Returning to the whole aquarium thing

[mcfencer25]

I would suggest you spend a little time researching the fish you want . Irr. sharks get to be HUGE, think hundreds and hundreds of gallons to keep one. Clowns grow pretty slowly, but you will eventually need at least a 125g for them to be happy and comfortable. Crayfish might not be the best fish catchers, but they will get the fish eventually

Yeah, you see, this is the problem with freshwater fish. A fish in one area will have one name and when it's in another area (or even pet store) it has another name altogether.

I checked out the species profile for the Ir. shark on this site and the picture there is of something totally different than that in the pet store. I don't know what it is really called, only that it is called "Iridescent shark" by the pet store. It has a body that's much more streamlined than that of the fish shown on this site. It is actually very shiny. It also has very long wiskers and a larger dorsal fin and a more angular caudal fin than the real Ir. shark. I don't know what it is they're selling but it is definitely not the same species shown on this site. They also don't have any large specimens of it. Any fish that get huge they tend to have in the larger tanks on the floor, below the tanks containing smaller individuals. The largest of this fish is about 5 inches and the guy there said that's about as big as they get.

As for clown loaches..........125g??????? They get to be about 5-6 inches at most in captivity. It even says that on this site. How could they possibly need 125 gallons?

Matt

 

[Holly9937]

You can try www.planetcatfish.com, maybe you could find your fish there . As for the clowns, I don't care for the description on this site, and alot of other sites will recommend a much bigger tank...Totally up to you, but a fish that has the potential to get large is limited by the tank size it is kept in.

 

[wataugachicken]

Totally up to you, but a fish that has the potential to get large is limited by the tank size it is kept in.

just want to clarify that point in case mcfencer thinks you are trying to say something else. while fish will be limited by too small of a tank, that is not a good thing. stunting the growth by having a small tank will lead to physical health problems as well as a lowered resistance to disease, and a shortened life span. in short, the outside stops growing but the insides do not.

as far as clowns go, the more common estimate that i have seen is around 8 inches, and if you want to get one you should be prepared to house at least three, as they are social fish and do better with friends.