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...