A fish a day...(Thread of the week)

[maxpayne_lhp]

Hello, everybody!
I really think a infomative thread about fish profiles can help me as well as other beginners in this aquatic hobby alot! I'll search high and low on the Internet and bring back some basic facts, a couple of pictures... please feel free to add in comments as well as experiences of your own. Okay?

[maxpayne_lhp]

Basic Facts:
Common name: Guppy
Scientific name: Poecilia reticulata

pH range: 7-8
Temp: 18-29 C

Swimming level: Midwater
Food: General, easy to be fed
Ease of keeping: Easy, peaceful fish, ideal for beginners
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Photos:


From: Aquahobby.com


Photo Credit: Macros Avila

[maxpayne_lhp]

Comment:
A wonderful fish! Guppies are ideal for beginners in freshwater fish keeping. I keep these guys from a very early stage. They feed on almost everything, from flakes to bloodworms! However, they're safe for aquatic plants.
Guppies come to a variety of colors and tail patterns, so they're beautiful too! Some languages call guppies as "rainbow fish" Vietnamese call them "7-colored-fish"
Guppies are very easy to keep. Though many people would rather not keep them in a community tank with other fish. And they are easy also in breeding. I think most people will isolate the fry after they are given birth.
Just a lil' warning I found at aquahobby is that if amles are put into small place fin-snipping can be a result. This result can also be caused by an unappropriate ratio between males and females. (e.g.: too many males)

[fishfreaks]

i started out a few years back with 3 guppies, they lived through almost anything!

[Lydia]

very hardy fish, the female usually has a smaller, less colorful tail than the male; a very good fish for a beginner; very easy to breed

[fish_doc]

I started with a few guppies and now have 3 tanks full. Once you get some that are hearty they are a snap to breed. They come in a variety of colors and with the proper breeding you can rapidly bring out the traits you desire. This is possible because of how rapid these fish breed.

[Courtney]

if they are a easy fish to keep , then why do mine keep dying?? i just bought new ones a couple days ago, they were perky and happy in the store, beautiful female lost her to fungus, and lost a male today i medicated the tank and it got cloudy so i had to clean it out tonight...ok im done whineing now..

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by Courtney

if they are a easy fish to keep , then why do mine keep dying?? i just bought new ones a couple days ago, they were perky and happy in the store, beautiful female lost her to fungus, and lost a male today i medicated the tank and it got cloudy so i had to clean it out tonight...ok im done whineing now..

Did you remember to cycle your tank?

[fish_doc]

"if they are a easy fish to keep , then why do mine keep dying??"
It is probably because the fish your local store stock are not of good breeding. If you can find some from a local breeder you will begin to see what I am talking about.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Guppies nowadys may lost their origin "hardity" due to the breeding through many years,,,
PS: hey guys, please submit your question (by quoting to another thread cause in this thread people may want to read your experiences only... thanks! If there's something wrong, the owner of the post may fix i t later! )

[maxpayne_lhp]

Basic facts:
Common name: Platy
Scientific name: Xiphophorus maculatus

Simple description: variuos in colors, usually found in reg and orange.
Max leght: 4 cm

pH range: 7-8
Ideal temp: 25 C

Swimming level: Midwater
Food: accept most food, also feed on algea, easy to be fed
Ease of keeping: Easy, peaceful fish, ideal for beginners

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Photos:

Original

Original

For platy with more colors: click here

[maxpayne_lhp]

I myself keep some platies. They're very easy guys and very hardy and will get along well with community tanks. Platies will accept almost any kind of food. Especially, they also search high and low for algea so it's gonna be a good janitor . Mine's favorite is tubifex. They also accept flakes! Platies can easily breed! But be careful, the parents can even have their young as meals! It's good to prepare a place for the fry when you see any signal of pregnacy...

Others' experiences:

In my experience Platies don't do well in water with a pH below 7.2, although I've found that they exist happily in water up to about 8.0.

Kelsey
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I find that they like blanched vegetables as a little greens in their diet doesn't hurt. I find also as some of you may know that they suit a warm alkaline water, otherwise they die off more quickly. Their reproduction cycle is about every 28 days, they tend to breed quickly.

Becky
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Others experiences are from AquaHobby.

[fish_doc]

The Platy is a easy to breed fish. Great for beginners wanting to learn the basics on breeding fish. They love to school but in my experience they can occasionally spoof and jump out of the tank. Make sure to have a good fitting lid.

[shev]

note- they like to endlessy torment and peck away at goldfish, they like the slime coating on them, as do mollies.

[Lydia]

a great fish for beginners

[mlefev]

I like my platy. I was afraid she'd be lonely with no other platies, but she plays with all the other fish, and seems healthy as can be. She really loves the bloodworms...and lol, if I crush up my old betta pellets a little she devours those too.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Hello all, sorry I skip a day as I needed to take care of my forums.
However, my friend, MyraVan, suggest that some Cyprinids are ideal for beginners, because of their low birth-rate. So I move to Cyprinids and zebra danio, very common one, is to begin with.
Common name: Zebra Danio
Scientific name: Danino Reriro
pH range: 6 - 8
Temp: 27 C (ideal)

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Photos:

[maxpayne_lhp]

I don't own these guys but as the books I read, the friends here. I know that they are very active fish and good for community tanks! They are, also, hardy!
What is it food? What's the best?

[fish_doc]

There are many types of danios. Longfin, Zebra, Leopard, Giant just to name a few. But since you went with zebra I will keep my topic to them although they are all so similar these statements will likely fit all.

Zebra Danios are a schooling fish. They are very active and do great in groups of 6 or more. Longer tanks are better for them than tall tanks because of their shape and how active they are. They willingly accept many types of foods like flakes, brine shrimp, and bloodworms. They are also great with most fish they are more likely to be attacked by other fish than attack. If you do not keep them in groups they will become board and become a problem by nipping at fins of other fish.

[MyraVan]

The zebra danios were the first fish I got when I started fishkeeping last September. In the photos Max posted, the upper one is a mature zebra, and the lower one a juvenile - as they grow I've found the the stripes widen, and they get to be more muscular-looking.

These really are super fish, and they are one of the best if not THE best starter fish: they are cheap, tough, easy to find in shops, stay small, don't breed so fast that they overwhelm the tank, and they are fun to watch, as they are almost constantly in motion, often chasing one another around.

They feed only from the top of the water. They will get flakes and other food that has started to float down, but if food makes it to the floor of the tank they will leave it there. Mine eat almost any prepared fish food; the only one I've tried that they don't go for is bottom feeder food.

They are best in groups, but to have a happy group of danios you don't need a bunch of fish that look all the same! There are several closely-related species, all pretty much the same size and shape, that get along together and provide a bit of variety for your tank with their different colors and patterns. There are gold zebras, which are just albino zebra danios; leopard danios with spots, and pearl danios that are pearly colored.

I have heard that they can be nippy, biting at the long fins of fish like bettas or antennae of apple snails, but they haven't bothered anything in my tanks (rosy barbs, hillstream loaches, a nerite snail).

All in all, I highly recommend these fish.