My Impulse Buy...

[Guest]

I've never kept flounders or clowns , but don't they grow quiet large? Requiring a larger tank?

Sounds like a lot of rearranging. Again, I'm no expert, but you sure a 29g is big enough?

Impulse buys are for handbags, perfume, shoes, blouses,silly kitchen decore. Stuff you can toss in a closetand forget about, unlike living creatures.

Menagerie, I appoligize if I sound harsh. However this is an opinion board. IMO, you looked before you leaped.

 

[Menagerie]

Actually, I had the guy at the store pull out the fish species book and we looked them up. I wanted info on size, pH, salt needs, temp requirements, etc. I even called my fiance, who has taught an ichthyology lab and asked what he thought. After all that, I took them home. I honestly don't know that I wound have made a different decision after looking them up on line and in other books, thinking they were Achirus achirus.
As a respondisible fish owner, if they grow to a size that is not supported by the 29 gal, the tank will be upgraded. As it stands right now, there max size is unknown and they are currently under an inch in diameter.

 

[krap101]

ill call my lfs and ask them if they know how big they get. they'll probally not know that or the genus species but i can try.

and they thought the SAE was a CAE. they cant tell the fricken defference. and she sais i didint know what i was talking about ;'(

 

[webmoose]

Menagerie I bought the same guy last year when the same store got them in. It didn't last very long. I saw them again this year and they are so cool and I can see why you didn't pass them up. I had more success with the hillstream loach I got in December of last year. He is super active and still looks good after 7 months.

 

[madasafish]

I'm surprised that nobody's weighed in on these flounders yet. They are the Moorish Idols of the FW world. Aquarists simply don't know what makes them tick. They last for a couple of weeks and then die. It's not the salt, it's not the substrate... but there is something fundamentally important to these fish that few aquarists have been able to provide.

Sorry for the loss; you may find that you lose the others within a few weeks... let's hope you're the exception to the rule.

***Sidenote*** Coincidentally... I'm pretty sure that Stephen had one of these in his tank in Pullman, and that he also lost it. Let's see if he logs in to talk about it... Amazing how these coincidences continue.

((For those who don't know--it turns out that Menagerie knows my brother (poikilotherm on AA). We discovered this by complete coincidence!))

 

[Menagerie]

Yeah, since loosing one, I am considering taking them all back :? Ultimately I want a brackish tank with bumble bee gobies. If the flounders get as big as dinner plates, then they will ambush the bb gobies and that's no good. *SIGH*

Meanwhile, I bought another African cichlid for the 80 gal at Tanks last night. Gorgeous fish!!

 

[madasafish]

Which species of African cichlid?

I don't think the flounders would get that large in a small tank. Their growth would be limited by space. But they'd still get to 6" or so in diameter...

 

[madasafish]

Also, IME, a lot of ppl regret going the brackish direction for a number of logistical reasons--lack of proper algae eaters, restriction of possible species, etc. You may find yourself feeling restricted by this... This is the reason I've never gone brackish.

It's a pity, though. There are certainly some great spp. out there which only do well in brackish water (e.g. greenspotted puffers, bumblebee gobies, monos, scats).

 

[Menagerie]

I've been thinking about a brackish tank for well over a year--ever since I first had bb gobies and they didn't make it in my FW community tank (I didn't know any better ). I'm not into the puffers, scats and monos. I just really like the bb gobies. I have Mollies that should provide live foods (if they ever breed) and I was thinking about adding Celebes Rainbows (even though those didn't work out for me last time).
If the flounders reach 6", that's okay! First, they need to live! I will PM your brother and ask what happened. I don't want to keep fish that will just die on me--GROSS.

My new African cichlid is a Marmalade cat, but I can't find any images on the web that look like mine. It has a subterminal mouth and looks like an OB zebra. I have been eyeing this fish since I got to Calgary 6 months ago! My fav cichlids LFS had a display tank and I have asked for this fish on two or three other ocassions, but it always hid. Another Marmalade cat would swim into the net, but that's not the one I wanted!! Yesterday, I was there and saw most of the rock from the tank was taken out. I inspected the tank to see who was left--there it was! Still the hardest fish to catch from the tank, but its in my tank now.

 

[webmoose]

Menagerie hopefully the flounder is just a challenge for you.. I know mine was in freshwater exclusively (I read they need to be brackish when they grow larger) I would suspect that they probably have brackish requirements from the start.

If anyone can pull it off it's probably you Menagerie. I truly hope you have success with it!!

Congrats on the cichlid very exciting to get one that you've been eyeing for some time!!!!

 

[webmoose]

If you do get a second please do post any of the findings you get once you talk to poikilotherm.

I dread the image I have in my head that these and hillstream loaches being while caught in the wild because they are cool looking but not really great candidates for fish tanks.. Of course I fear that of my rams / rainbows / etc... so basically i am a freak... haha

 

[Menagerie]

The other two are still living. It's time to pick up the salt needed to convert the tank to BW. I was going to wait for the BB gobies and acclimate everyone at once, but I know the gobies aren't coming in for another couple weeks.

 

[webmoose]

Where are you getting gobies from? What kind?

 

[Menagerie]

I went with the Calgary Aquarium Society on the home tour which included a wholesaler and Riverfront. I really liked the wholesaler's setup and he told me where he ships fish to, so I have a couple more places to look (I have the names written down--somewhere :? ). Even though I am not wild about Riverfront, they are getting bumbel bee gobies in 2-3 weeks. I just need to take the plunge. I know I can care for the little guys!

 

[webmoose]

Hey I should sell t-shirts: "I'm not WILD about riverfront - but I bought fish there anyway"

Hope the gobies end up working out for you as well. Very exciting.

 

[Menagerie]

Hey I should sell t-shirts: "I'm not WILD about riverfront - but I bought fish there anyway"

I will really have to think about it :|

 

[Menagerie]

Things are not working out fish wise. The Mbuna I wanted patiently for months was killed by the others in the tank That beautiful fish lived with the exact same types at the store for months just to come home with me and be killed. *I need a tissue*

 

[An t-iasg]

*holds out tissue*

Awww...that's terrible...I'm sorry, Menagerie....

Don't be too hard on yourself...you're a good fish "mom"!

 

[webmoose]

Ahhh pooo that is no good.. Maybe I should give you my macho pleco for that tank..

Sorry to hear that news..

 

[dahamaker]

Yeah, flounders are one of those fish that are technically brackish, but can adapt to fw. I've found they do MUCH better, though in brackish. Sounds great & GL!

Derek