Help Identifying Fish Please

[cbr6fs]

1st post but what a fantastic forum,
More or less everything i've needed to find out so far have been from other peoples posts, a hell of a lot of reading for a newbie but pretty much essential.

So Hi from Athens (Greece)


I recently purchased a very cheap (but new) tank that came with a filter, light and heater.
I've done a fair bit of reading the past few weeks but never come across another person with the same make of tank (Cat-Gato).
So i'm guessing it's some rebadged mass produced thing where if you buy 500 they'll call it what you want

Here's the tank and stand (120x30x40 120l):
[URL="http/www.cat-gato.com/detail.php?refnr=300120&lang=uk"]http/www.cat-gato.com/detail.php?refnr=300120&lang=uk[/URL]

The Filter Pump and heater:
[URL="http/www.cat-gato.com/detail.php?refnr=313001&lang=uk"]http/www.cat-gato.com/detail.php?refnr=313001&lang=uk[/URL]

I realise it's a cheap and cheerful setup but for €160 for Tank, Filter, Stand, Heater top and light i didn't think it was bad.
Even when i eventually replace the pump and heater with a external pump/Heater it's still a great price for a tank, stand, top and light.

So i'd got everything planned, i'd bought the substrate, ornaments, plastic plants and all the test kits and chemicals i'd read i'd needed
Couldn't find any Ammonia though for fishless cycling, but thought what the hell i'll setup it up and fill it with water anyways can't do any harm

Next day came home to find someone had left me a nice little present A FISH

So the fishless cycling has gone out the window for a fish in cycle instead.

Thing is i don't know what the fish is, looks to me like a Goldfish but the buyer thought they remembered the sales assistant muttering something that i can only imagine is a Platy.
He/she is:

Since i'd got a fish now i went out and bought 2 real plants.
Echinodorus "Jaguar"
Cryptocoryne Wendtii "Mi Oya"

Here's the setup as it looks now:

Thanks again for a great forum and the advice really useful.




Cheers
Mark

 

[sunpirate2u]

It looks like a goldfish. How big is it? It may be a comment goldfish.

 

[cbr6fs]

Thanks for the quick response

It's around 6cm to 7cm.






Cheers
Mark

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Mark,

First of all, to the forum.

It is definitely a goldfish you have. Definitely not a platy.

How long have you had the goldfish in there?

You say you have test kits? Can you post your test results to enable us to help you with your cycle?

Also, theres a good thread posted recently by one of the members which is a good guide on cycling with fish. Read it here. It's got a lot of good points.

Good luck with your new hobby.

Cheers

BTT

 

[purplekaz]

I'm certainly no expert, but it looks to me like a common goldfish

http/www.aquariumhobbyist.com/articles/Goldfish.html

This link has a very similar picture to your fish

 

[cbr6fs]

Gotta agree it does look exactly like that pic, looks like i've got a common Goldfish then


Thanks for the warm welcome as well


As far as the test are concerned i've got 2 seperate test kit.
Tetra 5 in 1
Tetra Total Ammonia (NH3/NH4)

I've been expecting a spike in Ammonia since introducing the fish 4 days ago, but i've seen nothing yet on either NH3, NH4 or NO3 NO2.
Hers todays figures
NO3 0
NO2 0
GH 10d
KH 10d
PH 7.2
NH3 0
NH4 0

That's exactly as it's been since i introduced the Goldfish.
From what i've read i should have seen a spike in Ammonia, then Nitrite followed by a Nitrate spike.

One mistake i did make though was i bought a packet of extra substrate, i tried tipping it in gently but i forgot to clean it , after 12 hours or waiting i still couldn't see the ship 4cm from the glass
Unfortunately the Fish had been in it's bag far too long so i had to introduce it in the cloudy tank, after a day it was obvious it was not clearing, so i removed all the water (filters were submerged and cleaned in the old water) i then did the job i should have done BEFORE adding the substrate, clean it.
I then filled the tank back up again bought it up to temp (24c) and reintroduced the fish.

Unfortunately i'd forgotten to dechlorinate the water, so i'm pretty sure after 24 hours i was right back to stage 1 as far as cycling goes.
That was Tuesday though, so surely after 3 days something should have happened?



Ohhhh another thing that might help, i do have 2 real plants in the tank with a JBL 7 Ball Root Fertiliser Pellets next too each.
Would that explain where the Ammonia has gone?




Cheers
Mark

 

[backtotropical]

The live plants may be using the ammonia. It's very possible.

Also, depending on what size your fish is, it may not be producing enough waste for it to be detectable yet.

You will get a spike soon. Keep testing.

May i also suggest that you don't add any more fish until you have cycled with the fish you have. Adding more will make the cycle harsher on the fish and increase your risk of deaths.

Cheers

BTT

 

[cbr6fs]

Just 1 more question for now please.

Can anyone tell me what sex my Goldfish is please?


I've found a few articles around the internet, but most seem pretty useless unless you have another of the same type.




Cheers
Mark

 

[bucksgill]

Although I have little knowledge of Goldfish I think its a female.

 

[cbr6fs]

Although I have little knowledge of Goldfish I think its a female.

Could you please tell me what makes you believe that?


No idea what i'm going to stock the tank with yet, but if she survives any more of my mistakes i think she at least deserves a partner.
So it'd be handy if i could pick out a decent member of the opposite sex for her.


After the cock up i made with the substrate she seemed to love the tank cloudy, so we've sort of stuck to calling her cloudy now





Cheers
Mark

 

[bucksgill]

Well the fin underneath the fish in a male is more horizontal and on the female the fine is like it is in the pic.

 

[rabbut]

Well the fin underneath the fish in a male is more horizontal and on the female the fine is like it is in the pic.

Soory mate, but after 10 years of breeding these fish, I'm gonna have to contradict. At 6-7cm, it isn't gonna be sexable. You would need to wait untill its adult, at between 8 inches and 1 foot in length, before any real difference is going to show. These guys are messy when full grown, and are known to eat plants...Also, they are a teperate fish, so aren't going to appreciate to higher temperature. They will eat anything that fits in their mouth (within reason) so small fish are a big no-no.

To sex them you need to look at the gill plates. The males have shorter plates than females, though it will be hard to sex him/her, without both males and females in a group to compair against.

Being big fish, you need to think about boosting that filtration soon. Allow 30gal for the first fish, and 20 for each subsiquent. Filter turn over should be arround 7+ times an hour of a decent canister. IMO, a fluval 405 would be about the right type here, though there are many different makes out there. A Rena XP3/4 should also do the trick

HTH
Rabbut

 

[cbr6fs]

Bloody hell.
So by being bought a Goldfish i've been limited to every other fish i can have

It's already been nibbling on the Echinodorus plant little bugger.

The Filter and pump i have now really are not up to much at all it's the one that came with the tank
http/www.cat-gato.com/detail.php?refnr=312031&lang=uk

The plan was to get this tank setup and stable with a few fish then after the summer buy a external heated pump (Eheim 2322), that way i can ditch the while black plastic assembly on the side.



I'll still keep me fingers crossed he/she will make it, if it does then i may well buy another tank "Goldfish only"




Cheers
Mark

 

[rabbut]

Bloody hell.
So by being bought a Goldfish i've been limited to every other fish i can have

It's already been nibbling on the Echinodorus plant little bugger.

The Filter and pump i have now really are not up to much at all it's the one that came with the tank
[URL="http/www.cat-gato.com/detail.php?refnr=312031&lang=uk"]http/www.cat-gato.com/detail.php?refnr=312031&lang=uk[/URL]

The plan was to get this tank setup and stable with a few fish then after the summer buy a external heated pump (Eheim 2322), that way i can ditch the while black plastic assembly on the side.



I'll still keep me fingers crossed he/she will make it, if it does then i may well buy another tank "Goldfish only"




Cheers
Mark

You might get away with it till then, their growth typicaly slows after about 2 inches. IMO, heated exturnals aren't up to much. There may well be some good ones out there, but most that I have seen, are basicaly kettal heters at the bottom of the canister, where there would be least flow Adimitedly I haven't seen the Ehiem you mentined, so may be different, but most are just burn-outs or heater failures waiting to happen. Also, if something happens to the filter, you loose heat also. As in most, if the temp drops on the water leaving the filter, the eliment is swithched on. If the filter runs dry due to a leak, then all remaining water in the canister will be brought slowly to the bail, wioing out that important filter bactiria aswell as eventualy the element, in a relatively short lenght of time. IMO, you would be best off soendign the extra money on a decent exturnal, and then getting an inline heater, that would automaticaly shut off if flow stops. Hydor do one like this, that I am thinking about getting for my discus tank, but I haven't seen many reviews of them.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[cbr6fs]

As it's a fair way off i've not really looked into it with too much detail.

From what i've read in the last few weeks of my new hobby though Eheim have an exceptional name and reputation for building quality pump, filters etc.
I'd automatically assumed it'd have a overheat failsafe as it'd be pretty useless without one, as i see it as the most basic of safety requirements.

As for failing and the tank running cool, theres usually someone in the house, so it shouldn't take too much to get them to glance at the thermometer as they pass.
For hol's i was planning on refitting the submerged filter while away.
I was thinking that i'd set it to turn on at a slightly cooler temp than the filter/heater turns off, so if all works i'd return home without it even being switched on.
With it being only a small heater if it stays on i don't see it as being powerful enough to boil the fish.

It'd be pretty simple to make a thermostat to kill the heater power in case of a overtemp, but i think it's pretty poor if you have to buy a heater and then have to spend time and money making it meet the most basic of safety requirements.

Thanks for the advice though, as i said it's something i just took for granted, but i'll look into it when i'm closer to making a purchase.



Cheers
Mark