help needed :( needle-nose fish? grows to 9" long?!

[Lemmie]

Hi all, I'd be really grateful if someone could help me ID my fish for sure. My 10 gal has always been a bit more about plants than fish, so I think I might've made a mistake with my new additions

At the LFS, I bought 3 little guys labeled, "needle-nose fish", assured by the store girl that they were a peaceful, flake-eating, community fish suited for a planted 10 gal. They're about an inch long and incredibly thin and cute.

So I tried reading up on them only find info about some monster/predator fish that grows to be a foot long with deadly needle-like teeth.

Were my fish mislabeled? Are they a small-growing species?

They look just like this pic from www.totalfishkeeping.com, but have red anal fins, a yellow tail fin, and their top "nose" is very short compared to the long "needle" on the bottom.

They seem kind of mean for a "peaceful community fish", they poke each other and attack their flakes. They poke my shrimp too. They even tried to poke my finger.

Someone please tell me I don't have to bring them back! :help:

 

[bettagurl]

I don't know much about them.. but if it does get 9"+ I'd reccomend nothing less than a 55g, or a tank at least 12" wide, or more considering I don't know much about them, or how big they may get. I'm sure somebody else here can help you... but I know they will deffinetly get too big for your 10g, so if you can't upgrade, I suggest you take them back to the store and get your money back..
Always get info on a fish, or any animal, before you buy one

 

[kagaskritters]

everything i have ever heard about needlenose fish (actually called needlenose gars) is that they are very aggressive and need large tanks. you have to be careful what fish you house them with cause a lot of aggressive fish will actually kill them. at the pet store i used to work at we got needlenosed gars in and we always fed them feeder fish.

 

[Ruben Tolon]

Your fish is a halfbeak http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile49.html, not the needlefish that is in that picture.

 

[Lemmie]

Thank you so much Ruben (and thanks to everyone who responded)! I had a feeling the itty bitty fish wouldn't grow to 12"! And sorry for providing the wrong photo, it was probably misleading.

I have a feeling the tank at the LFS had salt in it as well, as they were being kept with glassfish. So, I'll need to find some salt-tolerant plants. bettagurl is definitely right, I shouldn't depend on the LFS for info, I'll definitely research before stepping foot in one next time.

Thanks again to everyone!

 

[Ruben Tolon]

Depending on the species of halfbeak, you might not need brackish water.

 

[Lemmie]

After reading a bit, I'm pretty sure they are the wrestling halfbeak, Dermogenys pusilla, which apparently does better in brackish, though they tolerate fresh.

They seem pretty happy right now, without the salt, not shy at all. I'm just worried that if they become unhealthy, I will have to add salt, and I don't want all my plants to die if I do. Best to get salt-tolerant plants, right?

 

[Ruben Tolon]

I'm pretty sure that I've seen Dermogenys pusilla being bred in freshwater. I've had them for years in freshwater in my old shelldweller tanks, I wouldn't bother with keeping them in brackish.

 

[Lemmie]

Thanks so much for the info Ruben! I'll forget about the salt. Now I can aquascape with nearly anything I want. :bowing: