Celebes Half-beaks

[RopefishManiac]

I recently purchased a Celebes Half-Beak (while looking for a wrestling half beak but I figured they'd be basically the same thing). When I put it in with the rest of my fish, I noticed some aggressiveness to anything that got close to him. He seems to have stopped but I'm really not sure at this point. I was wondering if anyone knows whether it was just the shock of a new tank (anything in that general area) or if he's being aggressive and I should get him out.

In my 20 gallon(long) tank:
1 Celebes Half-Beak
2 Iridescent Sharks
1 Columbian Shark
1 Angelfish
1 African Butterfly Fish
2 Up-Side Down Catfish
1 German Ram
1 Dojo
1 Angelica
1 Raphael Catfish
and very soon to come a Ropefish


All of my fish except the Half-Beak get along just fine.


Please someone help me out.

 

[shroob]

I'm no halfbeak expert so I'll leave it to them, but your tank will have problems in the future, its too small for some of the fish you currently have.
The ID sharks get huge, too big for a 20G
The columbian sharks also grow too big plus require brackish conditions later on
I wouldn't get a rope fish, your tank is stocked enough as it is plus they also grow big.

 

[nmonks]

Halfbeaks are difficult to identify. There are several species sold as "Celebes halfbeaks" and their aggression varies. I've found Nomorhamphus ebrardtii to be extremely aggressive, and the males of that species will chase all sorts of other fish as well as other halfbeak species.

Also, I'm definitely going to concur with the previous poster: your tank is insanely overstocked and many of those fish simply aren't compatible on any level. Colombian sharks are schooling brackish water fish; rams require soft water of above average temperature; loaches want water that is not too warm and well oxygenated; iridescent sharks are food fish and not aquarium fish; upside-down cats are confirmed nibblers on angelfish fins; and so on...

So before you go adding any more fish, you are going to have to sort out the fish you have. The iridescent sharks reach up to 130 cm in the wild and easily 90 cm in captivity if cared for properly, so you will need to upgrade your 20 gallon tank to one around, say, 500 gallons.

Cheers, Neale

 

[RopefishManiac]

Halfbeaks are difficult to identify. There are several species sold as "Celebes halfbeaks" and their aggression varies. I've found Nomorhamphus ebrardtii to be extremely aggressive, and the males of that species will chase all sorts of other fish as well as other halfbeak species.

Also, I'm definitely going to concur with the previous poster: your tank is insanely overstocked and many of those fish simply aren't compatible on any level. Colombian sharks are schooling brackish water fish; rams require soft water of above average temperature; loaches want water that is not too warm and well oxygenated; iridescent sharks are food fish and not aquarium fish; upside-down cats are confirmed nibblers on angelfish fins; and so on...

So before you go adding any more fish, you are going to have to sort out the fish you have. The iridescent sharks reach up to 130 cm in the wild and easily 90 cm in captivity if cared for properly, so you will need to upgrade your 20 gallon tank to one around, say, 500 gallons.

Cheers, Neale

So should I take the Half-Beak out? He seems to be pretty lax now and not harming anyone else but I would just like a second opinion.

I knew the information you told me. All of my fish are extremely small so I'm not too worried about over stocking right now. Plus, I was thinking of upgrading to a bigger tank very soon anyway. So far though, none of my fish have had any problems. They all eat, no torn fins, no signs of stress ( that isn't on a normal level) and they all get along fine.

Although I did not know about angels and the up-side down cats. I've had these fish together for a few months now and my angel has no signs of fins being torn. I think I'm just going to keep them together and see what happens. If I do notice my angel's fins being torn I'll move him or give him back to my lfs.

I was curious though, why can't ID sharks be kept as aquarium fish? Are they just not hardy enough? Do they give off diseases? What's the problem with them? If they really are that bad I guess I could just get rid of them. I knew they grew huge too but how quickly is it exactly?


All the problems aside, I must thank you for the help. I will definitely work on fixing the problems.

 

[Butch]

ID shark are WAY big that's why. They can reach 4 to 5 feet long when full grown. Plus they are very active swimmer so single shark required 900gals and the sharks love to schooling so they are not good pets plus when grown up they will slurping your ropefish like a spagitti no matter how armoured your ropefish is. Maybe you can get rid of the sharks and the catfish expect the rapheal and angelica. Dojo's a coldwater fish and can reached a foot long but it will do fine in 30 gals. Maybe your halfbeak's lonely? Through other fish of yours look fine as long as you do water changes.