Pet Fish: fresh water, salt water and everything in between

Indiandog

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Time for a separate thread for this.

Lets discuss your pet fish. what you have, what do you feed them, how do you breed them, plants, rocks, toys, filters, air pumps, photos etc.

turtles, prawns, crabs, etc are also included.
 

coach

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I have 4 whiting, keep em in a box in the freezer at about -3! Few rocks in there for the scotch.......
 

Indiandog

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I have 4 whiting, keep em in a box in the freezer at about -3! Few rocks in there for the scotch.......
lol.. i was expecting posts like this one.
 

c-b-b

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I've got a 3 foot tank and a few smaller ones, unfortunately all empty at the moment, have to set at least one up shortly. I usually keep tropicals - clown poaches, neon tetra, tiger barbs and gouramis normally.
 

CrittaMagic69

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How are fish pets? What can you do with them?
 

Alan79

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I think I'll post a lot in this thread. I suffer from MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome) so i like to keep a variety of fish and plants in my tanks.

How are fish pets? What can you do with them?
They're relaxing to watch mostly. Not everybody understands what is enjoyable about fish so if you don't care about them thats no big deal. Most pet shops these days cater to aquarium owners with a greater variety than they do with most other pets so obviously plenty of people enjoy the hobby of running aquariums. Different strokes for different folks really.

Some fish are fairly interactive with you while others are pretty amusing in the way they behave. I have a pair of Comet Goldfish I've had for a long while that will eat fruit and things out of my hand. They tend to get excited whenever you enter the room.

Bettas (siamese fighting fish) are also a fun fish, I've owned 4 of them over the years and they each have different personalities, some are aggressive and want to fight anything that comes near their tank, while others are passive. When i was at uni i used to have a fishing lure without hooks that i would allow my first fighting fish to beat up. The one I have at the moment gets excited whenever it sees people, mostly because it loves food. It's a wimp compared to other fish i have owned. Generally when you hold a mirror up to their tank they get agro at their reflection. This one hides away as far from the mirror as it can get.

My favorite fish to watch are Kuhli loaches which kind of do a synchronized swimming thing when they are active. They look like a tiny eels with stripes. They swim alongside each other at super fast speeds. I have a camera function that can take 6 photos per second and the Kuhli's i have can travel 2 feet across their tank during that interval. Part of the fun with Kuhlis is because they are a shy fish. You have to earn their trust or they will generally hide when you come anywhere near the tank. It's nice when they stop hiding from you though.

I'll post some more pics of my tanks tomorrow.
 

Alan79

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I've got a 3 foot tank and a few smaller ones, unfortunately all empty at the moment, have to set at least one up shortly. I usually keep tropicals - clown poaches, neon tetra, tiger barbs and gouramis normally.
I'd seem obsessed if i told you how many dry tanks I own. I have a monster tank (4x2x2 foot) that i will be setting up when i move into my next house soon but aside from that tank i also have a bunch that i picked up cheaply through some facebook groups, garage sales and at a local salvation army store. I need to sell a few tanks again since they're piling up. I've made a decent amount of money by buying tanks with a broken bit of glass and repairing it from other broken tanks, then reselling the repaired tanks for big price mark ups. My best was a $5 tank that I sold again later for $100. The repair process isn't that hard but finding the extra tanks to tear apart to fix others can be time consuming in the rural area i live in and just buying glass bits to make the repairs makes it an expensive process. But using another broken tank to salvage the glass from means i can often fix a few tanks by tearing apart one tank. I have 4 tanks awaiting repair in my spare room right now. I plan to fix and sell them soon to buy some equipment for the moster tank i bought myself for christmas.
 

Indiandog

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How are fish pets? What can you do with them?
my blue line sharks i used to hand feed them. i can sit infront of the the tank for hours and watch them play around and "do things"
I got them when they were babies almost size of your index finger. My tank was 4 feet x 2 feet, blue lines grow very fast if given enough space. They ended up growing 8 inches so much that the 4 feet tank started to get smaller.
when they play around and swim fast the water actually comes out of the tank.

Having a fish tank could be like watching paint dry for some , but for guys like me it is has a peacefull calming affect.
 

Cook

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Got a cyclid fish tank not sure on spelling only 3 fish at moment electric yellow cobult blue I think and a black shark with orange tail 4 ft long tank with some plants and rocks its out in back shed wife wouldn't let have inside......I love it used to have one years ago with many fish would feed flys or cockroaches I'd catch and watch the fish devour them
 

CrittaMagic69

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I think I'll post a lot in this thread. I suffer from MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome) so i like to keep a variety of fish and plants in my tanks.



They're relaxing to watch mostly. Not everybody understands what is enjoyable about fish so if you don't care about them thats no big deal. Most pet shops these days cater to aquarium owners with a greater variety than they do with most other pets so obviously plenty of people enjoy the hobby of running aquariums. Different strokes for different folks really.

Some fish are fairly interactive with you while others are pretty amusing in the way they behave. I have a pair of Comet Goldfish I've had for a long while that will eat fruit and things out of my hand. They tend to get excited whenever you enter the room.

Bettas (siamese fighting fish) are also a fun fish, I've owned 4 of them over the years and they each have different personalities, some are aggressive and want to fight anything that comes near their tank, while others are passive. When i was at uni i used to have a fishing lure without hooks that i would allow my first fighting fish to beat up. The one I have at the moment gets excited whenever it sees people, mostly because it loves food. It's a wimp compared to other fish i have owned. Generally when you hold a mirror up to their tank they get agro at their reflection. This one hides away as far from the mirror as it can get.

My favorite fish to watch are Kuhli loaches which kind of do a synchronized swimming thing when they are active. They look like a tiny eels with stripes. They swim alongside each other at super fast speeds. I have a camera function that can take 6 photos per second and the Kuhli's i have can travel 2 feet across their tank during that interval. Part of the fun with Kuhlis is because they are a shy fish. You have to earn their trust or they will generally hide when you come anywhere near the tank. It's nice when they stop hiding from you though.

I'll post some more pics of my tanks tomorrow.
Fair enough. My parents used to have a tank when i was growing up, but i was never really interested in the fish. I was more interested in watching what the cat would do to try and get in the tank aha.
 

coach

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my blue line sharks i used to hand feed them. i can sit infront of the the tank for hours and watch them play around and "do things"
I got them when they were babies almost size of your index finger. My tank was 4 feet x 2 feet, blue lines grow very fast if given enough space. They ended up growing 8 inches so much that the 4 feet tank started to get smaller.
when they play around and swim fast the water actually comes out of the tank.

Having a fish tank could be like watching paint dry for some , but for guys like me it is has a peacefull calming affect.
I agree mate, could watch fish for hours on end
 

marsh43

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Thinking of investing in one. My sister and bro-inlaw have a massive tank in their lounge. Very calming. He got one fish that looks like a snapper for $500 and got offered $2500 for it. Turned them down because my sister loves it lol.
 
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Natboy

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Thanks Indiandog!

Alan, I just mentioned in the other thread that I love your planted tank & that I've bred Kuhli loaches!

ID, those fish are so cool. Have they bred for you?

I breed L pleco catfish. I breed your standard L004/L066/L134/L270/L377/L397 but also have zebra L046, green phantoms L200, vampires L007, L239, L282, L387 & have recently aquired albino L377 that are a world first apparently.

If anyone wants to have a look at what fish I am talking about check this site out and search at the top right http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/

I love my fish & find them so relaxing and interesting to watch. It's an awesome feeling breeding them too!
 

Alan79

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Thinking of investing in one. My sister and bro-inlaw have a massive tank in their lounge. Very calming. He got one fish that looks like a snapper for $500 and got offered $2500 for it. Turned them down because my sister loves it lol.
If you want to get into it cheaply have a look on gumtree. There are usually a lot for sale and you could save $50-$1250 on a tank set up depending on how big you decide to go with the tank and if you go for fresh or salt water. Salt water tanks are usually pretty expensive due to the gear needed to maintain them. Tropical tanks are next down the list in order of expense, followed by cold water which are pretty cheap to set up. Let me know if you want to set a tank up and I can link you to good articles to help you with the set up process. Pet shops don't always give the best advice about setting your tank up and lots of people kill fish when they start out and get disouraged.
 

Alan79

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Thanks Indiandog!

Alan, I just mentioned in the other thread that I love your planted tank & that I've bred Kuhli loaches!

ID, those fish are so cool. Have they bred for you?

I breed L pleco catfish. I breed your standard L004/L066/L134/L270/L377/L397 but also have zebra L046, green phantoms L200, vampires L007, L239, L282, L387 & have recently aquired albino L377 that are a world first apparently.

If anyone wants to have a look at what fish I am talking about check this site out and search at the top right http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/

I love my fish & find them so relaxing and interesting to watch. It's an awesome feeling breeding them too!
Thanks for the compliment Natboy. I sometimes think i keep fish as fertilizer factories for my aquatic plants. I've probably spent close to as much on plants as I have fish.

My Kuhlis haven't bred for me yet. I'm not sure what the trick is for breeding them but I'd love to see babies in my tank.

You have a great variety of Plecos Natboy. I'm a bit jealous of them. I'll probably buy a few more varieties in time. I haven't managed top\ breed much of anything in my tanks except for Red ramshorn snails which I've made about $150 from through my local pet shop. They buy a lot of my plant trimmings too.

my blue line sharks i used to hand feed them. i can sit infront of the the tank for hours and watch them play around and "do things"
I got them when they were babies almost size of your index finger. My tank was 4 feet x 2 feet, blue lines grow very fast if given enough space. They ended up growing 8 inches so much that the 4 feet tank started to get smaller.
when they play around and swim fast the water actually comes out of the tank.

Having a fish tank could be like watching paint dry for some , but for guys like me it is has a peacefull calming affect.
They're a nice looking Fish Indiandog. I've stuck with smaller fish varieties so far but I'll change around with things as time goes on. There is so much variety on offer that I'd need a bigger house to keep all the fish i want. Have your blue lines bred for you at all?

Got a cyclid fish tank not sure on spelling only 3 fish at moment electric yellow cobult blue I think and a black shark with orange tail 4 ft long tank with some plants and rocks its out in back shed wife wouldn't let have inside......I love it used to have one years ago with many fish would feed flys or cockroaches I'd catch and watch the fish devour them
There are some gorgeous cychlid varieties on the market Cook. A local bloke i know sells and breeds about 36 different types. I haven't owned any Cychlids yet but I have plans to buy and hopefully breed some German Blue Rams pretty soon. If you have a light over your tank and you keep it in a shed i'd be running the light during the night to attract insects to the tank. I love giving the fish the chance to catch their own food. I feed my fish a massive variety of foods both porocessed and frozen foods, but it's fun seeing them guzzle down live foods when they get the chance.
 

MattyB

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I setup a NEW Tropical tank at home about 2 years ago, I had a few babies (Guppies) but slowly they have died, I change the water as much as I should and generally the tank is good and clean but I keep losing them.

I have 4 Neon Tetra at the moment with about 3 Guppies left.
but I need to do a water change on the weekend so after that I might think of getting more
 

Indiandog

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Alan and Nat, blue lines are very shy and hard to breed in tanks. They grow upto 3 feet as I have heared. The biggest I have seen is 12 inches and it was something to look at. Blue lines can only breed in ponds.
They have dark blue velvety skin on top which turn very light when they are scared , specially when you wre trying to catch them for cleaning tank and stuff.
Albino blue lines are a rare breed and very hard to get as I believe they come out of normal blue lines but its a skin color disorder , may be similar to Michael jacksons. Lol

Has anyone tried breeding gold fish?
 

Indiandog

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I setup a NEW Tropical tank at home about 2 years ago, I had a few babies (Guppies) but slowly they have died, I change the water as much as I should and generally the tank is good and clean but I keep losing them.

I have 4 Neon Tetra at the moment with about 3 Guppies left.
but I need to do a water change on the weekend so after that I might think of getting more
Mate , old dirty water Is very important for fish. Whenever you change water keep the water from top of the tank in separate buckets, as the bottom has got all the crap. Never replace 100 % water from tank as the fish goes into the shock in new fresh water. Once the tank is cleaned put old water back in plus fish and then every day add little water till it gets to the top. Unless your water is contaminated with disease then you have no choice, but I would still keep some from top.
 
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Natboy

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Yeah spot on. The kuhlis just surprised me one day with babies and I think they rarely breed.
Ammonia is the biggest killer of aquarium fish and I'd recommend 30-50% water changes every week with tap water and seachem prime.
I do daily water changes to trigger breeding of some of my catfish. A lot of work but rewarding :grinning:
 

Bitemarks

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I have 2 Green Terror Cichlids that are around 25cm, bought them when they were 1cm about 5 years ago. I also have 2 peppermint catfish that are around 10 cm long. Good canister filters area must have. Also check the PH of your tap water and buy accordingly. my tap ph is 7.0 so all these fish like that range.

Cichlids are pretty smart they know who is who in the house, I went away for 3 weeks recently. They lost their shit when i walked back into the house. Years ago I had a Jack Dempsy he would do loops when I walked into the room, but did it for no one else, damn funny fish he was. These 2 GT's get jealous if you paying too much attention to the other one.
 
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