Hello! What Kind Of Fish Is This?

[lazermule]

Hello,

Kind of just slowly just getting back into fish after not having any for about 20 years. As a kid I raised an Oscar from mini to monster in a nice 30 gal aquarium I had. I have been getting things started again with my kids with a small 10 gal setup to see if they show interest. I like it, we'll see if they do...

I bought 3 guppies today for my kids and this fish somehow ended up in the bag with them and I have no idea what it is. It's white and about 1 1/2 inches long.

My questions are:

What is it?
Will it get along with guppies and a goldfish?
What kind of food does it need? (I currently only have goldfish flakes)
What type of environment does it need? (temp, etc...)

Here is the picture (sorry for the quality, but he wouldn't hold still):

Thanks,

LM

 

[england]

hello...looks like a white skirt tetra

its a tropical fish as is guppies...goldfish should not be kept with tropical fish, they are cold water fish and though can survive higher temps,they need cooler water for better results,you need heating and temp to be around 22-26c, they eat flakes and frozen or live bloodworm

check link....and yes what adam said
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/78079-blackwhite-skirt-or-black-widow-tetra/

 

[AdamM]

and just to add, a 10G isnt enough space for a goldfish of any sort....

 

[fuzzynicki]

I agree with the above.

 

[lazermule]

and just to add, a 10G isnt enough space for a goldfish of any sort....

Wow! Really? My son brought the goldfish home from daycare in September (he won it) and since then he has lived in a 1 quart clear vase. I felt like it needed more space so I got a 10g that my mom and dad had and set it up. I think it's a goldfish?? It's gold?? It is pretty small (1 1/2 inch long)...it looks like a fantail to me...maybe not a GF?

So are these things going to kill each other?? Tropical fish mixed with GF? The tank stays around 70F +/-2 or so degrees.


Here is a picture of the goldfish:

LM

 

[kizno1]

thats a common golf fish they need atleast a 55g tank with very good filteration they can grow to a foot long and make massive amounts of waste. it wont kill the other fish but they need diffrent temps the guppies need 25C and the golfish would prefer about 18C so i would take back the goldfish get 4 more of the tetras and get 5 corys so you would have
5 white skirt tetras
3 guppys
5 corys
that should be a good stock
dose the tank have a heater and filter because you will need them for the tatras and guppys

 

[AdamM]

That looks like a young comet goldfish to me, you really do need 40G MIN (they do get large and produce a lot of waste) for a single goldfish, and while they wont kill each other it isnt usually a wise idea keeping tropical and coldwater together

 

[FWFishLover]

and just to add, a 10G isnt enough space for a goldfish of any sort....

Wow! Really? My son brought the goldfish home from daycare in September (he won it) and since then he has lived in a 1 quart clear vase. I felt like it needed more space so I got a 10g that my mom and dad had and set it up. I think it's a goldfish?? It's gold?? It is pretty small (1 1/2 inch long)...it looks like a fantail to me...maybe not a GF?

So are these things going to kill each other?? Tropical fish mixed with GF? The tank stays around 70F +/-2 or so degrees.


Here is a picture of the goldfish:

LM

welcome to the forum
yes that is definitely a GF and its not that they will kill each other its that the temps and living conditions are different.
as said before GFs are coldwater as opposed to guppies and the white skirt tetra (thats the mystery fish) that are tropical they have different living conditions and tropical fish don't eat goldfish flakes.
also just for future references an Oscar doesnt work well in a 30g
for your son's GF you should probably buy a 55g
the reason is goldfish get HUGE!! so if you put it in a 10g it would stunt the growth and then the spine would curve and bones would stop growing and stay small but the organs will keeping growing to the adult size causing a slow and painful death.

 

[kizno1]

for your son's GF you should probably buy a 55g
the reason is goldfish get HUGE!! so if you put it in a 10g it would stunt the growth and then the spine would curve and bones would stop growing and stay small but the organs will keeping growing to the adult size causing a slow and painful death.

thats not true a 10g will stunt the fishes growth but the organs growing to big is a load of rubbish they will be stunted aswell its not good for the fish to be stunted and will make it die earlier thatn it should but not for tht reason.

 

[lazermule]

for your son's GF you should probably buy a 55g
the reason is goldfish get HUGE!! so if you put it in a 10g it would stunt the growth and then the spine would curve and bones would stop growing and stay small but the organs will keeping growing to the adult size causing a slow and painful death.

thats not true a 10g will stunt the fishes growth but the organs growing to big is a load of rubbish they will be stunted aswell its not good for the fish to be stunted and will make it die earlier thatn it should but not for tht reason.

Thanks for all the insight. I don't believe that a 55 gal is in the near future plans for this 10 cent fish and he seems QUITE happy where he is. He likes to do flips and spins when I walk up to the tank.

As far as the Oscar goes, I actually started him in a 5 gal tank and within a year had him in the 30 gal that as a starving college student I got a deal on. He eventually grew too big for the 30 gal and could hardly turn around in it and was an eating machine.....I sold the monster to a local pet store who was happy to get him. I am still amazed how he went from a tiny little 1 inch to the huge size it was.

I'd like to get an oscar again someday....how big of tank do they need?

LM

 

[kizno1]

for your son's GF you should probably buy a 55g
the reason is goldfish get HUGE!! so if you put it in a 10g it would stunt the growth and then the spine would curve and bones would stop growing and stay small but the organs will keeping growing to the adult size causing a slow and painful death.

thats not true a 10g will stunt the fishes growth but the organs growing to big is a load of rubbish they will be stunted aswell its not good for the fish to be stunted and will make it die earlier thatn it should but not for tht reason.

Thanks for all the insight. I don't believe that a 55 gal is in the near future plans for this 10 cent fish and he seems QUITE happy where he is. He likes to do flips and spins when I walk up to the tank.

As far as the Oscar goes, I actually started him in a 5 gal tank and within a year had him in the 30 gal that as a starving college student I got a deal on. He eventually grew too big for the 30 gal and could hardly turn around in it and was an eating machine.....I sold the monster to a local pet store who was happy to get him. I am still amazed how he went from a tiny little 1 inch to the huge size it was.

I'd like to get an oscar again someday....how big of tank do they need?

LM

is the goldfish flicking of things if he is thats a sign of amonia which means you need to do a massive waterchange it would suprise me if it was ammonia a goldfish makes way to much waste for a 10g
a oscar needs a 55g tank min and thats if its just one oscar on its own

 

[Assaye]

for your son's GF you should probably buy a 55g
the reason is goldfish get HUGE!! so if you put it in a 10g it would stunt the growth and then the spine would curve and bones would stop growing and stay small but the organs will keeping growing to the adult size causing a slow and painful death.

thats not true a 10g will stunt the fishes growth but the organs growing to big is a load of rubbish they will be stunted aswell its not good for the fish to be stunted and will make it die earlier thatn it should but not for tht reason.

Thanks for all the insight. I don't believe that a 55 gal is in the near future plans for this 10 cent fish and he seems QUITE happy where he is. He likes to do flips and spins when I walk up to the tank.

As far as the Oscar goes, I actually started him in a 5 gal tank and within a year had him in the 30 gal that as a starving college student I got a deal on. He eventually grew too big for the 30 gal and could hardly turn around in it and was an eating machine.....I sold the monster to a local pet store who was happy to get him. I am still amazed how he went from a tiny little 1 inch to the huge size it was.

I'd like to get an oscar again someday....how big of tank do they need?

LM

I appreciate that you don't want to spend 100s of $ on a tank for a 10 cent fish, but a 10 cent fish has just as much of a right to live without suffering and pain as a $100 fish.

If you can't provide the space he needs, you should rehome him. Allowing a fish to die an early and painful death because it was cheap isn't going to teach your son anything other than price dictates worth.

He is either a comet or a common and these fish should reach 12 inches, if not 18-24 inches as well kept adults. They are truly massive fish and tbh, you'd need a very, very large tank. It is such a shame that these poor animals are sold for pittance in shops and given away as prizes, because who wants to spend money to save the life of something that hardly cost them anything?

He would do best in a filtered pond with other goldfish. If kept in a tropical tank he will grow much faster, be more prone to disease, will poop a lot more and make your water quite toxic as he grows. He could also live for 20-30 years and so is a major committment.

Your mystery fish looks like a white skirt tetra or albino black widow tetra. He'll be fine with guppies.

Oscars - almost the tropical goldfish. They are massive and spend a lot of their time pooping. A baby needs a 30 gallon in order to grow up without being stunted, a small adult needs a 55 gallon and a proper sized adult needs a 75 gallon. Big fish, big tanks, big filtration.

Sorry to bring bad news but if someone had come onto a cat lovers forum and say "I got a free cat so I'm going to keep it in a box", you can imagine why everyone would get upset and you'd probably sympathise.