Keeping Fish

[LeafBlade12345]

Old hen, sounds like an okay way to cull, if not a bit expensive and I wouldn't really want to waste my fungal medicine either, but I will definitely keep it in mind. Thank you. I really don't mind culling fish that cause stress or damage to the tank, and sometimes it is neccassary to take less desirable measures, such as the sock and hammer. There are some humane ways to cull but not everyone will like all of these:

Sock and hammer: insert fish into sock, rag, paper towel, etc. and hammer hard, then throw whole thing out or wash sock/rag if used

Decapitation: use plant shears or cutters, you can even use scissors, and slice off the fish's head, disposing of the body

Euthanization: kill fish with overdose of fungus medicine or something similar

Reuse: feed fish to other animals or bigger fish

Quick killing: either snap the fish's spine or crush their brain case

These are different ways to cull, not all desirable. Some may say that culling fish for aggressiveness is cruel, but what will you do? Rehome them to someone else's tank where they will certainly wreak havoc? Let them kill your helpless, passive fish? Keep them solely and let them take over your tank? It is time to take action when fish come out of line.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

After keeping fish for many years, I've found some of my favorite community species for freshwater tropical communities to be:

Guppies
Mollies
Swordtails
Platys
Zebra Danios (some aggressiveness sometimes)
Upside down catfish (myths are not true, they are not aggressive, they are shy and sweet)
Runny noses tetras (sound awful but very good fish)
Plecos (some get very large)
Dojo loaches (love them, very prehistoric looking)
Worm loaches (sweet and friendly to dojos)
Cory cats
Glow light tetras (not dyed)
Almost any of the loaches
Tiny orange fish, not sure what they are called since they were bought years ago
Peacock eels (very finicky and die of shock and stress easily, not for beginners)

Enjoy! Most of these fish are very easy for beginners with the exception of peacock eels.

 

[3goodeggs]

Hey leaf blade.

It is my son's turtle. My mother found him when he hatched out it's egg.

By all rights, I think he is a girl based on the lack of concave-idness (?) but she has never to our knowledge laid any eggs, so I call her a he.
He is a mud turtle. We think she/he is about ten years old now. Apparently they live to be 50-60 years old, so I am hoping my son will reclaim him/her when he gets out of college. I don not plan on taking care of her/him for another 50 years.
If I make it to 103 I shouldn't have to care for a geriatric turtle.

We would let it go into the wild, but because it has never been in the wild, it seems kind of wrong.
That an it believes that repto-min comes from human fingers. I would hate for someone to lose a finger swimming to close to a seemingly innocent mud turtle.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Old hen, sounds like an okay way to cull, if not a bit expensive and I wouldn't really want to waste my fungal medicine either, but I will definitely keep it in mind. Thank you. I really don't mind culling fish that cause stress or damage to the tank, and sometimes it is neccassary to take less desirable measures, such as the sock and hammer. There are some humane ways to cull but not everyone will like all of these:

Sock and hammer: insert fish into sock, rag, paper towel, etc. and hammer hard, then throw whole thing out or wash sock/rag if used

Decapitation: use plant shears or cutters, you can even use scissors, and slice off the fish's head, disposing of the body

Euthanization: kill fish with overdose of fungus medicine or something similar

Reuse: feed fish to other animals or bigger fish

Quick killing: either snap the fish's spine or crush their brain case

These are different ways to cull, not all desirable. Some may say that culling fish for aggressiveness is cruel, but what will you do? Rehome them to someone else's tank where they will certainly wreak havoc? Let them kill your helpless, passive fish? Keep them solely and let them take over your tank? It is time to take action when fish come out of line.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

True, if there were just hanging around, but one they are a public danger, measures need to be taken. I'd just rather use electric fencing, but let's not make this a debate about that...to each his own.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Three good eggs, hey! Mud turtles are fun! I wouldn't let it go if it is dependent on humans. Does it have a name?

 

[3goodeggs]

Albert Pine.
It was a character in a children's book. Come to think of it, the turtle might be more like 13 years old.
Seems like yesterday...

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Albert pine? Never heard of it, but a cute name. I have spiny softshells and a Mississippi map turtle, but one of the softshells is in the process of being given away, hopefully everything will be finalized soon so we don't have to keep him indoors. Pancake and Oliver are the spiny softshells, while Drake is the map turtle.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Here's a list of animals that can peacefully coexist with community fish:

Mexican dwarf lobster (actually a type of tiny crayfish they will eat tiny or dying fish but mostly scavenge)

African dwarf frog (not to be confused with the African clawed frog which eats fish, gets huge, is illegal in many places including California, and is an invasive species)

Peacock eels (they are technically fish but are very cool and fun to keep, not for beginners by any means)

Freshwater crabs (some small species are good for tanks, but they will kill and eat anything they can catch, so fast top water fish are the best suited for companionship)

Fire belly toads (actually frogs, beautiful but must be fed crickets or mealworms and need a place to stay out of the water like a turtle float, escape artists, poisonous to eat)

Newts (get Japanese not Chinese, nothing over three inches, will eat small fish but usually can't catch them, escape artists many poisonous to eat)

I will add more species soon.

Edited because stupid spellcheck sure isn't helpful.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I was wondering if anyone has kept high-finned Sharks? After recently losing one, I'm looking for another one, but I would like to look into different fish as well, maybe catfish or sunnies?