Quicksand Fans

Finally got bored with Piranha's and the fish store was looking to buy some so I agreed to trade my shoal in on a Hoplias malabaricus (Common Wolf Fish). Can't wait to get the little guy home he's going to be a beast when he's grown out. Not doing the swap till Saturday but I stopped in for a visit tonight.

But he looks so cute...

Mynock wrote:Can't wait to get the little guy home he's going to be a beast when he's grown out.

kham wrote:But he looks so cute...

Here is what he'll look like when he grows up:




And don't you just love that adorable face?

Upon further inspection by people smarter than me we've determined he's actually an Erythrinus erythrinus (Red Wolf Fish). Same family different genus/species. Tops out in the 9"-10" range instead of 18". Kind of disappointed but I'll have a go at raising him anyway. Worst comes to worst it's an excuse to finally get another tank and use the bigger one for something else.

Just be sure to release him into a nearby body of water when you get tired of him. Preferably with another one of the opposite sex.

I seriously hate people who do that. It's not so much the chance of environmental damage (minimal) it's that we're mostly a temperate country. Even a string of really hot 100+ degree days isn't enough to raise water temps into a comfortable range for something from the Amazon. The animal ends up freezing to death slowly.
It's also so stupid because collectors will pay out the ass for full grown fish. If you kept that Mala in BM's post alive and put it on Craig's list you could get an easy $100 for it. A 150 gallon tank would hold that guy comfortably.

I think that DG was just joking, since there is so much publicity regarding introduction/spread of non-native species.

I know she was joking It is a serious problem though. People just don't think or are stupid enough to believe the 12 year old at Petsmart that tells them "oh yea, that Pleco will be fine in a 10 gallon aquarium". I've seen RED TAIL CATFISH for sale in pet stores.....yea, like the 5 foot long, 200lb Red Tail Catfish.....that one from the Amazon that sucks monkeys off of tree limbs when they lean over to drink......better start saving for that 2000 gallon aquarium.

Dead.....packed up the Piranhas and drove to the pet store only to find the pool little guy jumped out of the tank sometime in the night.
Ordered another one but he won't show up till Tuesday. Decided to just leave the P's there instead of going through the trouble of catching them again and take home a dozen goldfish to keep the tank cycle going. 120 gallon tank with a dozen 2" long goldfish looks hilarious.

We had that happen once. My daughter, when she was little, won a goldfish at a carnival. Well, we didn't have a tank at the time, so Mr. Fish got to spend the night in a large bowl of water in the kitchen. The next morning- gone! Well, the cat was the prime suspect of course. But then when I was cleaning the stove, I found the fish- he had somehow gotten out of his bowl and ended up getting under the electric burner and down through the hole in the reflector. The question was- was it suicide or murder?

Moral of the story- no more pets named "Lucky!" P.S. our girl got her first fish tank, two goldfish and even a couple of snails the next day. Happy ending.

Mynock wrote:Dead.....packed up the Piranhas and drove to the pet store only to find the pool little guy jumped out of the tank sometime in the night.
Ordered another one but he won't show up till Tuesday. Decided to just leave the P's there instead of going through the trouble of catching them again and take home a dozen goldfish to keep the tank cycle going. 120 gallon tank with a dozen 2" long goldfish looks hilarious.

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