Fish With An Identity Crisis

[CFC]

They are definately not Cichlids or Cyprinids which leaves only Perches as a possible family. I would agree that the silver perch is the most likely candidate

 

[cuticom]

Tokis Phenoix, I'm aware of their size and I DO have room for them. If they had a potential to grow more then a metre long they would've become feeder fish for my yabby's. But I've got room for anything up to about 3 feet, these guys only get about 2 feet.

 

[fishlette]

Sigh I really don't know. The aquaponics/aquaculture people I've spoken to say silver perch but there's still something a bit off with these guys. But Tilapia are tropical fish and theres no way they would be as active as my guys are in cold water without a heater, plus theres the little fact that their illegal so it;s doubtful they'd end up in a shipment for a pet store.. Also as someone pointed out Cichlids have a broken lateral line whereas these guys lateral line in unbroken..

Heres some better pics
The grey one

The gold one

Edot I just fished both of em out and their tail is the same as the silver perch, not rounded like the tilapia

take a look at this website Silver Perch if it is a silver perch, it says in here they like warm water.

heres some with some pics too.

Another One
And Another One
Last One

i dont know if youve already read any of these but i thought i would chuck them in anyways.

 

[cuticom]

Yah I've seen them but thanks anyway.

Still speaking to some aquaculture/aquaponics experts and with these guys side by side with fingerling photos there is definitely something slightly off, the mouth is a little different, the body more elongated and my guys have bigger eyes. But they also don't match up with anyother native perch, or tilapia for that matter. Lol I wonder if our native perch can cross breed?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Tokis Phenoix, I'm aware of their size and I DO have room for them. If they had a potential to grow more then a metre long they would've become feeder fish for my yabby's. But I've got room for anything up to about 3 feet, these guys only get about 2 feet.

None the less though you bought a fish which you didn't know what it was, which i would never advise anybody to do. You may have room for fish that grow up to 3ft long (although you'd need at least a 10ft by 4-5ft wide aquarium/pond at the bare minimum even for a relatively inactive 3ft long fish), but how do you know that you havn't bought a fish which is highly agressive/territorial or predatory, or even a fish that is highly specialised in its care and difficult to look after even for an experienced fishkeeper? How do you know you are buying a healthy specimen of fish if you don't know what a healthy specimen of the fish in question should look like? Its best to do such research before you buy a fish- if you need pics of the fish to do the research, just take pics of it while it is still in the petshop.
You may be able to house this fish this time, but i wouldn't advise buying anymore fish in the future unless you know exactly what they are and how to keep them properly and more- you wouldn't buy a peice of food which you had no idea what the ingredients were, so why buy a fish which you don't even know the name of? Etc...


Its good you are prepared to look after this fish, but i am just making a point about buying "mystery" fish in general.

 

[cuticom]

If they turn out to be something I don't want, as I said my yabby will get a couple of feeder fish. She already eats the baby guppies, somehow I don't think a couple of inch long fish will hurt her. I did have a plan in case they turned out to be something I didnt want.

I have a large pond that has yet to be stocked which they can move to when their older if their a nice species.

 

[fishlette]

Yah I've seen them but thanks anyway.

Still speaking to some aquaculture/aquaponics experts and with these guys side by side with fingerling photos there is definitely something slightly off, the mouth is a little different, the body more elongated and my guys have bigger eyes. But they also don't match up with anyother native perch, or tilapia for that matter. Lol I wonder if our native perch can cross breed?

ill try and get some pics today of the silver perch at work. i could tell it wasnt a silver perch but after that i dont know. i only knew the perch thing cause we have them at work lol i dont know much about the australian natives apart from the barra, perch and archer fish we keep in the native tank at work. ill get some pics though and you can just have a look.

are you able to get us a closer pic by any chance. there might be someone else here who would know. trouble is when theyre silver and similar looking to other fish its hard to really know sometimes.

good luck with it all. hope you find out what he is

 

[cuticom]

So I spent some time arguing with my camera, and seem to have come up with something better. My cams a dSLR and temperamental dosnt get even close to the weird things it does.

Okies Clayton who WAS silver yesterday but appears to have decided he wants to be gold. Hes the larger of the two

Derrick still gold and still little that's java moss next to him

Close up of a tail

Close up of the dorsal

 

[SouthernCross]

Wow, the're only little guys...didya get them at Crossroads or somewhere else? They usually know their fish there...

 

[cuticom]

Lol I wish, nah at a Pet barn, ignoramus pet stores, but hey its got cheap fish.

Speaking of crossroads I need to remind Mum she promised to drive me up there next Monday, I'm getting an axolotl...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hm i wouldn't advise putting it in your hand to take pics as you can easily damage the protective slime coat of the fish that way and the heat of your hand is very stressful for such a delicate cold blooded animal as a fish.