Small Reed Fish?

[Mardeb]

I've never had fish before but I've just bought a 30 litre fish tank. A friend of mine wants me to have her tropical fish. One of them is a reed fish. It is only about 8 inches long and about 6 months old. She says that this type of reed fish won't get any bigger.... Is that possible? Everything I've read so far about them disagrees! Also, she has a butterflyfish (Pantodon buchholzi) which I've read is agressive and will eat other fish. I understand that Reed fish and butterflyfish are both escape artists so I will try to fill in any gaps in the lid. The other fish she has are 1 Blackfin Corydoras and 4 Boesman's rainbow fish. What other fish could I get that wouldn't get eaten and would be okay in a small tank?

 

[nmonks]

It's time to invest in an aquarium book! You're looking at fish that shopkeepers so often give bad information about.

Anyway, there's no "dwarf" ropefish. Maximum size is about 90 cm, though aquarium specimens are slow growing and don't seem to get especially large.

Butterflyfish are predatory, rather than aggressive (though they are territorial towards their own kind). They eat small, surface dwelling fish like guppies. Rainbows and anything that stays on the bottom will be fine.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Mardeb]

Thanks for the reply. I've bought 3 books but none of them mention reed fish. So, if they are slow growing that would explain why it is only small still at the moment!

 

[nmonks]

I've bought 3 books but none of them mention reed fish.

Do look under the Latin name, Erpetoichthys. Ropefish aren't in the "entry level" books but should be in the more advanced books. I'd recommend Baensch's Aquarium Atlas as the "must have" book for any new hobbyist. It has a few errors, but it's otherwise the most comprehensive fish encyclopaedia out there.

So, if they are slow growing that would explain why it is only small still at the moment!

Well, we're all small at some point, even embryonic blue whales are small...! But these fish are usually imported at lengths of around 30 cm. They are gregarious fish, so always plan on getting a group. Otherwise a singleton will hide all the time and you will honestly never, ever see it. In groups they're more likely to hang out together, usually in a hollow ornament, with their heads poking out looking at you.

Unless you have very small fish, a small bichir like Polypterus senegalus is usually easier to keep and tame. They become quite trusting eventually, and don't need to be kept in groups.

Cheers, Neale

 

[beblondie]

I've always wanted to do this ''what he said''-Anne

 

[beblondie]

Reedfish like all members of the polypterid family have lungs and need to acess the surface in order to use atmospheric O2 or they can actually drown their oxygen uptake is appro 40% atmoshperic O2 by use of the lungs 38% gill respiration 22% absorbiton thru the skin -Anne

 

[Loony Fish]

yeah, that wouldn't work.