What Are My Fish?

[dizzy180]

Hello, sorry if I have put this in the wrong place, kind of new to this
But I work at a school and a parent donated a tank and some fish. But the parent and I do not know what type of fish they are!
I know that one of them is defiantly a platy, but there are two others that are the same. They are a light sliver colour, around an inch long and have long floaty tails.
The parent says that they are cold water but I am not sure, any help would be appreciated!

 

[Jamepsss]

Hello, sorry if I have put this in the wrong place, kind of new to this
But I work at a school and a parent donated a tank and some fish. But the parent and I do not know what type of fish they are!
I know that one of them is defiantly a platy, but there are two others that are the same. They are a light sliver colour, around an inch long and have long floaty tails.
The parent says that they are cold water but I am not sure, any help would be appreciated!

Can you get a pic? A stab in the dark would be guppies??

 

[mislisa]

If you could get a picture, we'd have a better idea on the fish id. the description makes me think of danios, but i'm not sure.

 

[fluttermoth]

Sound like guppies; have a google and see if 'guppy' looks like what you have If so, they can tolerate lower temperatures than some fish, but they're still tropical and will probably need additional heating, depending on your location in the world. I'm in the UK and wouldn't try keeping guppies without a heater.

Is there an experienced fishkeeper who is going to be looking after this tank? If not here's a list of basics to get you started..

Never wash the filter in straight tap water.
Get some dechlorinator and use it on every drop of water that goes into the tank.
Don't over feed (each fish only needs an amount of food roughly the size of it's eye daily)
Do a good gravel clean and water change 20/25% of the water weekly.
Buy a good test kit (a liquid one, not strips) and be prepared to do a water change if you get any traces of ammonia or nitrite.

Best of luck and I hope your school enjoy their new fishy friends

 

[dizzy180]

i have nt got a picture on me, when i was looking i thought they might be danio's, but they have been kept in cold water should we get a heater or will it not make a difference?

 

[fluttermoth]

Both guppies and danois do best at a temperature around 23°C/73°F. If where you live gets colder than that, they should really have a heater.

 

[micko]

A friend of mine went away on holiday and his heater broke, the only fish to survive were the danios, they can withstand colder temps, I've also seen them in along with gold fish in a dispaly tank at a lfs. I personally would use a heater, just because they can withstand colder water it doesn't mean that its right to do so.

 

[dizzy180]

i am 99% sure they are not guppy's, as they dont have any colour on them but i will get a photo and put it on 2moz thanks everyone

 

[elliott1]

i am 99% sure they are not guppy's, as they dont have any colour on them but i will get a photo and put it on 2moz thanks everyone

Heya,
http/www.fishlore.com/freshwaterfish.htm
This website has a easy way of helping you identify your fish
If you cannot find it, just get us a picture and we will try to help
thanks,
Elliott

 

[starscream]

Do they have long pointed tails? If so they might be swordtails...

 

[roadmaster]

Both guppies and danois do best at a temperature around 23°C/73°F. If where you live gets colder than that, they should really have a heater.

Would agree that Danios would thrive at the 73 degree's F mentioned, but would like to know where this temp is suggested for guppies. Most recent literature, and those who keep these fishes suggest 78 to 82 degrees for guppies.
I have been keeping them for a few year's in moderately hard water and 80 degree's (Moscow's, Tuxedo's)
I agree,, the fish described sounds like long finned Danio's who indeed are cool water fish, and do poorly with temps much above 76 degrees F.
Platy's also prefer cooler water as well, and would be a good fit with the Danios.

 

[fluttermoth]

Would agree that Danios would thrive at the 73 degree's F mentioned, but would like to know where this temp is suggested for guppies.

I thought I remembered it from a talk given by John Endler at my local aquarist society, but I could be wrong