Any fish people?

[Voter]

I have a couple of small aquariums, but before I started having a few health problems, I used to volunteer weekly at a local aquarium. My favorite fish are the cichlids. I love catfish, too.

I have some pictures at www.aquarist.org, if you like fish.

 

[moonpye]

Yes!! i do!! lol, i just bought a beta fighter, hes so cool hes all by hisself in a bowl, i was told he will eat other fish hes blue, and purple, very pretty colors, with long fins, his name is Slick i got the name from, when i had to use a spatula to scoop him off my counter top, he jumped out of my fishnet scooper, thingy, LOL, it was hysterical, he looked like a little wet piece of rubber laying there! so hence the name, Slick!, oh and he eats freeze dried blood worms.

 

[Kristi1]

I have a couple of small aquariums, but before I started having a few health problems, I used to volunteer weekly at a local aquarium. My favorite fish are the cichlids. I love catfish, too.

I have some pictures at www.aquarist.org, if you like fish.

I have a 30 gallon fish tank in storage a friend of mine is paying for until I get my SSDI someday hopefully soon. I like fresh water fish, my daddy used to like Oscars..



Blessings, \o/

KristiAnn

 

[jeffs_girl_2004]

I have a few fish, I have 5 in a 5 gallon tank. I think I need to get a few more though cause they are smaller fish and the tank looks empty to me but I hate to mess with it cause they had made it so long. At first when we got it the fish were not making it but these have made it for almost 3 months now.

 

[Ataradrac]

I miss my fish. I used to have a 10-gallon freshwater tank, but had to get rid of it when I moved. I had silver dollar pirhannas.

I'm hoping to get a 30-gallon tank or so for Christmas (or thereabouts) and stock it with all sorts of shiny things.

 

[Billnew]

Fish people?
Aren't they called Meremaids and meremen?

 

[Caprice]

"We Fish People!, we no like earth people, they bad cos they eat rats. We give you shiny magic thing if you kill fish people. Biiig Fish Magic! Made by greeeaat fish wizard!"

hee hee hee

 

[Ave Maria]

I love fish! But unfortunately, I have a hard time keeping them alive. I had a Betta (Siamese Fighting Fish) that lived about 6 months most recently. I haven't really tried my hand at Goldfish yet though I think I might try. I like the Goldfish with the bubble eyes. I'm not sure what those kind are called though.

 

[Spidey76]

I like to catch and release 'em, but don't eat any seafood

On the serious side, my little fella got two goldfish from his uncle for his birthday and these are the first fish we've had inside. We have a large pond on our property that has carp, koi, bass, bluegill, sunfish, pearch, and two big algae eaters. We give them bread, they love it!

 

[oat02351]

I have a couple of small aquariums, but before I started having a few health problems, I used to volunteer weekly at a local aquarium. My favorite fish are the cichlids. I love catfish, too.

I have some pictures at, if you like fish.

I used to know someone that owned really big oscars. The big 50 gallon tank didn't seem big enough but, these things when you dropped a couple of those food pellets in the tank and listen real careful you could hear them crunch it.

 

[Voter]

While in England, I was fortunate enough to get a tour of The Blue Planet Aquarium - they have this huMONGous Arapaima there - an Amazon fish, and this one is probably longer than 8 feet.

When it snapped its mouth open to feed, it caused a vaccuum - sounded like a gun shot, almost!

 

[Ave Maria]

I miss my fish. I used to have a 10-gallon freshwater tank, but had to get rid of it when I moved. I had silver dollar pirhannas.

I'm hoping to get a 30-gallon tank or so for Christmas (or thereabouts) and stock it with all sorts of shiny things.

Wow! How big do Pirhannas get? Also, will they seriously bite your finger off if you put it in the water? I heard that they're really aggressive.

 

[Voter]

The piranahs at the aquarium where I volunteer are roughly 10 inches long, including the tail, maybe a little longer. Very pretty with their red bellies and golden glittery scales.

Piranah really prefer fruits and nuts. The pacu, which is a HUGE relative of the piranah (with the same shape) actually bashes into trunks of trees to knock the fruit into water, during the rainy season... Piranah are definitely fin nippers, though, and will eat just about anything, if too hungry.

The people of the Amazon have little fear of the piranah, though. Their biggest fear is the freshwater ray. Not because they are aggressive, per say, but because the Amazon is very murky and dark - and it's easy to step on one of those guys, by mistake. And if you do, they have this spike on their tail, and one WHIP of that tail and BLAMMO, it's in your shin.

 

[Ave Maria]

The piranahs at the aquarium where I volunteer are roughly 10 inches long, including the tail, maybe a little longer. Very pretty with their red bellies and golden glittery scales.

Piranah really prefer fruits and nuts. The pacu, which is a HUGE relative of the piranah (with the same shape) actually bashes into trunks of trees to knock the fruit into water, during the rainy season... Piranah are definitely fin nippers, though, and will eat just about anything, if too hungry.

The people of the Amazon have little fear of the piranah, though. Their biggest fear is the freshwater ray. Not because they are aggressive, per say, but because the Amazon is very murky and dark - and it's easy to step on one of those guys, by mistake. And if you do, they have this spike on their tail, and one WHIP of that tail and BLAMMO, it's in your shin.

Wow! 10 inches is a relatively large fish! I've never seen a Piranah before. They sound neat. I honestly didn't know they eat fruit and nuts. I always thought they was vicious meat eaters that would bite your finger off should you put it in the water.

 

[Voter]

Wow! 10 inches is a relatively large fish! I've never seen a Piranah before. They sound neat. I honestly didn't know they eat fruit and nuts. I always thought they was vicious meat eaters that would bite your finger off should you put it in the water.

If they were hungry, or raised on fish, yeah, probably so. The piranah most people have in home aquarium are a LOT smaller - I think a couple of inches long.

A piranah isn't really dangerous, it's when you have a school of them.

Lots of fish bite, though. Blue gills are pretty good nippers, if you are familiar with those.

The pacu I mentioned are a couple of feet "tall" from dorsal fin down to their pectorals. They are VERY cool... all fish are very cool. You can learn so much about them. If their mouths are on the bottom (catfish), they are bottom feeders, or at least eat stuff below them. If their mouths point up, surface feeders.

If they have no dorsal fin (like lungfish, or even beluga whales) they don't move very fast, because that dorsal is what keeps them from spinning in the water, like a football.

If they are dark on top and light/white on the bottom (sharks) they are counter shaded. A predator looking down on them loses them against the dark bottom of the sea. A predator looking up at them loses them against the sun.

Amazing, the differences God put in fish, just to make them so cool.

 

[fuzzyh]

I have a 55 gallon tank, although it's at my parents house right now. It used to contain an 11" Oscar along with my 7" Pleco and a 3" Jewelfish. At one time, I had my 55 gallon tank, 2 10 gallons tanks and a small little 3 gallon tank all set up in my bedroom.

I've run across a few piranha since keeping fish. Some get to be 10+" others no more than 3-4" it depends on the type. I have a friend of mine who had about 15 3" piranhas in a 55 gallon tank. He put a bunch of silver dollars on the bottom and told people that they could reach in and grabbed them. Only one person was willing in the entire 3 year period he had those fish.

On a side note, since I've been planning on setting up the 3 gallon tank again. Anyone here, real knowledgeable about plants? If so it's got a 10 watt flourescent light and I'm looking at setting up a tank with as many plants as I can in the 3 gallon tank. Water changes are just a pain on that little tank.

 

[whatseekye]

I have a 55 gallon tank and also a 20 High tank. Before I bought my first set-up and before I even thought about going to the fish store, I researched as much as possible on the internet to learn about water chemistry, suitable tankmates, and all necessary care. I am so glad that I did. I never had a fatality due to overcrowding or the initial nitrogen cycling of the tank. I ended up keeping very easy fish my first year, which made the fishkeeping experience a joy as a beginner. I kept all platy fish because in my area, my water is ideal for them (and also for cichlids, although I am not interested in cichlids at this point). My most recent acquisitions were 3 goldfish, a pleco and a little african dwarf frog. They were fish that I rescued when my downstairs neighbor moved and abandoned a tiny, dirty fish tank out on his balcony.

I was so glad that I didn't overstock my 20H tank because at the time the rescue fish needed emergency intervention, I felt it was OK to save them because I "only have a few fish". But I didn't put them in to my tank at first. Initially, I set up the rescue fish in large plastic storage boxes (clear plastic boxes because I was told colored plastic may be toxic, and clear is most likely the safest). I was afraid the new fish would have a disease and kill my current fish so I wanted to quarantine for a month at least. I am so glad that I did that because I ended up having time to buy a big, new tank for them anyhow. I needed a 55 glallon tank because I realized the pleco could grow to over a foot in length. (I may have to upgrade to a 75 or 100 gallon at some point!) Getting the new tank was a good decision because a little later, the rescue goldfish all started showing signs of disease. To this day, I'm not sure if they only had a bacterial infection or if they carried the dreaded fish pox. I only have one goldfish who survived plus the pleco. The african dwarf frog seems to have died of old age.

At this time, I would love to find another rescue fantail goldfish. I need a female who is at least half as large as my big fantail boy. He's so lonely. He used to love following around the 2 females before they died. Now he's a pathetic sight because he constantly follows the pleco who would rather be alone. But they both associate each other with getting food, so they do tend to go to each other when they are begging at the glass for food. I never would have believed it but the pleco also has quite a personality. He watches me thorugh the glass and when he's begging, he bobbs his head at the glass in circular motions. He's not sucking the glass. When he begs, he doesn't even put his suckermouth on the glass, so it's obvious he's trying to get my attention (and not just cleaning the glass).

I'm not sure what I will end up doing though. I realize that my pleco may turn aggressive at some later stage. I heard that when they get older (and go through a hormonal stage), they can attack any "gentle" fish in the tank, such as goldfish. So I may have to put my goldie in a 20 or 30 gallon (and he's going to be in for a shock when that happens!), and then I may actually put an advertisement in the local paper that I can take someone's oscar if they don't want him anymore. To my understanding, the best fish to keep with a pleco is an oscar. Not that I want an oscar but I don't mind. I think they are ugly but they have good personalities from what I hear. I like the idea of giving an animal a home when otherwise it might die of neglect or be abandoned. It's a disgusting sight to see fish abandoned in rancid water.

You can see the photos of the fish I rescued and how horrible the water was that they were abandoned in at my yahoo photos site

 

[whatseekye]

On a side note, since I've been planning on setting up the 3 gallon tank again. Anyone here, real knowledgeable about plants? If so it's got a 10 watt flourescent light and I'm looking at setting up a tank with as many plants as I can in the 3 gallon tank. Water changes are just a pain on that little tank.

WARNING: Opinionated rambling to follow:

I would not bother with a 3 gallon tank because the size makes it too difficult to maintain. I know you already know this, but the less water in a tank, the faster that the ammonia levels get too high. I don't know how you'd maintain the proper nitrogen cycle unless you figured out just the right amount of water to take out without depleting the necessary bacteria levels. I guess if you only want to keep plants in it, it's probably fine. But keeping fish in it would be hard to keep them alive. I am guessing you could only have one fish in it at a time and I still think that would be cruel, even for a betta. A single betta fish would do better in a 10 gallon with a proper filter such as a power filter. The most joyfull sight I have seen is a male betta swimming energetically in a 30 gallon that had a good filter and even a bubbler, and there were other small, fast, short-finned fish of different varieties in there.

Regarding plants, there are a few that can live in extremely low light levels. I'm not sure how 10 watts of light does in 3 gallons of water. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it might actually be a lot because there's not much water. You might try some low-light plants like java fern and certain crypts. Your local fish shop can recommend hardy varieties. Usually, you need adequate light and adequate nutrients in the water. Because you can have any fish, or more than 1 fish, in a 3 gallon, there won't be much "fertilizer". (No fish = no poop = no ammonia = no nitrogen cycle & no fertilizer for plants, etc.) Also, most people who keep aquarium plants inject Co2 in to the water. But if you just want to experiment with what you've got, the hardy, low-light plants will probably be fine. I think they just grow slowly if the co2 isn't right.

I never bothered with plants because in my local shops, they aren't cheap. If only I could find some friends on the internet who can send me their prunings. heh.

 

[fuzzyh]

I've had really good luck with my 3 gallon tank. I had 2 guppies with 2 ghost shrimp in it, with almost no problems. It took a few weeks to cycle, but once it did it was great. The only thing I didn't do was feed daily. I fed every other day to help keep the wastes down.

I also have had really good luck with my 10 gallon all plant tank. Only 10 watts of light and I grew 3 species of plants that took over: Java Moss, Anachris and another plant that was really cheap that I bought online. Unfortunately, I moved and that tank is still up at home.

The biggest problem that I've had with the 3 gallon tank is too much light. 10 watts with 3 gallons means you have 3 1/3 watts/gal. That's more lighting than almost all large planted tanks have per gallon. My plants that I had originally were low light plants and algea would grow much faster than they would.

As for CO2, I'll probably not inject but use Flourish Carbon.

If only I was back home I'd send ya some Java moss. That stuff grows like crazy. It grows slowly compared to some plants, but it will grow in almost anything, even covered in algae. It'll grow in tanks that have almost no light with only a little bit of fertilizer. It's a great plant for breeding tanks.

 

[hotgirl]

i have 15 goldfish some are blacke some are white and the rest are gold