What fish is this?

[sanasana]

So, recently somebody brought this little dude/dudette and gifted it to us.
I have no idea what breed it is, and I think the person who brought it has no idea either (I think they caught it from some river, but I'm not sure).
It's super shy and for some weeks I thought it was a bottom-feeder with the way it would never come up for food. It would always stay low and hide behind plants. I'd press the feed to make it drown so it would reach it. In the past few days, it has started coming closer to the surface and the front of the aquarium for food (but it always does this circular dance as it slowly rises to the upper levels of the water )
It does hide if somebody comes close to the aquarium but overall it is a lot more comfortable in exploring the aquarium.

So I have a couple of questions:
> What breed is it?
> Is it a he or a she? I thought it was a female, but I don't know for sure.
> Are these fish bottom-feeders, or is it actually just really shy? I do see it swim in the middle part of the aquarium sometimes when it's swimming around.
> Is it okay to keep it with platy? I had no intentions of keeping it since I thought it would be a cold water fish. I tried to give it back but the person who brought it wouldn't take it.

 

[Colin_T]

It doesn't look like anything you buy at a pet shop so it could be wild caught from a local river. Personally I think it looks like a juvenile fish you catch in the river but could be anything. It depends on which country you live in and where exactly it came from.

The fish is probably nervous because it would normally occur in a group. It is also very skinny and needs food. Most wild caught fish won't take dry food from the surface and need frozen (but defrosted) food like raw or cooked prawn cut into small pieces.

 

[sanasana]

It doesn't look like anything you buy at a pet shop so it could be wild caught from a local river. Personally I think it looks like a juvenile fish you catch in the river but could be anything. It depends on which country you live in and where exactly it came from.

The fish is probably nervous because it would normally occur in a group. It is also very skinny and needs food. Most wild caught fish won't take dry food from the surface and need frozen (but defrosted) food like raw or cooked prawn cut into small pieces.

Thank you for the reply.
How many times a day should I feed it? This photo was just before I fed it, it looked rounder after that.
I feed the platy once a day. Is that enough by the way? The platy aren't skinny at all and are active throughout the day. They got swim bladder problems when I fed them twice a day, so I reduced their feeding time to just once a day.
This one I'd feed once a day after I saw it swimming with its nose down. Thought it had swim bladder issues, before realizing it was probably just scared and hiding behind the plants. I still feed it just once. I should increase the number of times I feed it, right? I don't know any shops that sell raw or frozen fish food, but I'll see if I can find any. Currently just feeding it regular fish pellets. I fed it peas a couple of times and spinach once, but I don't remember it being quite interested in the spinach.

 

[Colin_T]

If the tank has been running for more than a couple of months and the filter is established (contains good bacteria that keeps the ammonia and nitrite levels at 0), then you can feed the fish 3 times per day. But only do this if the filter is established.

If you feed 3 times a day and the filter is not established, you will poison all the fish.

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You can buy raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp from supermarkets (where they sell fish to eat), or from fishing shops (they sell it as bait). Buy a small packet and keep them in the freezer. Take one out and defrost it. Then remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in the body) and throw these bits away. Use a pr of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time.
Remove any uneaten food after feeding and do a 75% water change once or twice a week to keep the water clean.

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Fish don't get swim bladder problems from food. If they are fed lots of dry food, they ingest air with the food and it can cause them to float about after eating. Once they pass the air out of their body they can swim normally again.

If this is happening, use frozen or live foods, or soak the pellets in tank water for a minute to soften them up and remove the air.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Is it a minnow?

 

[Unicorn97]

I don’t think this fish will appreciate being kept in a tank. He/she probably feels very alone and isolated and probably has done since put in the tank. Anything self caught should be in the wild I think personally myself. These fish are not supposed to be kept in tanks. The fish probably misses being in his own company.

 

[sanasana]

You can buy raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp from supermarkets (where they sell fish to eat), or from fishing shops (they sell it as bait). Buy a small packet and keep them in the freezer. Take one out and defrost it. Then remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in the body) and throw these bits away. Use a pr of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time.
Remove any uneaten food after feeding and do a 75% water change once or twice a week to keep the water clean.
---------------------------
Fish don't get swim bladder problems from food. If they are fed lots of dry food, they ingest air with the food and it can cause them to float about after eating. Once they pass the air out of their body they can swim normally again.

If this is happening, use frozen or live foods, or soak the pellets in tank water for a minute to soften them up and remove the air.

I do soak the pellets, but they still don't really sink.. I've soaked them for even ten minutes or more. They float on the top unless I press them- then they sink. Does this mean the pellets I have are low quality?
Thank you for the info on her feed. I'll try checking out some fishing equipment places to see if I can get live bait for her.

Is it a minnow?

I searched up minnows and yess, she actually does resemble a minnow. I have no idea which area she even came from. I'll try to ask the person who brought her.

I don’t think this fish will appreciate being kept in a tank. He/she probably feels very alone and isolated and probably has done since put in the tank. Anything self caught should be in the wild I think personally myself. These fish are not supposed to be kept in tanks. The fish probably misses being in his own company.

I completely agree with you, but unfortunately I had no hand in getting her. I agree and think she must have been in a school. Even though she does explore and swim around, I can tell she's not quite thriving as wild fish do. The platy all swim in their little school, and even though she does swim around, she often stays behind the plants. We told the person, who brought her, to take her back, but they wouldn't. They got some fish themselves and gifted this one to us, and I don't wish to go into details how they kept the fish they had :\ Sparing the details, the fish they had all died and they were impressed that the one I kept was still alive I got her in a water bottle with a hole in the cap... I made it clear to take her back the very day I got her since I had no experience or knowledge regarding keeping wild fish. They didn't and then I couldn't give her back to them if they were going to keep her in the same conditions.. There's no river close to my house, and I'm guessing they got it from somewhere near their village. I'll ask them and see if I can somehow take her back. :\

 

[Colin_T]

Fish pellets are available in sinking and floating. The floating pellets have more air in them and float about, whereas the sinking pellets don't have air in and sink straight away.

You just have floating pellets.

 

[FishGuest5123]

She or he looks a lot like White Cloud Mountain Minnows.

 

[Unicorn97]

I do soak the pellets, but they still don't really sink.. I've soaked them for even ten minutes or more. They float on the top unless I press them- then they sink. Does this mean the pellets I have are low quality?
Thank you for the info on her feed. I'll try checking out some fishing equipment places to see if I can get live bait for her.




I searched up minnows and yess, she actually does resemble a minnow. I have no idea which area she even came from. I'll try to ask the person who brought her.



I completely agree with you, but unfortunately I had no hand in getting her. I agree and think she must have been in a school. Even though she does explore and swim around, I can tell she's not quite thriving as wild fish do. The platy all swim in their little school, and even though she does swim around, she often stays behind the plants. We told the person, who brought her, to take her back, but they wouldn't. They got some fish themselves and gifted this one to us, and I don't wish to go into details how they kept the fish they had :\ Sparing the details, the fish they had all died and they were impressed that the one I kept was still alive I got her in a water bottle with a hole in the cap... I made it clear to take her back the very day I got her since I had no experience or knowledge regarding keeping wild fish. They didn't and then I couldn't give her back to them if they were going to keep her in the same conditions.. There's no river close to my house, and I'm guessing they got it from somewhere near their village. I'll ask them and see if I can somehow take her back. :\

I see, I’m glad you’re taking care of the fish. All you can do is your best.

 

[Colin_T]

For Deanasue
It's not a white cloud mountain minnow.

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Most wild caught fishes have not been exposed to common aquarium fish diseases and die rapidly when they are exposed to the diseases.

Do not release the fish into the wild. It has been in an aquarium with domestic fish and has been exposed to diseases from domestic fish. If you release it into the wild, it could spread diseases to the wild fish and kill everything in the river.

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If you can find out what town, state, country the fish was caught in, you will have more chance of identifying it.

There are government fisheries websites that show the common fishes found in local waterways. And you can usually find books called "Field Guides to the freshwater Fishes of" whatever country you are in.

Keep the fish and offer it a variety of small foods. Monitor it and see what it grows into. If you can identify the species then go from there.

 

[sanasana]

For Deanasue
It's not a white cloud mountain minnow.

-------------------
Most wild caught fishes have not been exposed to common aquarium fish diseases and die rapidly when they are exposed to the diseases.

Do not release the fish into the wild. It has been in an aquarium with domestic fish and has been exposed to diseases from domestic fish. If you release it into the wild, it could spread diseases to the wild fish and kill everything in the river.

-------------------
If you can find out what town, state, country the fish was caught in, you will have more chance of identifying it.

There are government fisheries websites that show the common fishes found in local waterways. And you can usually find books called "Field Guides to the freshwater Fishes of" whatever country you are in.

Keep the fish and offer it a variety of small foods. Monitor it and see what it grows into. If you can identify the species then go from there.

Woah okay had no idea about the aquarium fish diseases. I'll try to find where she was brought from and until then will feed the variety you've told me.

 

[FishGuest5123]

It’s got to be a minnow if some type. Maybe a suckermouth?