Gorgeous New Halfbeak

[nmonks]

Happened to pick up an amazingly coloured halfbeak yesterday. She's a big female, with bright orange fins and lovely blue eyes. I'm assuming it's a form of Nomorhamphus ebrardtii though she was being sold along with a Celebes halfbeak (that I bought as well!). Just goes to show, the exporters basically ship any old halfbeak under the Celebes halfbeak name.

There's a link to a movie of her below, and if you've never seen halfbeaks in action, I think you're in for a treat. She's very active and feisty, and not only ate everything I threw into the tank within an hour of being released, she even tried to peck snails off the glass!

Cheers,

Neale

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/Res...s/ebrardtii.mov

 

[Annastasia]

The movie isn't working for me...I waited about 15 minutes but it just wouldn't come up.

She sounds gorgeous though. Congrats on getting her!

 

[nmonks]

Sometimes media files are like that. I just tested it out, and it was reticent about loading in Safari (my default browser) but worked fine in Firefox. Go figure. Anyway, the file is there, so just "save as" to the desktop if need be.

Cheers,

Neale

The movie isn't working for me...I waited about 15 minutes but it just wouldn't come up.

She sounds gorgeous though. Congrats on getting her!

 

[Annastasia]

I use Firefox, but it's not coming up. I'll try downloading it, and see what happens...

Edit: Nope. It said Windows can't open the file. I'll try the link again, and just leave it and see what happens.

Edit 2: I got it! She is very pretty. Great coloring. You have some nice looking Platies and Mollies too, and a great looking tank. Do you happen to have a full tank picture?

 

[nmonks]

Funny you should mention the platies. My girlfriend hates them, and is constantly trying to get me to give them away. She thinks they look stupid. (To be fair, they are in fact rather stupid.) She used to be against the mollies too, but she liked them now... they're pretty friendly, and push away everything else (including the South American puffer) at feeding time, taking stuff right from your hands.

Any old how... yes, I've uploaded some full-tank pictures, here. My idea for the tank has had to change over time, partly because of the fish I have ended up with. I wanted a seagrass look, and so initially wanted to go brackish. But then I had to make a home for my 10-year old royal plec Panaque nigrolineatus, so that idea died. So while I think the aquarium still looks nice, it's quite a compromise relative to my original "vision".

Cheers,

Neale

You have some nice looking Platies and Mollies too, and a great looking tank. Do you happen to have a full tank picture?

 

[Annastasia]

Awww, I like the Platies. Are they Variatus?

I like your tank a lot! It's gorgeous! I've always wanted a sea grass kinda look too, but never really had the kind of tank and fish that would work with it. I might do it on a miniature scale in a 10 though..we'll see after this winter.

 

[guppymonkey]

Wow, she looks like a beauty! Looks to be a good size too! Looks similar to a Malayan halfbeak (at least colorwise) but looks like she's a little bit thicker and longer. Wow, nice catch! I have only been able to find my halfbeaks online! I have been thinking of getting some more.

 

[nmonks]

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure the platies are some form of Variatus platies. The dealer called them "pinecone platies" for reasons that passeth all understanding. Possibly a corruption of "pineapple platy", though to me they look more like some sort of parrot platy. Either way, the size and shape makes me think they're variatus rather than maculatus.

I think the seagrass look would scale up or down nicely; in a 10 gallon tank you could use the dwarf Vallisneria and do something with, say, gobies and pipefish. I think killifish and endlers would work nicely too (though perhaps not together!).

Cheers,

Neale

Awww, I like the Platies. Are they Variatus?

I like your tank a lot! It's gorgeous! I've always wanted a sea grass kinda look too, but never really had the kind of tank and fish that would work with it. I might do it on a miniature scale in a 10 though..we'll see after this winter.

 

[Annastasia]

Yeah, I'd say they are definitely Variatus now that I look at them again. That's great, you don't see many Variatus for sale, though they are becoming more common.

I was thinking Vallis for the 10 gallon too. Another thing my fish store has is onion plants (I think that's what they are called?) and they look really great. I might stick a few of them in there too. We'll see...I just need to get through this autumn with my horses and then I'll have more time for tank decorating!

Gobies would be really cool though. Killies just don't appeal to me that much, for some reason. I love to see them, and watch them in another people's tanks but I just don't have a strong desire to keep them. I already have Endlers, but I could put a few in there. I think I'd ratrher go for the Gobies though. Or, depending on the Gobies, I could put Endlers in with them....:sneaky:

Anyway, I will stop hijacking your thread now. Sorry! I might just PM you when I start looking into this more.

 

[nmonks]

Annastasia,

For what it's worth, the Crinum thaianum (= onion plant) I have isn't all that impressive. They may look good, but they grow slowly in my experience, and become algae magnets. On the other hand, they're fairly tough and do well in brackish water. Some species of Crinum even naturally occur in brackish water.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Annastasia]

See, my onion plants grow really easily and fast. Or, at least my one true Onion Plant, I'm not sure the ones in my thirty are onion plants. I'm terrible with remembering plant names...I need to figure out what they are.

I'm thinking some Jungle Val could look good in a grassy tank, also maybe some Corkscrew Val. Maybe some Dwarf Sagittaria for the foreground...
For the record though, I wasn't thinking to make a Brackish tank though. I'm starting out fresh.

I was looking on an aquarium plants site and they have a whole list of Brackish Plants...not sure if it would be of any interest to you, but here's the link. Brackish Water Plants

 

[nmonks]

Annastasia,

Thanks for the link. I keep a brackish plant section in the Brackish FAQ , in part to show to people that there _are_ brackish water plants. I'll update it to include that link of yours.

I've had onion plants before (which in the UK are always Crinum thaianum). Sometimes they do well, sometimes less well. This one I have now is growing fine, just very much slower than the vallis. I guess that's why I'm being a bit negative about it!

Not wild about corkscrew vallis, if by that you mean that ratty little thing with tightly twisted leaves. It always seems to be fragile with my choice of fish. I find the larger species much easier. Never kept dwarf sags though, so can't comment.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Annastasia]

I just want to say, you write really really good articles. They are so informative, yet easy to read.

Vallis doesn't always grow so well for me. Onion Plants have always shot up. I guess our tanks are pretty different! Or maybe it differs from supplier to supplier.

Ratty little thing with the twisted leaves. I guess I won't be getting any of that now that you put it that way!

Also, I'm thinking of doing this sooner now...I was going to change my 10 gallon around anyway, so I might make this grassy tank and put my female Bettas in it for a while. Maybe in the spring I'll change over to some freshwater Gobies or Endlers.

 

[nmonks]

Thanks for the kind comments.

I'd have thought a freshwater tank with Endlers and some of those neat white-cheek (= dragon) gobies would be very nice. Certainly they have the same "hyperactivity quotient". Mind you, my white-cheek gobies seem fairly predatory, and I've seen them chase platy fry. So I wonder if they'd eat male Endlers?

Endlers are pretty pricey in the UK whenever I've seen them. I've fancied trying them out for ages, but in the end thought that halfbeaks better value.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Annastasia]

Well, Male Endlers are bigger then Platy fry...depending on the age, I guess. I don't think a Dragon Goby would fit in my 10 gallon....and I also don't really like the look of them. Are there any other Gobies that would fit in a 10 gallon, and maybe be compatible with Endlers?

Endlers here are pretty cheap. $2 for a pair. Maybe because we are close to Florida, which is where a lot of them come from in the US.