Radcliffe

I just couldn't resist this little guy- it is only an inch long, seems to spend a lot of time investigating the walls of the tank.
I can guess it is a loach, but don't know what kind- help?

Howeyg

http://www.loaches.com ive tried looking and cant find it

Radcliffe

http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejskoga/A...ocyprinus.html

I am really hoping it is not a chinese high fin loach. If so, I will have to return it, and the store sold me a fish that is not only endangered but get to 40 inches long!!!

--R

Howeyg

dont think it is a high fin

Radcliffe

http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archi...cgi?read=65481

I found this old post about someone else getting a tiny black and white loach that was like a clown, but not quite. Maybe they are just oddities :-)

--Y

Butterfly

The stripes make it look like a Chinese hi-fin loach( Myxocyprinus asiaticus) but the body isn't thick enough from stomach to dorsal area. They almost look triangular shape with the point on top. Let me keep looking
Carol

Jacko

It could possibly be a north american relative of the Chinese Hi-fin shark. I think that it is probably a juvie hi-fin, and might not have been well kept after in the LFS.

Butterfly

Radcliffe glad to see you got a definative answer on ID at Loachesonline.com
So it is a chinese Hi-fin
Carol

Radcliffe

Yes, that I did. It is indeed the fish that lives 25 years and get to 40 inches long!

I am not sure what to do now- keep it and try to raise it well then donate it, or take it back to the store. While I can keep the little guy now, I can't possibly house it when it is bigger, and they need cool water. I don't have, or have the room for, a big cold water tank. What gets me is that if I return it to the chain store, it will likely not do as well as they deserve either.

Sigh.

--R

armadillo

I had the same dilemma with 3 common plecos which were sold to me by the fish store lady for my... 10G! Along with 4 mollies and 2 angels! Anyway, a lot of reading later, it became absolutely obvious I couldn't keep my commons, and I returned them. It really broke my heart (still does) as I really liked one of them, and common plecs were the reason I went back to fish-keeping. The worst thing is that the store can't even tell me if it went to a person with a large tank. They can't even remember who they sold it to! So am really wondering: wouldn't they have had a better life with me anyway?

Butterfly

Maybe you could keep it for now then find someone who can accommodate it later. If you don't mind telling, what area are you in?
Carol

Radcliffe

I am in the Kansas City area, and would be happy to donate the fish to someone with a large, cold water tank they can stay in, provided I was sure it would get a good home even when it gets large.

(and our Petco had more of them...)

--R

cichlid seeker

I think it might be a hybrid.

Butterfly

No I don't think it's a hybrid. Most fish like that don't hybridize.
Carol

Radcliffe

Yeah, I have determined that it is indeed the High Fin Loach.
It is such a cutie that I am keeping it, and when it gets a few inches long I have a couple of people who have volunteered to raise it further. It has grown easily 1/4 inch and living in a heavily planted tank, and I will make sure it has the best life I can give it :-)

--R

COBettaCouple

yea, that is a cute loach. we'd be glad to take him too if we were living there.

0morrokh

Yeah, he's a cutie...glad you found someone who would take him. That makes me mad that stores will sell fish like Pacus, Common Plecos, and Chinese Hi-fins that grow way to big for the majority of people to accomodate. Even worse is that they will sell these fish knowingly to people with tiny tanks! Grrr...I sense another issue I will have to bug legislators about...banning the sale of extremely large fish....

COBettaCouple

ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching! that's the game, not caring about the fate of large fish...

tan.b

thats a shame. it really annoys me too that lfs dont ask what size your tank is. they shouldnt even stock fish that get so big as the chances of someone walking into the store with a tank big enough is nearly zero. hows the other mystery fish doing radcliffe? did the tail ever fork, or remain spade/fan shaped? at least that little guy should stay small!!!

Radcliffe

Yeah, that gets me too. Common plecos, those get so huge!

Thanks for remembering about my mystery fish! It is still a mystery- tail never forked and it is a bit larger but still the same look. It is so bizarre, there are so many fish that look like it- one in each category of fish, lol. I have looked now at topminnows- rounded tails but my fish doesn't go to the top of my tank. I think it might be some kind of killifish? Oh, I have no idea really. The good news is that it is a very peaceful, healthy fish :>

--R

Butterfly

Has anybody else seen this? I thought it was kind of neat. The Uk is way ahead of us in the states in their treatment of fish. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2010193.ece
Carol

Jacko

I personally think that it is okay for them to sell large fish ON ONE CONDITION! The tanks must be large enough for their future size, all of the larger fish must be kept in a back room where someone who is looking for large fish and can for certain contain it happily for it's full size can go looking, some people with 200+ tanks would be missing out on a lot of fish if this were to happen. It would also work to ban them from all but certain stores who own an expensive license that intitles them to only sell to fishkeepers that have tanks that fit the criteria.

Radcliffe

Heck, I think a good start would be to require proper marking on the tanks of future size of each fish.

--R

Jacko

My local chainstores do this but they are rarely right, the recomended size for an oscar is a 20 gallon tall tank, that gives him no room! Or the common plecos that say they only need 10 gallons and only reach 3 inches when they have XL common plecos that are 7 inches.

They should sell fish with sheets that give correct information, hire intelligent workers that know more to fish than "duh... water change? I thought these fish needed a dirty floor to live? I don't think you are right, all my cories have lived 5 months in my 2.5 gallon with a betta and dwarf gourami." I mean COME ON, why would a Fish Store even higher someone that can't think. I walk around giving the workers information when I am in instead of getting any out of them. And they should also be willing to take back any fish that has outgrown the aquarium without question and a refund to boot.

0morrokh

Yeah, the misinformation is a huge problem. I hate how many places will sell people potentially huge fish for tiny tanks. Another thing that ticks me off is when they don't even carry tanks large enough for the fish they sell. :

tan.b

the fish in lfs seem to get treated as bad here in the uk as in the US (overcrowded, wrongly sold, diseased etc), but i have never seen a dyed fish in the UK. as far as i'm aware thats the only difference so far. as far as animal testing goes, its much the same in the UK and the US. Japan do an awful lot more to their animals when testing, which is why when the UK and US refuse a test, it just gets shipped to Japan where they will do it. i dont blame japan as such, but those who are requesting the extreme tests in the 1st place. in the UK the places that do test on animals do have to provide a huge amount of enrichment to their environment, and when they suffer, they are euthanised and the test abandoned as deemed toxic.

tan.b

this would be perfect! only specialist stores that can cater for the fish while they await resale. most lfs's round here wouldnt get enough customers to warrant it, so the lfs wouldnt get a licence. a dedicated fish keeper would travel to the city to get one where there would be enough passing trade to warrant it. my lfs has an oscar, a pleco and a shark of some kind, all huge and sharing a tank far too small for them, and they have been there since at least january when i first went. there simply isnt the demand there. just like there's no saltwater shops locally. they are in the city too. those who are dedicated would get the licence and provide the right care. those who are commited fish keepers would gladly travel for their specialist fish. ramble over!

MelissaF672

It looks like a panda cory to me...how big is it? How are you sure its a loach at all?

MelissaF672

... maybe? maybe not... Doesn't look 'loachy' to me.

Radcliffe

I have determined that it is indeed a High Fin Loach. :-)
It will gegt super big, and I have found it a few different potential homes once it needs more room.

--R