Emergency! I Need Help

[argoma]

Hello, I just bought plants for my tank and as I'm taking them out of the plastic bag, guess what, a fish is inside.
I think it is some sort of shark but I'm not sure and I didn't pay for it and had no intention to buy fish at all.
I can't keep it! It is moving like crazy inside of a bucket that I got it with my tank water, it goes up and down and against the lid of the bucked. I have a betta in this tank, it's an 18 gallon and I can't keep a shark in such small tank, worse even with a betta!
I can't return the store cause they don't get fish back and I wouldn't be able to go there anyway so soon.
What am I gonna do!?

 

[lrhodes]

Can you get a picture of him? What size is it?

 

[argoma]

Can you get a picture of him? What size is it?

I cannot get a photo of him cause he won't stop moving. It's abou one inch long

 

[KittyKat]

Drip acclimatise the poor thing, and pop it into the tank. At 1 inch long it's not going to do any harm to your Betta and will at least calm down.
 
Then, have a look at https/www.google.co.uk/search?q=shark+aquarium+freshwater&tbm=isch and see if you can find it and tomorrow, take it back to the LFS.

 

[argoma]

Drip acclimatise the poor thing, and pop it into the tank. At 1 inch long it's not going to do any harm to your Betta and will at least calm down.
 
Then, have a look at https/www.google.co.uk/search?q=shark+aquarium+freshwater&tbm=isch and see if you can find it and tomorrow, take it back to the LFS.

 
This is the best photo I can get.
I am not going to put it in the tank, there's no way. I put it's bucket beside the tank to see how Casper would reacts and he flared at it even when it wasn't moving. I'd rather not have it die because Casper attacked it before I even know what to do.
The LFS doesn't take fish back, I have mentioned that before. I will try tomorrow to take him back but they'll probably not accept him ..

 

[KittyKat]

It's a Yasuhikotakia morleti. Could you advertise it on a Portuguese classifieds website?
 
FYI, it's a lovely schooling species that gets quite large. If you cannot get a new home for it quickly or return it to the LFS, it would definitely be worth trying it in with your Betta for a while as they don't always react the same way to another fish in their tank and out of their tank.

 

[lrhodes]

Skunk loach?

 

[argoma]

It's a Yasuhikotakia morleti. Could you advertise it on a Portuguese classifieds website?
 
FYI, it's a lovely schooling species that gets quite large. If you cannot get a new home for it quickly or return it to the LFS, it would definitely be worth trying it in with your Betta for a while as they don't always react the same way to another fish in their tank and out of their tank.

That's exactly what it is, I just had a talk with my parents and we're going to try to return it back tomorrow, if they don't take it, my parent's friend has a tank bigger than mine, we could try that too. Thank you for your help!

 

[argoma]

Okay so how do you deal with a loach? I just came to my room and he was burried under the gravel, I went there with a fishnet thinking he was there and it started moving, I dont understand this fish!

 

[KittyKat]

That's expected given that the tank is bare and it has no school to make it feel more secure. It's just scared and uncomfortable where it is, and there's not much you can do about it unless you want to plant up the tank and add a filter and heater (if you haven't already).

 

[argoma]

That's expected given that the tank is bare and it has no school to make it feel more secure. It's just scared and uncomfortable where it is, and there's not much you can do about it unless you want to plant up the tank and add a filter and heater (if you haven't already).

Will it eat cucumber?

 

[KittyKat]

Not cucumber, but it will eat sunken flake food, pellets and snails. You can find some good information about them at http/www.loaches.com/species-index/yasuhikotakia-morleti

 

[Baccus]

Do you have anything that you could add to the tank for the loach to hide in to help it feel more secure? Even something like a cut down clean icecream container or even a non clear plastic bottle that has had the head/ neck removed. Loaches generally like to be able to feel things beside them so having something dark and in its mind safe will help it settle down. It will also make catching it so much easier, because it will be secreted away and all you need to do is remove the hidey hole and put it in to the transfer bag or container.