Ordered My Archers!

[Shovelman]

Thank goodness my lfs can order them in! but at 19.99 a pop ....this is going to be a wallet breaker... never will i have payed so much for fish....sigh...i just hope none of them die on me...

Oh and funny thing, the Bosemani rainbows come in at a whopping 16$ each..which is average...but i swear this fish tank is going to cost more than everything else in my room combined....

 

[Man of fish]

Lol. Archers are cool and your tank sounds cool. My one friend is getting archers, but his plans didn't sound great for roommates. He got a really good deal. An empty 37 gallon with hood, light and external filter (not sure what) in exchange for a 5 gallon setup. I can't keep up with all his setups lol. I'm getting smaller and he's getting bigger. I went 29,10,5, maybe 5 or 3. He went 2,5,125, 37. Not fair.

 

[Shovelman]

Lol. Archers are cool and your tank sounds cool. My one friend is getting archers, but his plans didn't sound great for roommates. He got a really good deal. An empty 37 gallon with hood, light and external filter (not sure what) in exchange for a 5 gallon setup. I can't keep up with all his setups lol. I'm getting smaller and he's getting bigger. I went 29,10,5, maybe 5 or 3. He went 2,5,125, 37. Not fair.

lol i hope he's only keeping a single archer in that tank!
and hey! At least you started with a decent sized tank! i started with a measly 10gallon...

 

[Man of fish]

Why? Are they aggressive or just a small tank?

 

[Shovelman]

Why? Are they aggressive or just a small tank?

well it depends, what species is he looking at?

 

[Man of fish]

Not sure he prolly wants whatever goes well with his stocking which I don't know if it'll work out. He wants:
Unknown- any archers
Unknown-mudskippers
1- dragon goby
4- pea puffers
1- either snowflake or wolf eel

 

[Shovelman]

Not sure he prolly wants whatever goes well with his stocking which I don't know if it'll work out. He wants:
Unknown- any archers
Unknown-mudskippers
1- dragon goby
4- pea puffers
1- either snowflake or wolf eel

NO NO NO! Ugh sorry but that list burns my eyes! Pea puffers are strictly freshwater and will bite the fins off of all the rest of the list unless the archer or the eel like fish or any of he other fish eat it. i do not recommend any archers for that stocking as all the brackish species (mostly likely he will get a Toxotes jaculator, or one of the other strictly brackish species) will get to a foot long if not a tad larger. If by some chance he gets a Toxotes microlepis (hard to distinguish from other common species including the larger brackish species) which is a true freshwater species but can stand a tiny amount of salt (around 1.005 sg at max aka low wend brackish) that only reach 5-6 inches, even 7" at times, it would still not be suitable because the rest of his list (besides the puffer) are all brackish water species (full brackish)! Oh dear lord please please please force him to do his research! Or get him on here so i can talk to him! I dont know where he ever came up with that stocking idea but i just hope he realizes what he wants to put in that tank!

 

[Shovelman]

And even still i wouldnt recommend a "freshwater moray/snowflake eel" for that tank... (really a brackish to full marine species) ...sure he can do a brackish set up, just he needs to reconsider what he's putting in, and imo that size tank would be a neat mud skipper species only tank thats a portion land and a portion brackish water...or even with a few of the brackish water goby species with the mud skippers....

 

[Man of fish]

You don't know how many times I've told him to come on here!!!! He just told me ooh kuhli loaches look cool too. I want them!!! At this point I'm practically screaming at him you can't get all these fish!!! They have different needs, too big for your tank, and other reasons!! Go ask people on TFF!!!!!!!! I'm going to get him here one way or another.

 

[Shovelman]

You don't know how many times I've told him to come on here!!!! He just told me ooh kuhli loaches look cool too. I want them!!! At this point I'm practically screaming at him you can't get all these fish!!! They have different needs, too big for your tank, and other reasons!! Go ask people on TFF!!!!!!!! I'm going to get him here one way or another.

oh god that stocking list really just made me cry.... not to be harsh or have anything against your friend, but those are the sort of naive people who will usually only learn when they lose , whats probably in store for him, 100's of dollars of fish as those fish he listed can add up depending on how many he gets...apparently the 20$ per archer is the cheapest around in my area and even im not sure i wanna drop 100$ for my group!

 

[Man of fish]

Sorry if I missed another thread but how big is your tank? I've told him he needs to seriously rethink his stock plans and he's making new ATM.

 

[Shovelman]

Sorry if I missed another thread but how big is your tank? I've told him he needs to seriously rethink his stock plans and he's making new ATM.

My tank is a 65 gallon tank 48" long 18" wide and 16" tall i think ...maybe i got the length and width mixed up...lol idk. But what i do know is my LFS can specifically get the Toxotes microlepis archer in as ive gotten a positive id that the ones they sell are indeed Toxotes microlepis. That being said, ive talked to Neale (nmonks) and he originally recommended a 55 gallon minimum for a group of Toxotes microlepis as they do get deep bodied. So my fish stocking is at
5-6x Toxotes microlepis
1x African knife fish
and possibly a group of Bosemani rainbow fish, depending on how much swimming the archers do
1x Flyingfox

 

[Man of fish]

That sounds like a very nice tank.
I suggested he do what you suggested or maybe some cichlids or I'd buy it off him. He hasn't made up his mind yet.
At one point he wanted a gar too but I said there was absolutely noooo way I'd let him do that.

 

[Shovelman]

That sounds like a very nice tank.
I suggested he do what you suggested or maybe some cichlids or I'd buy it off him. He hasn't made up his mind yet.
At one point he wanted a gar too but I said there was absolutely noooo way I'd let him do that.

As much as the archers, eel, and puffers are cool it really takes a certain attraction to someone whos experienced more "average fish" first as they have some special requirements that new comers might think of as a hassle not worth it. Thats how i was with my first spiny eel....took forever to get him to feed and it was tiring and worry some when id wake up to have to clean up blood worms he didn't eat...

In fact i wouldnt really recommend mudskippers either...like you said have him try some cichlid species or something...lol

 

[Man of fish]

There's plenty of great cichlid species out there. He's pretty bummed but that would be a pretty expensive tank to watch fall apart