my new fish

[silkydragon]

today i went to petstore to get some new fish for my fishtank which currently had 2 parrot cichlids, a shovelnosed catfish, and a striped rapheal catfish. i got 2 angelfish and 2 paradise guramis i thought 1 of the angels might be a little small and would be harrassed but got it anyway becouse it was pretty and had long fins. so i got it home and i was right it was too small so i am now in the process of making my own open bottom aquarium i used the bottom to an old hamster cage that i kept chicks in once and some bench weights for the upside down tank to sit on. if the angel survives i may get a few guramis or tetras or something(definitly a few cory cats becouse i always like to have a bottom feeder and corys are my faverite


will add pics

 

[NewHopePoultry]

How big is your tank?
Cant wait for pics

 

[bagendhens]

the gourami and the angels are going to beat the snot out of each other at maturity...angels are highly teritorial and goruami are related to betta...they tend to occupy the same tank space.

im also pretty sure that your angels and your parrots need different paramiters though im not as familiar with the south american cichlids.

just keep an eye on everyone, bullying is very likley in your set up.

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, you're kinda setting yourself up for problems in a multitude of ways, there.

It would be a real good idea to do some reading up on the social habits and water-chemistry requirements of different types of fish, so that in future you can make selections based on what will actually do well in the tank.

You're aware, yes, that those shovelnose catfish grow to 3 feet long in aquariums (they get larger in the wild)?? If yours doesn't in your particular tank, it's gonna be either because you couldn't keep it alive or because it was in such poor health that you are basically bonsai-ing it, which is Not Cool. (And also doesn't really work THAT well to keep them from growing -- yours WILL outgrow all but the very largest tank, unless you can't keep it alive for long enough). As a consequence they are not suitable aquarium fish for about 99% of the aquarium-owning population and it is only pure GREED that causes them to still be sold in pet stores

Don't pick fish to buy because they're purty or cool, and DO NOT LISTEN TO THE STORE EMPLOYEES who in the vast majority of stores that sell fish will tell you pretty much any ol' thing, sometimes out of sincere ignorance and sometimes because hey they are being paid to sell fish.

Pick fish species because you have RESEARCHED them and have determined that their behavior, size, social demeanor, temperature and water-chemistry requirements are very well compatible with what you can provide them.

Good luck, have fun, but let's be nice to the fishies too

,

Pat

 

[Mak]

Agree with everyone else. Those angels are going to be trouble. Despite the name, angels are not angels. They are cichlids and tend to be on the nasty side. And if you happen to get a male and a female that pair off and decide to raise fry, they will beat the crap out of anything that comes near them.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, so to speak, but I agree with Pat. You really need to research the fish you want and what their requirements are for tank size and water parameters, temperment, tank mates, etc before you make in impulse purchase. Fisn are living creatures, too and deserve to be cared for in the best way for each individual species.

 

[silkydragon]

ive done the research as best i could on the net and in books for the past well lets say 16yrs of my life (im excluding a few yrs becouse i needed to leard to read before i picked up a book) the angle fish werent impulse i planned on buying them and looked up how to tell male from female (they have both died becouse 1 was too small and the other 1 didnt get bothered at all but ppl we got filter from just have a net covering the hole where water gos in and the bigger 1 got stuck to it which is something that i could not have planned for or helped since they no longer make the part i need and since i dont have a job yet will soon my mom will not buy a new filter so stuck with what i have). i picked 2female angelfish planning on taking them with me when i move out in 2months just wanted to grow them out untill then my mom is just keeping the parrot fish becouse she is more the casual fishtank keeper(i will probly end up with them in a yr or 2 also) i am planning on haveing a few couple hundred gallon tanks when i get a place of my own and save some money. will admit the shovelnose is growing faster then expected but i knew what i was getting into and if it gets too big too fast i have a temp home set up for it (my aunt use to have iguanas when i was a kid and has 2 huge tanks i could put the catfish in she wont let me keep them but i can barrow them till i get a new 1). i know guramis and bettas are in the same family both are labrynth breethers and buil bubble nest and the true gurami is actually huge (i think saltwater fish cant remember 100% as las book i read with the true gurami was when i was 6(lol i was the oddball reading fish and aquarium keeping manuals instead of stuff like "kayla brown is not a crayon")

 

[patandchickens]

Cichlids (even angelfish, when they get larger) are nippy and aggressive; small, slow and/or long-finned fish (small angelfish, gouramis and bettas) are a big "kick me" sign for nippy or aggressive fish and tend to do poorly with them. Actually if what you have is a *true* paradise gourami, they can also be aggressive and nippy towards other fish, disproportionately to their size, although this does not keep them from being victims of *other* nippers.

Tetras (in your plans) tend to do poorly with any nippy aggressive fish.

Shovelnose cats, as they size up, eat smaller fish. Tetras (and to a lesser extent corydoras) will become fishfood.

Shovelnose cats are among the fish most frequently euthanized by exasperated aquarists when the fish outgrow (and/or break - big ones are *strong*) your biggest tank and it turns out that the local fish store, aquarium and zoo don't want yours any more than they want everyone else's overgrown ones. A 200-300 tank is probably about the MINIMUM for housing a PART-grown one humanely (i.e. in conditions better than the fish version of battery hens), and they do not necessarily stop growing just because it'd be in their best interests.

Just sayin',

Pat

 

[silkydragon]

Quote:

 

[babyblue]

Quote:
.....removed by staff

I am quite sure no iguana cage will be big enough fr the catfish when it grows up. and there is no matter of knowing enough, fish gets big, eats little fish, end of little fish. no one was insulting you, just stating simple well known fact. no reason to act rude yourself.

 

[silkydragon]

ok so a hommade glass tank they had to make for a 6foot iguana which had plenty of room to move around in is not big enough id say any bigger would be on the verge of insanity for just 1 fish and i stated i would have more then 1 tank