Aquarium FISH

merika

merika

Wol
O.G.
Nov 1, 2006
10,400
115
#1
I've kept and bred tropical for many years, except for the last few. I've sort of gone out of practice, and decided to start again with small hardy fish like barbs and gourami.

My favorite fish of all time is the discus, with the glass catfish and knife fish coming a close second.

Red_Eagle_Discus_fish.jpg


Right now I only have a small 5 gallon tank, but hope to get a bigger tank and more fish soon.

Are there any other tPFers who are interested in the care and breeding of tropical fish?
 
#4
They're in a pond, happy campers as they can be. I think they're obese, can fish be obese? I used to feed them twice a day till someone commented they look kind of fat :P Now it's just once a day. I have also some platy in the pond. I put in about 10 and now there are probably more than 50 of them!!

merika said:
^of course!

Do you keep them in a pond or in a tank?
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#5
evekitti said:
They're in a pond, happy campers as they can be. I think they're obese, can fish be obese? I used to feed them twice a day till someone commented they look kind of fat :P Now it's just once a day. I have also some platy in the pond. I put in about 10 and now there are probably more than 50 of them!!
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I think they just grow bigger if you feed them - feeding too much is risky if you keep them in a tank, and I think koi grow up to like 3 feet long? I've seen some ginormous ones.

It's great that your platy bred. Sometimes its hard to get them to breed in smaller tanks, and pond life simulates a natural environment much more than a smaller aquarium.
 
#6
i have a red parrot and 2 catfish in a 15gal. when my red parrot (opie) he...well she as it turned out to be after i found her laying eggs, but i still refer to it as a he lol...anyway. when i got him he was about 2.5" and now hes about 6". ive had him for 3 years now and i love him to bits!

the catfish have really cool personalities too. i have one striped (skunk) and one spotted (chunk) and skunk rules over the two. he swims around and looks like a shark :smile:
 
#7
bagaholic85 said:
i have a red parrot and 2 catfish in a 15gal. when my red parrot (opie) he...well she as it turned out to be after i found her laying eggs, but i still refer to it as a he lol...anyway. when i got him he was about 2.5" and now hes about 6". ive had him for 3 years now and i love him to bits!

the catfish have really cool personalities too. i have one striped (skunk) and one spotted (chunk) and skunk rules over the two. he swims around and looks like a shark :smile:
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People might not believe me but I agree that fish have personalities.
 
#9
I used to have plain old goldfish, I got them as little feeder fish that I won at a carnival and we fed them so much that over the 7 years I had them (yep! same fish!) they grew to about 5 in. long each. I always wanted tropical fish, though, because they are so beautiful!!!
Now my dad has a koi pond in his backyard, he loves it and says the fish have such personalities, they come up to him when he walks over to the pond.
 
#10
elle tee said:
I used to have plain old goldfish, I got them as little feeder fish that I won at a carnival and we fed them so much that over the 7 years I had them (yep! same fish!) they grew to about 5 in. long each. I always wanted tropical fish, though, because they are so beautiful!!!
Now my dad has a koi pond in his backyard, he loves it and says the fish have such personalities, they come up to him when he walks over to the pond.
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Oh, wow! That's truly remarkable. You must have taken good care of them because most fish live for 3-4 years max unless you take care of them VERY well, or if they are in a pond, like the koi.
 
#11
merika said:
Oh, wow! That's truly remarkable. You must have taken good care of them because most fish live for 3-4 years max unless you take care of them VERY well, or if they are in a pond, like the koi.
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Kindergarden through sixth grade! No one could believe it, LOL! We did feed them well and kept them in a filtered tank which was cleaned regularly.
 
#12
This is a bit off-topic but since it's related to my kois.....

One of my cats, La Chatte, has been fascinated with the kois ever since we moved into our new house. One day, I was just observing her observing the fishes. A koi swam really quickly past her and before I knew it, La Chatte jumped into the pond after it! I think she must thought she could stand on water. I didn't know whether to laugh or scream at the sight of her furiously paddling. I picked her up from the pond all drenched, and not a squeak from her the entire day.

That's not all. A few weeks later, I was in the garden when I heard a really loud howl. I thought a stray cat had gotten in and was fighting with the cats. Guess who I saw frantically trying to get out of the pond? La Chatte in the pond again! I guess she isn't too bright. But since then, she hasn't gone near the fishes.
 
#13
^LOL! That's so funny. I had a couple incidents with my DS when he was about 3 and HE wanted to swim with the fishies...

My most recent (well, 4 day old) collection of fishes seem to be doing fine, though there's some nipping going on between breeds. I hope that if I add enough plants that will stop because the fish will then have places to hide. I'd hate to get rid of any of them!
 
#15
We have an 80 gallon tank inside with 5 parrot cichlids - they are gorgeous and have grown to the size of DH's palm. When we got them they were about the size of a quarter. They definitely have personalities and all swim to the corner of the tank and stare at you when you sit on the couch!!

We also have 5 koi and 2 fancy goldfish in our pond outside. They were about the size of magic markers when we got them and now the white koi (Casper) is larger than DH's forearm!!! They splash you when you walk past the pond in summer when they are hungry.

Right now the pond is frozen across and they are hibernating with the heater cranked just enough to provide oxygen flow.
 
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