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View Full Version : Hi Fish Lovers! Long post. Sorry



Dibbs
06-29-2005, 7:29 PM
I'm Dibbs.
Last night my daughter brought home a couple of 16 gallon aqauriams complete with stands and accessories. Including two live fish. Now I use to have a 55 gallon tank w/nice timid community tropical fish and I just decided to get rid of it one day and gave it all away. Two hours later I regretted that.
So anyway as I was saying my daughter also brought home a couple of live fish with these tanks. So in comes my daughters bot friend with the tank that has the fish, with about 5" of water splashing and sloshing inside the tank from one side to the other. Also in the tank is the plastic plants, the Powerhead 201, the heater, and all the gravel. "You drove all the way from Marysville with the tank 3 quarters empty with the fish in it?" I asked. Her reply was that "River fish have it a lot more rougher then this." Well, I couldn't argue with that fact.
Lookin into the dark murky sooty dirty tank after the water calmed down a bit, I spotted some movement and, well by some merciful miracle they managed to survive the trip.
One is a eel type fish about 4-5" long with what looks like a long narrow snout. And the other is a cichlid. Cichlid! I never had cichlids before. There mean and require much more maintainace and strict observation as I recall. Oh well, I always wanted to try cichlids and this may be my chance. It will be another miracle though if it survives the night after its death ride here.
Figuring the tank is already a quarter full with it own establishe water I added more treated water and got the powerhead going using the original filter to help establish the new water. Arranged the plastic plants and stuck the other tank in the corner. With everything working find I "observed" both fish are behaving as though nothing happened. So I went to bed wondering if I'd observe a couple of dead fish in the morning.
Well when I woke up and checked on them, lo and behold, "Feed us Daddy" thier little mouths worded. Well "son of a gun " I thought. You lived!
So As far as I learned, I think... I have a Red Zebra. (I named him Roger.) I went to Petsmart and thats what they were calling them there. But he's not as bright orange as the ones I've seen posted else where on the Internet. Put according to Petsmart he is.
Well it's been 24 hours and both fish are alive and well. So I would love to hear any advice you folks can give me about Roger. Meanwhile I'll continue to research more from older post and other sites. Theres thousands! :dive2:

Holly9937
06-29-2005, 7:35 PM
:D Wow, where did these fish/tanks even come from?!? Without knowing what they are exactly, this is just a guess, but most eel like fish and cichlids get pretty big, which may mean if you want to keep them you'll be roped into buying a bigger tank. See if you can't figure out what they are, at least you'll know what kind of fish you have on your hands!! Good luck

wunderkind
06-29-2005, 9:43 PM
lucky, i wish someone i knew would just come over and bring 2 tanks over. How big is the cichlid? both would probably like lots of hiding places... good luck

Dibbs
06-29-2005, 9:46 PM
Well as far as the Roger goes I'm 90% sure he's a Red Zebra. And according to the photo gallery on the forum and "Species care sheet" I obtained from this forum he's gonna be about 4". Right now hes about 2.5" from mouth to end of tail.
Now to research the Eel

Dibbs
06-29-2005, 9:51 PM
lucky, i wish someone i knew would just come over and bring 2 tanks over. How big is the cichlid? both would probably like lots of hiding places... good luck
Tell me about it. A tank with everything you need to get it up and going can be expensive, let alone 2! And I never even met the lady!

Holly9937
06-29-2005, 9:57 PM
he's gonna be about for inches.

Thats great, at least its not some monster fish that would get as big AS the tank its in!!! Maybe you'll luck out and the other guy won't get very big either and they'll just both get their own tanks and be very happy :D

sky.eyes.woman
06-29-2005, 10:43 PM
16 gallons will be ok for one or two African cichlids, I guess. I'm curious about the 'eel' too...I hope it's not what PETsMART sells labeled as a 'dinosaur eel'...it is not an eel at all but a bichir! There's no species name on the label, just 'polypterus spp.' and from pics I've seen online they look like a Senegal bichir. If you have that, you'll need a bigger tank for sure and don't try keeping it with little timid fish! Hopefully it's something smaller and nicer than a 'dinosaur' eel. Let us know when you find out, please!

Dibbs
06-30-2005, 8:59 AM
I narrowed it down to the "Gar" kin. It may be a Elephantnose, Florida Gar, Longnose or Shortnose Gar. I hope its niether the Longnose or Shortnose because they can get as large as 70"! Again I need to continue my research. Good thing I'm an vacation this week.
(Later that day.)
Hmmm. So far I can't seem to find a picture of a gar that has a tail common to my long snouted fish. I think I'm on the wrong track here. I guess it's back to the pet store. :dive2:

nursie
06-30-2005, 9:29 AM
Hey, Dibbs, if you have a Barnes and Noble, or some other book store nearby that lets you read, you might go pick up a big fish encyclopedia and try to find a pic and ID it that way. Petsmart won't have everything.
A good one to look for is the Baensch Aquarium atlas, or Axlerod.

Holly9937
06-30-2005, 11:28 AM
Or post a pic on here if you can

Dibbs
07-02-2005, 2:01 PM
Or post a pic on here if you can
Sure. I have a couple of pictures here ready to post. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do that.
Odd. I had no problem posting pictures on my other hobby forums. Whers the "attachment" button.

0m3n
05-17-2006, 2:34 AM
its not a spiny eel is it?

cherrypie
05-17-2006, 3:00 AM
its not a spiny eel is it?

I was thinking the same when I heard the description.

stingray4540
05-17-2006, 12:00 PM
To post a pic. get a free account at photobucket.com and upload your pic there. then copy and past the IMG address that is located under the pic into the body of your post. Then it will show up in your post, there is no attachment option here.
About your "eel" fish, start doing some online reasearch on fire eel's, tire track eel's, zig zag eel's, these are all spiny eels as has already been mentioned. I have a feeling it might be one of these. But posting pics here is the quickest way to find out, or point you in the right direction.

dorkfish
05-17-2006, 12:15 PM
doubt it, but is this (http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_dojo.php) your eel? looks close enough that someone could call it an eel.

dorkfish
05-17-2006, 12:19 PM
any of these? spot finned spiny eel (http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_eel1.php),fire eel (http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Mastacembelus_erythrotaenia.php), tire track eel (http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Mastacembelus_armatus.php)