Any aquarium fish experts here? Need your help, please!

[simon80]

like no female guppy
they will get horny soon :bsmilie:

 

[seewhy]

Do these fishes, ie tiget barb, swordtail and guppy, actually eat mozzie larvae? How about goldfish?

I think you can try black molly too. Last time my aunt's home do keep them that way.

 

[pop]

Do these fishes, ie tiget barb, swordtail and guppy, actually eat mozzie larvae? How about goldfish?

I think you can try black molly too. Last time my aunt's home do keep them that way.

i assume any fish will eat larvae but that's just my assumption.

 

[fWord]

It worries me to see tiger barbs together with guppies, especially the ones with long, flowing fins. The barbs will probably go after the guppies, and they are reputed to have a go at each other as well when there's only two or three in a tank. But put them in a bigger school of 5 or more and it's said that they get distracted trying to display their prowess to each other and forget about attacking.

If you're looking for simple fish to get rid of mosquitoes, there's always the very hardy and extremely cheap mosquito/ feeder fish available. In the past they went by the bag, and only a dollar at that. But it'll be wise to just buy a few and not a whole bag.

I used to have some fish in a pot that was in my garden, but they didn't last very long. I noticed that I tended to lose one or two after each bout of heavy rain. :sweatsm:

 

[tjtan77]

bards will go nip on the other fishes, be it in school of 5 or more or less.
is in their nature to do so.
u got a fair mixture of guppies, platys and barbs... all not a good choice for keeping in ur lily pot, IMO. reason being... ur lily pot got algae so lots to eat for the fishes, hence they might actually stray from the mozzies. also, at nite, the O2 level in ur pot will drop. the fishes might not be able to consume enough O2 to survive. besides their natural living environment are not "spots" of waters

try using betta (fighting fishes) instead. they breath in air from the surface. natural food is mozzies. they kinda hate eating algae. plus they do live in puddles (in the fields) in thailand where they are found natually. in case u worry abt them fighting each other, select the female fighting fishes. they can be house together in a pot.

 

[pop]

If you're looking for simple fish to get rid of mosquitoes, there's always the very hardy and extremely cheap mosquito/ feeder fish available.

thks, fword, erm, do they have name? the ones i bought are already feeder fish cos' they cost $2 a pack with 20-30 in each pack but each pack is either only tigerbarbs, or only swordtails or only guppies. Because I want a mixture, the shop pack a $3 pack for me.

Taking all of your advice, I have now separated the tiger barbs. Luckily I have 2 pots, so now one pot has tiger barbs, the other pot has the guppies and swordtails or platys as some of you have id'ed.

tjtan77, i can consider bettas next. now that i've got my current batch of fishes, I hope they survive. If they don't, then I might have to look at bettas next. But they are quite big and bettas are expensive, right?

 

[pop]

btw, what does tiger barb eat?

I bought a small can of fish food, brand is Tetra and they are flakes meant for guppies. So, the guppies and platies eat them, but not the barbs, absolutely not.

 

[simon80]

the barbs are not suface feeder .. like guppies and swordtails
flakes will float on the water ..
u can choose to purposely sink those flakes, push them down under the water

but once hungry .. they sure feed on it
if not your guppies will be the first to suffer

 

[tjtan77]

get the female low grade bettas, can hse together and is cheap.
abt 30cents for 1, bit exp compare to ur feeders, but they do serve the purpose much better IMO.

barbs will feed on the surface if they are starved. but feeding them on flakes... they wun grow that's for sure. getting sinking pellets would be better i supposed.

just realised something. the pot with platys and swordtails... u do know they will start on ur lilys if there's not food in the water... least make sure got algae to eat

 

[pop]

ok, thanks, simon and tjtan.

 

[fWord]

Wow...good prices there. If I could get a whole bunch of tiger barbs for $1 maybe I should consider getting back into fish! Feeder fish were the ones I also knew as longkang fish...colourless and not good looking, but they survive even in fairly fetid water. That's not to say we should force the fish to live in those conditions though. :bsmilie:

 

[leumas01]

I'm not into fish. But I need to keep some small fishes in my waterlily pot to prevent mossie breeding.

I ask the shop for their recommendations for hardy fishes suitable for my needs.

I was recommended 2 types - tiger and swordtail, and together with guppies again which I had bought before but died. So, they pack a combo for me, about 20-30 of them for just $3. Here is a pic:

My question:

1. Can they live together? Will they fight? Or will some bite others, esp the guppy tails?
2. Are they hardy like the shop claims? Do they need feeding?
3. If you look at the pic, the 3 reds on the left, I'm told are swordtails, and then I can see another 3 on the right with reddish streak but with guppy-type tails, what are they?
4. I only want small fishes, I know guppies won't grow big, but what about the others?
5. Are these fishes the type that likes to jump, hope they don't jump out of the pot which is not covered.

Many thanks.

To your questions :
1)They can't live together as Tiger Barbs will attack if given the chance with slow swimmers like mollies(red and black tail fish in picture). Swordtails come with two shape, one without the long tail like the ones you have, but of cos not with black tails and the other kind with a long trailing tail. From my knowledge the ones with longer trailing tail are males, while those that have a rounded tail and big tummy are the females. Of cos the ones that you have are not swordtails more to the mollie side.
2)Guppies and mollies are blackish water fishes which are very hardy even in drains you can find them, but of cos if your pot of lily is place outside your garden beware of birds As for local sold tiger barbs, they are not that hardly as they are reared with flesh water with have PH around 6.5 - 7. For your pot of lily I think you have left it out in the rain and shine? If that is so your tiger barbs may have problem with the water. Well you can try as there maybe strong barbs that can restand much stress of the water changes. But I am sure some may die before you find the fittest.
3)Mollies and common wide tail guppies(not as hardy as those you buy for 1 dollar 1 scrop).
4)If you want you can try to put small prawns like malayan. They cost abt 10cents to 30 cents depend on the number you buy. They will eat dead leaves or rotting materials plus take away harmful moss from growing at the bottom. For abt 20 fish into your pot, hope you have the time to feed them everyday at least once else you will find them with broken tails very soon.......competition for food
5)Shock or lack of air can cause them to jump out of water. Tiger barbs prefer oxygen filled waters, mollies, swordfish and guppies have a special upward pointing mouth that they can get air from the surface. Tiger barbs in the other hand, does not have that kind of mouth, so if they need air they may just have to shoot to the surface at a fast speed and hit the surface and back to the bottom again. This may shock other smaller fish which are at the surface and cause them to jump out of the pot.

Hope this will help you decide. Remember always feed your fish at least onces a day.....where got so many mossie babies for them to eat?

You dun have to keep fish in the pot if you buy a kind of water insecticide for mossies, available in most DIY shops and large super markets.

 

[tush]

i won't worry too much about these fishes, the are generally hardy (maybe not so much for the guppies) so just throw them into the pot it should be fine...

Ok have fun!

I keep lotus plants in some earthen broad mouthed containers (looks like huge dishes - about 1 m in diameter) . I keep guppys together with them. Thay are quite hardy. 2 years & they (plant & fishes) are still OK. No mozzies...guppies takes care of that. But you have to feed the guppies every now & then.
If one thing I learnt, its: dont put duck weed together... duck weed grows and multiply fast in 2 weeks the entire water surface will be covered by them.

 

[seanlim]

no pro here...but to offer what i know,
actually if u just want to prevent mosquito growth, just go to any(most) wet markets and get those kind 1 dollar a pack "long gang he" and dump them into ur pot...they are very hardy and do not need constant feeding.....better still they will eat the larvae and the constant movement in the water will prevent the mosquito from giving birth....

 

[pop]

wow, thanks, for all your valuable inputs.

just an update, my pack of 34 fishes which I bought last thu, are still surviving except for one platy which decided to jump out while we were out, came home it was dried like salted fish.

 

[pop]

sad to say, one week after I bought them, 2 died yesterday (1 platy and one pregnant guppy) and 2 the day before (both guppies). Plus the earlier platy that died because it jumped out, 5 have gone. All 13 tiger barbs in a separate pot are doing great.