Huge+Tiny fish=?

[Serrateeth_2002]

The rule for fish is usually this,fish smaller than another fish mouth will get eaten,is there anyway to keep tiny fishes like neons with huge fishes like red tail catfish or giant guorami or arapaima without getting eaten(excludes fishes that stick to the wall)?Will the large fish see a school of neons,too insignificant to be food or is it just gobbled up?

[slipknottin]

likely youll notice a gradual decrease in the population.

the one way to do it is to have a large... very large.... tank where they could be far enough apart at all times to avoid getting eaten.

[Serrateeth_2002]

So a huge fish will eat a tiny fish even if the tiny fish is 1/100000 of the predator's size?how about large filter feeders?

[JamisonBWolsh]

There might be one way out of this. If you get the big fish when they are all small and they "grow up" togethor, it could lower the chance of having the big fish see the small fish as food.


Real life example:
My friend had a perfect tank...large fish..small fish. everything was fine. He fed them ghost shrimp. Next day, one by one, the small fish (zebra danios) got eaten.

Moral of the story: Let them grow up togethor and this lowers the chances of small fish being eaten!

[Richer]

On top of the very large tank, you'll also need very very dense coverage so that the little guys have a fighting chance of hiding. Just a note, I am referring to a large predatory fish (ie. an oscar) compared to a much smaller fish (ie. a neon).

-Richer

[Serrateeth_2002]

Will an arapaima eat a guppy fry?

[JamisonBWolsh]

Well...I think all fry's (or is it Fries?) are open game. They are pretty small. In another tank I have a few serpaes (going to sell for more exotic type fish) that went after my bristlenose fry that were about 1/4 inch long. and I think my petricolas (love those guys) may have had some lunch as well...but they arent suppose to eat fry..so who knows. anyway...pretty much anything eats fry...IMO

[Serrateeth_2002]

Jamison-No,you did not understand the question,an arapaima measures 4.5 metres while a guppy fry is less than 1cm,would something that big notice something that small and would go after it and eat it?

[JamisonBWolsh]

good question. IM going to be honest here. I have no idea. Try to find someone who has one perhaps? So will a LARGE fish mind a VERY small fish (will he/she want to even waste their energy for such a small meal?)

I really dont know. I DO KNOW that if I add 1 frozen brine shrimp (very small) the tinfoil (8 inches) will go after it. I am going to the store tommorrow and Buy some Live brine shrimp. and i will see what happens when I add it.

[Mattimeo]

It depends on the fish. For example, I know many people who have successfully kept neons and cardinals with all 4 pygocentrus species and a few serrasalmines. However, my bowfin is already 10.5 inches and still goes after brine shrimp. I highly doubt that a 10 foot+ arapaima would even notice a 1 cm guppy or neon. Predators which rely on scent are a bigger hazard to much smaller fish than are sight hunters.

[Ashes]

At the Boston Aquarium, there's an Amazon tank with some HUGE fish (I can't remember what they are, but they were two-three feet long and longer - pacu, maybe?) and standard-sized angelfish in the same tank. If I had seen the two fish separately, I would've thought the big ones would've eaten the little ones, but apparently they didn't. It was sooo cool to see.

[Ledslnger]

Ashes...that could be because the aquarium replenishes the supply of angels every so often. Underwater World in the Mall of America has to replenish certain fish in their tank with the sharks. They told us they feed them well, but when an opportune time arises the sharks will take an easy meal.

[Ashes]

Still, though... The angels must be able to survive for some decent period of time without getting eaten. That'd be a lot of replacing to do, if not!

[Serrateeth_2002]

Maybe large herbivorous fishes wouldn't be forced to eat the angels or smaller fishes since they are in a bigger tank and maybe they eat proper food instead of feeders in a public aquarium.

[Ashes]

Good point.