If you love fish, post here!

[fuzzlebug]

Iv been searching this forum for a while now and found a treasure trove of info, hurrah, what I haven't seen yet is just a lot of people's ideas, dreams, or even stories, good or bad, of great fish tanks, maybe your dream tank that money no object you would have. Or your favourite fish or fish combo, or even just sum funny stories. And let's not forget those bad times, let's here them too, chances are someone else has had or is experiencing the same problem, so hopefully you can sure you pearls of wisdom to help avoid disaster. Lets celebrate fish keeping!

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[fuzzlebug]

My favourite fish is the datnoid, just for they're massive size and eyes, they really stand out on any tank, but they are gentle giants, unless something can fit in there mouths, then they become not-so-gentle! A lot of people are put of them cause of the cost of the fish, the sizes they can achieve and that they are pretty sensitive to changes in water conditions, but they aren't hard work once the tank us set up, and when they are mature and around the 7inch plus mark they are so inquisitive and don't hide or get skittish like they do when juvenile. All in all a great fish with real character that us fascinating to watch, as long as you have a big enough tank.

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[Cynic]

I love fish up until maintenance day.

 

[Brookster123]

I love fish up until maintenance day.

I love fish up until maintenance day and I realize how much poop they bury in my nice clean gravel!

 

[Alan79]

Kuhlis are my favorites at the moment. I love the way they are so intimate with each other. Even watching them climb through plants is enjoyable. I think i will add more to this school soon but will rehome some of the current stock.

And fish stories.
The ongoing tale of Brutus.
I bought Brutus as a young Comet at the LFS. At that time i probably had a few larger Comets already in my 20g. I was an ignorant fish keeper for a long time. Anyway Brutus was called Bubbles for a long time and he gradually outlived most of his older tank mates. As some of the others died i decided to add some different fish. I added a school of Zebra Danios. The zebras all died off bar one and when the rest had passed away it took to eating the tail off Brutus. It ate about 1/2cm off his tail before i realized what was happening. I removed the Danio to a small 4g tank. Brutus recovered but his tail looked awful for a long while. His next major issue was a case of fin rot. I had overstocked on Comets again and had the tank crash. He survived the crash but was the only one of three comets and a black moore (mostly saves from a year 12 farewell prank at a school i worked at). The fin rot got to the point where i was close to euthenizing. I managed to nurse him back to health. I got more vigilantabout maintaining my water quality after that. He has never had issues with fins since,but they have two distinct lines to remind me of his near death instances. Brutus did start out as either Splash or Bubbles which are my generic names for goldfish when i have a few in my tanks. Nephews and neices didn't like knowing a fish had died so i restocked when one did. Hence splash and Bubbles were rotating names.

I thought that maintaining better water would make Bubbles happier but i came home one day and saw him laying still on the floor. I was sad but went to pick him up. He had managed to cling to life as his slime coat kept him moist. He wriggled just a little when i picked him up. The slime coat was sticky and dry on the outside though and the kick was barely noticeable. I used my fishing show knowledge to resuscitate him. I immediately placed him back in the tank and ran him around in the water for a few minutes, gradually peeling off the sticky layer that had coated him on the floor. It took about 20 minutes of moving him around through the water before he realized he was being held and decided to GTF away from this creature that had rescued him. I guess he had some personal issues that made him think suicide was the only option. I got him some counseling though and he's happy below the water line now i guess. Who can really tell when fish are hiding depression.

And to close out the story of Brutus. I only give my real survivors personal names. Bubbles had earned his place in the hall of fame with his epic battles for life and he had come close to death on three occasions. So I got him a new comet girlfriend. Sadly he became violent. So my little buddy Bubbles was renamed Brutus. Almost doubling his tank size helped out with the violence issue when i eventually placed them in the same tank together again but i do like the name.

Anyway that came out as a really long post. It will be interesting to see how this thread develops.

 

[fuzzlebug]

Thanks alan79, this shows that even sumthing as basic as a comet can have a truly remarkable story, and brutus, I applaud you! He is indeed a fighter, is he still in the bigger tank with his comet friend or are you going to give him sum more friends?

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[Alan79]

Thanks alan79, this shows that even sumthing as basic as a comet can have a truly remarkable story, and brutus, I applaud you! He is indeed a fighter, is he still in the bigger tank with his comet friend or are you going to give him sum more friends?

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The plan is to build a 6x2x2 foot pond i can empty and move when i stop renting this place. He will probably get a few more friends when i can give him some without making the tank another pool of toxicity. Both fish look like they have plenty of space for the time being so the pond will come along slowly. I have other projects on the drawing board still.