Tank Companions--please help!

A

anna

Guest
Okay, this is kind of long so please have patience.
I just moved a tank of aquarium fish from a 20-gallon to a 10-gallon to make room for my Axie. I now realize that this is too small and I need to move some fish back. This is what I think would be safe with the Axie:

4 Blackfin Sharkfish: They are a type of catfish, with long whiskers and mouths at the underside of their faces. The adults are pushing 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. They are usually swimming up and down in a corner, hiding in a cave, or sleeping in a big pile. I am not worried about the Axie being hurt by them, only that maybe the Axie might eat them?
Previous tankmates: Betas, Gourami, Guppies, Dojo Loaches, Plecs, Catfish.
 
Oh and this:
2 Dojo Loaches: They are an eel-type fish, slimy and scaleless, with whiskers and no teeth. The adult is probably 5-6 inches and the baby is more than 4. They are usually burrowing under the rocks although they come out for food at dinnertime.
Previous tankmates (and when I say this it means they've gotten along): Sharkfish, guppies, Betas, Silver Sailfins, Gouramis, and Plecs.

3 Silver Sailfins: They are silver-dollar-shaped fish with large fins and small mouths. They are maybe an inch circular. They are very shy and usually only swim at night. My only concern about them is they have a mouth suitable to biting an Axie, but this is almost laughable because they are even scared of the baby Dojo Loach.
Previous tankmates: Loaches, Sharkfish, Plecs, Gourami

And those are what I think would be suitable. Please reply soon. By the way the Sharkfish are very friendly and may try to sleep alongside the Axie, good or bad?

(Message edited by Bowling_fleury on January 27, 2007)
 
If an axie attempts to eat any fish with whiskers, it can be impaled. There are examples of this here:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml
Fish that suck on surfaces, like plecos, have been known to suck on axolotls' skin. Again, not good. And overall, I believe that most of these fish need warmer temperatures than what is good for axies. For best health, it is good to get the axies down as cold as you can in winter, preferably 65F or lower.
 
"Please pass on the info that any algae eaters or others of the catfish family have spines in the fins that are deadly to anthing eating them."

That sort of made me laugh. Who would buy plecos as a feeder fish?

Sharkfish have lived in a room temp tank, Loaches less than that... I've caught the bit about sucking slime... And my Sharks have soft whiskers that aren't really pointy. (Think catfish.)

I am going to try this out with my Sharks since they seem like the best. Thank you so very much!
happy.gif
I will keep ya updated ;)
 
I don't think anyone buys plecos as feeder fish. Catfish, plecos, etc, end up in a tank with newts/axolotls for the same reason YOU are thinking of putting them together - someone thought they would be compatible tankmates. People are especially likely to want to put a catfish or pleco in the tank because they think it will help "keep the tank clean". They don't realize that the animals might see each other as meals, not as companions. Let us know how it goes.
 
sorry if i mess up on this post, I jsut woke up. But I am not sure what fish you actually have at the moment.
your sharkfish (Arius seemanni ), is a schooling fish, meaning you need 3+, I think you got that one down but they can get large average is 12 in but can get to to twice that size. Dojo loaches can get pretty big, also, we have a tank of them in out "Invasive Species" section where I work. They should average about 10 inches and sometimes more. These two fish grow to the same size as Mr. Axolotl or larger if kept well. No matter, it seems if any of these are confined to a 10 or 20 gallon you will have stocking issues and sick fishies possibly with stunted growth. If your not sure how big your pet fish will grow up, visit your local public aquarium, you can see how huge pet fish can get and how this informations is lost from seller to happy owner.

Only thing i keep with my axolotl are shrimp and small snails, mostly shrimps. Only fish I had with my axolotl was an accident. When i first started adding plants a stoaway feeder guppy was in there. It just stayed in surface area didnt seem to affect axolotl. He was moved, because I do not like keeping fish with axolotl. Shrimp help clean the alage, if you get a Neocaridina shrimp. Palaemonenetes help clean left over foods mostly (those are the feeder shrimp)

Did you know that introduced fish in axolotl wild habitat is a factor to their decline? Large introduced gamefish and carps eat eggs and even adults. Just thought it would be an interesting tid-bit, that is all.

oh yeah! isnt the blackfin shark catfish a brackish to marine fish, cus that is what i thought. That cannot be kept with Mr. Axolotl let alone in a fresh water tank.

(Message edited by mantighoul on January 30, 2007)
 
12 inches! Twice that size?! Ye gods! My adults are hardly 4!!

Well no, my Blackfin Sharkfish are kept in freshwater just like everything else, but it's possible that I got the name wrong since I got it from walmart. I use aquarium salt averagly to reduce stress and such in my fish but it is nothing they seem to depend on and I haven't added any to my axie tank.

(Message edited by bowling_fleury on February 03, 2007)
 
How big is your axolotl? He can also grow to 12inches +. My sister's biggest ones are just under 13 inches/smallest around 11inches.
 
I would spend some time reaserching your fish you keep on the internet. Walmart (or Chain petstore) tells you a lot more wrong than names being mixed up, for not all hte people in the department are trained in fishes. They just usualy want to make $$$$ rather than know the buyer will get good information to take good care of new pet. It is good to know what sort of water you fish like (fresh salt brackish acidic basic hard or soft) and if they are schooling or shoaling fish, maximum size and suggested tank size (how many per gallon) and agression level, dont want fishie eating other fishie!
you can also join a pet fish forum ad get A+ advice. You can take picture of fish and ask so many questions and find out useful facts. All in all, it pays not to be in the blue. Who knows, maybe after learning all the information about your fish it can inspire you to develope biotopes and have planted tanks. The world of fish keeping is so much more fun than keeping a fish in a bowl and feeding him!

If you really want "friends" for axolotl, i havn't had any bad experience keeping freshwater fish. I have even bred shrimp in the axolotl home.
 
Oh wow thanks. Okay, I'm gonna look for a Blackfin Sharkfish website and see if that's my fish. (If they grew to 12 inches or more that would be inconvienient but sooooo awesome. I wish they had teeth.)

Oh yeah I got like 20 ghost shrimp in there too and they're so cute! What's more they get along with my Sharks. And I got some plant bulbs... and some real river rocks... and a big stone... And no axie.... *bites WalMart in pieces*
 
I searched Blackfin Sharkfish and all I could find was "Blackfin Tuna"! Stupid WalMart. I don't know what I have anymore. Argh.
 
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:eek:fficial&hs=kzm&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Blackfin+Shark+fish&spell=1

try this, its a google search I did.

This is the latin name, Arius seemanni, do a google search, look at the images. If this is your pet, well, you got it! Looking up animals by the latin names achieves greater sucesses, especially at times when the common names are shared with other things.

I hope that helps you finding information on your pet. Let me know if you need more help.
 
Well okay, yes, those actually are Blackfin Sharkfish. And they do need brackish water, so I'm gonna add some aquarium salt as soon as I get home. But axolotls can't be in salt water, right? So I'm gonna have to figure out another tankmate?

I can't believe they're brackish! No one ever said anything like that! They seem okay but gosh I hope I didn't damage anyone. Thanks for the tip!!

Maybe I'll put in the Loaches and the Silver Sailfins.... hm. Any thoughts?
 
Oh and another thing--I have 3 Betas... Sailor(boy), Warrior and Pearl (both girls). Pearl is the nicest one, Warrior ate Sailor's dragfins off before, and Sailor's a love-starved pain. Would the girls be good tankmates with an axolotl? They're look pretty in there with the setup I think.
 
I think a betta fish would nip at axolotl gills. Plus, axolotl need colder waters. Betta fish are tropical fish that should be kept arround 75 degrees (yes they need a heater, and yes the pet store lies)

When i was little I had a puffer that was brackish and the petstore didnt tell us and it died. I cried. Well, if you get brackish down, there are a lot of cool brackish fish. Anyways, I think a good start for you for your fish questions maybe at petfish.net the people there a nice and there is a mix of experienced people helping out people just learning. Its a good place to ask your non-axolotl fish questions to get better answers. There are other fish forums you can join when your become an expert, and if you keep asking questions it won't take you long.

Axolotls will be very sad in salt water or with betta fish. Serrioysly though, check out a fish forum like petfish.net people are not rude and no question is a "stupid" question so ask away, they can give you better advice for setting up a brackish system then me, I never had a brackish system. It just makes me upset that the petstore gave you no fish advice with your fish, like if it died youd be back and they would make more money. so so sad. fishforums.net is similar and has a brackish forum on there also.

oh and for a start, if you dont have time to read and join forums tonite here is an FAQ's thing about brackish tanks. Happy reading!
http://users.macunlimited.net/n.monks/brackfaq.html

(Message edited by mantighoul on February 08, 2007)
 
ok ok, so your shark catfish (beautiful fish by the way) here is a short snip about their life:

"...Columbian shark is becoming more common in the trade. Freshwater when young and Brackish when mature the Columbian shark can reach a length of Two feet, although one foot is more the norm."
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile63.html i got that from there. It has a good profile about them.

here is some profile about your catfish that has experiences from keepers.
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_jordani.php

so don't freak out yet. I wish I could get you more and better information faster.
 
The pet store lied!!! Roar!! Well at least Pearl and Warrior are okay because their bowl and tank is by the window but poor freezing Sailor is here on my desk! I'll put on the heat lamp for him until I get a better option.

Goodness a puffer fish? That couldn't've been a pretty death. I wonder if stores do that to make money or they are just cruelly ignorant. I'm so sorry for your loss. What was the fish's name?

Wow, thanks a lot. Up until now I thought I was a pretty smart caregiver of fish--I bet I look pretty silly! Well, I added salt to the tank right away and will have to... get rid of that somehow when I'm REALLY ready for an Axolotl. Thank you so much for your help Ann, you're really kind
happy.gif


(Message edited by Bowling_fleury on February 08, 2007)
 
Well it's a pet store what do you expect? if they would have told you it would be two feet and needs brackish water would you have bought it?

If you see a nice fish in a pet store the best thing is to go home and do a internet search. If it's a fish that you can house go back and buy it.
In any descent pet shops they also have books, you can check these for the species you want.
 
No problem, I hope things work out. Seriously do some resserch before you add the salt. There is a lot of equipment you probably will to invest in so save up. It may cost a lot of $$$ but when you have a great setup for your pet fishes, it really pays off and is really beautiful. The more money I put into my hobby the more it pays off for me. Each time I learn something new, also. If you are learning, something right is happening.

I saw in your profile you are pretty young, but don't let age discourage you. I know 14 year old kids who have aquariums way cooler than me, I know people over 50 with aquariums cooler than me. I reallly do hope you read some of the sites I listed. Don't be afraid to ask questions, especially on the internet. I also do not know anyone who was fishtank master right away. The most important thing is to combat ignorance, and always double check sources when it comes to keeping critters. All ways want the best for your critters, even if it may take along time to get them the best.

Well, by your statement about the axolotl you seem smart and caring, so I think things will work out for you in a long run.As for my fish, I had fishs-tank since I was 6 so I hardly remeber any of the fishes names, and that puffer accident I had to be 9 or 10. Do am image search for "dwarf puffer", very differnt than spikey porcupine puffers of the ocean. And oh, if you add salt, make sure it is salt for salt-water aquariums. The brackish water website i linked gives how much salt per liter you should add. Goodluck!

I am surprised there are no other fish keeper people with advice on here yet...
 
Well I joined petfish.net and everyone's so nice there! Thanks so much for the reference.

I think I will keep my two Dojo Loaches in the Axie tank. Oh and I found the $20 axie, that sounds very reasonable. You said to wait until it's warm to order? I live in the south so it is pretty warm here already.
 
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