Got New Fish But What Are They?

[Howldaloom]

im afraid not any pictures yet but hopefully i can describe them well enough.

its my birthday today so my mum got me some fish last night as a suprise hence why im here. i have no idea what they are.

they are only small ones and fresh water tropicals.

they are aparently communtiy fish and my mum asked which ones were best suited living together n he recommended these types.

right i have a 5-10cm purple fish with large flowing fins, looks as if she is wearing a skirt and is very pretty.

next one i have a thiner same sized fish black with a orange tail and two very slight whiskers and he isnt a cat fish i no that much. he is apsolutly full of it, so much personality, i got a little pirate ship in the tank and he claimed that right away

and i have 6 very small fish, creamish with orange/red tails. 3 with redish tails and others are a milder creamish orange colour.

but they have started nipping each others fins??? two have holes in their fins now.

but the man in the shop recommended this ammount and that type?

they have been fed as much as they will eat so im wondering if its a dominance thing?

 

[loachman]

It's hard to tell, but based on them being community fish and going on what's commonly sold in fish shops, here are my guesses.

For the purple fish with flowing fins, check out GUPPIES. There are a ton of color/pattern morphs but they're all the same species of fish. Edit: Actually, on rereading the post and getting the size of the fish, you may want to check out BETTAS. That could explain some of the nipping and in-fighting.

Based on the colors and the claiming of the ship wreck decoration, the 2nd fish is probably a CLOWN LOACH. Great fish that like to be in groups and grow to be about 5 inches pretty quickly and a max size of a foot. The other option is a RED TAILED BLACK SHARK. Note that there is a white and black variety shown under this link.

The small fish are harder to pin, possibly PLATIES. There are a ton of different color morphs of this fish too. They can also be some species of tetra, although they don't have much color variety within a single species.[/quote]

 

[GRJ]

The purple fish does sound like a Betta(Siamese Fighting Fish), and if so, make sure you only have one male as they fight. The others do kind of sound like guppies and some sound like platys. Just have a look around on the internet to se different species of fish. A great site that i used when i started was www.thinkfish.co.uk who have a great fish species guide, i am sure you will find what your looking for on there. GRJ

 

[BigC]

1 = Siamese Fighting fish (male) Betta splendens (debatable as to community tank status)
2 = Red Tailed Black Shark )Epalzeorhynchos bicolor) former (Labeo bicolor)
3 = Need photo for true ID.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree with BigC, for the third fish though i put put my money some type of characin like a tetra like bueanos aires tetras;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=42804

Or columbain tetras;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=138901

.

 

[Howldaloom]

hi, i deffo have a redtail shark, and he is lovely, i called him finnigan lol, he just bursting with personality.

my purple fish is a betta

and the small ones 3 male n 3 female guppys. and its the guppy males that are fighting

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Welcome to the forums

How big is your tank? What kind of filter do you have and how long has it been running for? Are there other fish in the tank?

I hate to tell you this but I think you are in for quite a few problems.

Red Tailed Shark - I don't know a lot about these fish as I have never kept them. If I remember correctly they get pretty big and are aggressive (and need to be kept in groups?) Someone who knows please confirm this?

Betta's - Male Betta's are difficult to keep in a community setting and as they are in with guppies I think there are going to be a lot of fin nipping problems at least, dead guppies at worst.

Guppies - Fairly easy to keep and if they survive everything else will most likely end up breeding like crazy (which could also be a problem in itself).

I have a horrible feeling this might be a new tank? If so it will not have been "cycled". In short all the waste from the fish (uneaten food, poop, etc) causes a build up of toxic ammonia in the water which will kill or badly hurt the fish. In a tank with a "mature" filter you will get bacteria that will turn the toxic waste products into safer non-toxic ones which wont hurt the fish.

In a new tank these bacteria are not present which means the ammonia just stays in the water and poisons the fish. If you add one or two fish at a time this is not as bad but with so many fish in there at the same time the ammonia is going to be way higher then the fish can tolerate.

 

[Howldaloom]

this is a second hand tank, and its been running for a week with 2 apple snails in there.

mum asked the pet shop what fish could go in this early, with each other in that sized tank and he gave us 8 fish.

6 guppys a betta and the shark.

the guppys nip each others fins, finnigan the red tailed shark is in a world of his own and is as placid as anything and no they have to be kept seperatly, 1 fish per tank as they kill each other.

rasputin my betta fish puffs up and chases finnigan sometimes if they cross pathes but neither fight or even look at the smaller fish.

finnigan is my fav, he was just playing with the bubbles, letting himself get blown backwards and then swimming back n zigzaggin through them. i think he is so sweet

 

[afishdude]

yes rtbs red tail black sharks get huge. and what size tank do you have? you didnt say.

 

[-SPB-]

Red Tailed Shark - I don't know a lot about these fish as I have never kept them. If I remember correctly they get pretty big and are aggressive (and need to be kept in groups?) Someone who knows please confirm this?

Hi, welcome to the forum. You'll get all the advice you need here (i hope!!!!!) Red tailed sharks are a terratorial fish, generally you can only keep one in your tank otherwise they will fight for space. They can be very aggressiive towards there own sort. I hope this helps.

 

[chrisrd]

.

 

[murphyk32]

just referring to the red tailed black shark possably needing to be in groups comment, they are best kept as one due to aggression, but it is recomended if your keeping more then one you need to keep a large group (6+ i believe) so aggression is spread amongst all of them. Most commonly they are kept as one. Some are aggressive but some have a very peaceful personality and dont bother anybody. Betta are amazing fish as are guppies but i havent expierenced guppies personally. Referring to the comment that the shark will get huge, not really... it gets to be around 5 inches in aquariums after a fair bit of time. They arent overly big fish really as they are quite slim.

Very nice choice of fish imo,

Hope this helps..,,

Murph

 

[Howldaloom]

lol, by the time he is big enough to be moved i would have a larger tank

and they all seem to be doing fine now.

about the snails though? will they live ok on the fish food or do i need to get food for them aswell

 

[afishdude]

still didnt say tank size...

 

[murphyk32]

lol, by the time he is big enough to be moved i would have a larger tank

and they all seem to be doing fine now.

about the snails though? will they live ok on the fish food or do i need to get food for them aswell

snails dont need to be fed that i know of (i dont feed mine),, they eat algea and leftover food in my tank (which includes pellets and flakes, they acctually go upside down on the water surface somehow eating the flakes sometimes...)