mommy]

Thanks so much! We will stick with these two at first then get some more in a few weeks. My daughter is so excited she can hardly wait for them to get here.

[milivica]

OMG the bottom one is one of my fav's. Mine just died, it was a good foot long + and I'm still missing him, really great fish, had him for years. It's from the Goby family it is a Violet Goby, also called a Dragon Goby by some. The family order is Gobiidae but that's the only fancy word I know.

They have really teeny eyes, are shy but aggressive with others of their own kind if territory is an issue - like all gobies they are territorial. If you wind up getting more than one, get at least 3 so one isn't constantly getting ranked on. Mine would never even bother a guppy, has been perfectly safe with small fish though the pet store told me they were 'agressive' that is not so. They feed exactly like those giant whales that only eat tiny plankton, opening their huge mouth and eating the tiny food and the bigger food shoots out their gills. It just won't go in! They really should have some salt in their water, as ALL gobies should. To have a happy Violet Goby, you want to give them a soft substrate with cover over it to bury in, if you have regular aquarium rocks they may still bury AND hurt them self in the process. If you don't have a sandy bottom, make just one patch of your aquarium sandy, or, maybe put a long tube in under a rock so it can feel safe in it's 'cave'. Pay attention the it is getting adequate food. Sometimes they wait till the light is off to come out and eat. Sometimes you can give an extra feeding after the light is off. If you have a catfish, I'm not certain how good that will work cause the catfish will gobble up the food before the goby can get to it. They are sensitive to rises in ammonia I once read, so you might want to keep activated carbon in your filter if you don't already.

The other pic of the critter stuck to the tank wall is a Plecostomus, most folks call it a Pleco. Just don't put it with goldfish or really slow moving fish. They can harass and try to suck the slime off them if hungry even killing them. Don't worry about not having enough algae for them, if you don't give them algae wafers and zucchini and romaine lettuce to eat. I think they will tolerate some salt in the water. They are hardy, some can get really large. They are fun to have, keep the glass in your tank clean along with the decorations. Very nice fish to have as long as you don't want a planted tank (with real plants I mean, not plastic).

Ok now I got to read what everyone said above. I was so excited I didn't yet.

[frogmama]

We've got a Pleco - he's about 8 inches long and the only one besides the goldfish(of course, the one fish I WANTED to go belly up! He's dirty and grabby and nips the angelfish) to survive the "Unfortunate Heater Incident" in November, very hardy and sorta creepy in a prehistoric way. Out goldfish was a carnival prize, started out at 1 1/2 inches in July - he's 6 inches long now!! (in a 55 gallon tank) I'm going to have to build an outdoor pond for him.

For hardiness you can't beat a tetra, pretty much any kind - I had some tail light tetra that survived a trip cross country in an unheated/unfilterd/unaraeted tank and lived for years afterwards.

That goby looks really neat too, I'm gradually adding fish back to our tank now, maybe I'll look for one next trip to the fish store. My DD really likes the kissing gourami we got last week, they actually "kiss" each other. And our school of tiger barbs, they will follow her finger. Oh, and the red-kneed crab...I'm trying to talk DH into another tank....maybe with a sandy bottom so I can get some burrowing fish like the goby and another crab and an oscar or two.... :) Fish tanks are like potato chips, you can't have just one...

[milivica]

Ok, here and now, I will admit my shame. Of all the fish, I keep killing and cannot seem to keep for long, it is the Pleco, which is like one of the hardiest hard to kill fish I know, I know (sob, sob, snifffffffffff, sob sob). I've seen people give there's away after a decade cause they get over a foot long...and I can barely keep one alive for even a year, WAAAHHHHHHH! So, I just don't even try to buy one anymore, and blame it on my tanks being planted - THE SHAME OF IT!

[milivica]

"The unfortunate heater incident" - lol! OMG that's sad, been there done that...first sign it's getting too hot, all the fish are trying to dig pits in the gravel.

Oh, and if you get a sandy bottom cause you want burrowing fish, I have heard play sand is about the same as aquarium sand and far cheaper. And for burrowing critters, I most most most love my peacock eels, which, will eat right out of your hand!!! Usually you can only see their nose and part of their tail, so get several. I'll take a pick of mine if you want.

Also, I don't know what a red knee crab is, the crabs usually sold by pet shops for fish tanks so far as I have seen are fiddlers, and belong in a salt environment since they live off the sea shore. We saw TONS walking around by the Gulf of Mexico in Florida last year, they lived in burrows on land not in the water.

[frogmama]

now that we have bogarted this thread...
The Unfortunate Heater Incident (always in CAPS at our house) was just the opposite, most of the tank is in a closet that has an outside wall and my DH accidentally unplugged the heater during a cold snap - TaaDaa, fish sticks! Our iridecient (sp) shark was practically big enough to fry and eat... :( But they've fertilized my rosebushes now.

I took of picture of Dino, our Pleco, not a very good one as he dosen't care for the flash and I had to get it from the back of the tank where the alage is. and then Ernie the schnauzer was jealous of all the fish attention and came to pose for me - the hole in the door you see behind him is for the 3 cats to get into the closet to use the litter box, they have their own private bathroom, LOL.

Well, dangit, I can't get Dino's picture small enough to upload...off to try again

[milivica]

Ohhhh yeah, I remember seeing that kind of crab, I know absolutely nothing about it though. I see your tetra in the back ground, I used to have those Serape tetras too. They're hardy!

That dog, omg what a darling - glowing white just like my Manny, a 4 legged appetizer out here where eagles and falcons live with no camouflage what so ever in the spring, summer, and fall.

Your kitchen floor with the dog in the picture reminds me of slices of this gawd awful lunch meat we used to get in Catholic school. (which is not an insult, cause I don't plan to eat your floor).

Nice looking pleco too!

[Jamies Mommy]

Thanks Mili
Our fish have settled in and are doing well!