Another mystery fish

[Alien Anna]

Hi Everyone,
can you please have another look at my website and try to ID another mystery fish I found in my tank. I was told this fish was a Gold Barb, but it most certainly isn't (markings and shape are all wrong).

Alien Anna's Aquarium Fish Page

 

[wlbadger]

maybe chery barb or rosy barb.

 

[Alien Anna]

maybe chery barb or rosy barb.

It's definitely not a cherry - I have a school of them and it's markings and behaviour are completely different.

I thought it might be a rosy barb, but it lacks the markings necessary and is far too pale. Maybe a colour morph?

 

[Davy Reynolds]

You picked my brain for ages last night. So I left it till this morning till in put my 2cents in.

Wait for it.

It's a Gold Barb.

Yes it is. I came to this conclusion becuase while scanning 6 books and trawling the internet it's my opinion no one accually knows what a ture gold barb is. I found several people useing several fish and calling them gold bard. Then I got into some really hard readding. Basiclly Barbs are two artificaly breed and morphed and coloured. Now so you can call them any name you want there is no laws govering the common names of fish.
I've found more simalarites to Barbus sachsi

 

[Rose]

That is actually a Gold Barb. How is it your getting all these fish and not knowing what they are. Thats not a good thing to do when you have fish. One of these times your going to get some fish that will kill everyother fish you have. Be warned. Find out what fish you want first do the homework then go get it. Rose 8)

 

[Alien Anna]

How is it your getting all these fish and not knowing what they are.

Hi Rose,
your warning is well taken. However, the actual history is that I was given (for free) a tank with a load of fish in it. I was told I had great water quality and as a mature, well planted tank, all I had to do was watch the fish and enjoy.
But the truth was rather different.


Here are the fish I was given at first:
6x Cardinal tetras
5x Beckford's pencilfish (one severely deformed and "bent")
7x Cherry barbs (one with a missing tail)
4x Rummy-nosed tetras
4x Black neon tetras
5x White cloud mountain minnows
1x Betta (female, with torn fins, in 24" of water)
1x Red-tailed black shark (4" long and vicious)
1x Gold barb

This was in a pH of 7.8, a nitrate level of 250+ and a temperature of 86 degrees C (due to dodgy thermostat). The lights were old and brown algae was rampant (it was a heavily planted tank). The shark was terrorising the rest of the tank so I hardly saw half the fish. There were no caves or hiding places at all. The betta was half-dead with stress.

I didn't know all this then, of course, but I did my best reading everything I could get my hands on. The first thing I did was to re-home the red-tailed shark. In his place, I bought 4 pearl gouramis (young ones) having been misinformed about their adult size, but the LFS was right about them being great community fish (they are lovely - my alpha male's been building a bubble nest today).

Then I went to buy a new heater, and a dwarf plec to eat my algae, but I was conned into buying two Chinese algae eaters instead. That was the first and last time I ever bought a fish on impulse (or believed a shop assistant)    Within 3 days, they were attacking my beloved gouramis, so they went back to the shop.

By this time I had concluded I was over-stocked. I gave my minnows to my sister (big mistake - she's the worst pet owner in the Northern Hemisphere and they were murdered by her kids). I lost a couple of fish due to poisoning from the toxic gravel (turned out not to have been cleaned for years). I bought a little 18" tank for my betta, but while I was cycling it, she got seriously ill and it's been her hospital tank ever since.


I ended up having to do a total strip-down of my main tank, due to the toxic gravel, but by then I'd got an old 2' tank which was an absolutely godsend. I've bought new lights, extra plants and a pile of bogwood; and I've set up a peat filter to get that soft, acid, Amazon-like water (the clean gravel didn't lower the pH like the filthy stuff did, so it was staying at my tap water level of pH8.5).

Then I bought a 2' tank for my cherry barbs but I can't catch them! I also have a 3' tank waiting in the wings.

I can't promise you I'll never have any more mystery fish (I've already started "rescuing" neighbours fish), but now you know the full history. I hasten to add that it's cost me a fortune. Moral: There's no such thing as a free fishtank.

 

[Davy Reynolds]

Moral: There's no such thing as a free fishtank.

To true.

Though I did have one guy today thinking he was getting 80 Congo tetras, 12 Red Oscars, 30 Tinfoils, 20 Buenos aires. All for £20.

No chance

 

[Micheal Deason]

This is a very poor rendition of the fish. Without the proper detail it is impossible for me to identify. I would suggest purchasing a digital cam or improving your drawing skills.

 

[adeyc]

How come every one else can then or the fact they get close to the mark. if you cant help with anything constructive please refrain from posting. The drawings are a damn site better than some I've seen, but I suppose you would have got it if it was a picaso.

 

[Alien Anna]

This is a very poor rendition of the fish. Without the proper detail it is impossible for me to identify. I would suggest purchasing a digital cam or improving your drawing skills.

OK, I'll got to art classes if you'll go to charm school. Deal?

 

[Alien Anna]

The drawings are a damn site better than some I've seen, but I suppose you would have got it if it was a picaso.

Sorry, the picture I actually intended to post was this:

 

[adeyc]

yep looks more like a gold barb now although it's brain should be round about its arse. lol