Guess The Fish

[beowulf]

Well, I maybe made a mistake. I was browsing a local FB group when I saw a fish tank in need of immediate rehoming, fish included. I’d been casually considering setting up a 5g to cycle for my plant hobby so I told them I’d take it; I already have a 50g with a ten year old plecco and some gold fish. I figured what’s one more small tank? The advertisement suggested it was very small and a handful of fish.

Friends, it’s a 5 gallon and has nine fish in it. Bizarrely enough, there’s also a living fresh water mussel in this tank! The person doesn’t know what kind of fish they are, and I haven’t asked about the mussel.

Anyone want to take a stab at my new additions? I’m thinking the striped guys are Tiger Barbs and the others are Tetras. I’m a little concerned that the catfish looking fish are local captures from a pond, since the mussel is.

All the fish look in decent weight and health. I figure I’ll give them two weeks to settle and quarantine and will probably split the school up and put some in the 50 gallon after quarantine is over.

[beowulf]

One more for kicks - there are six fish in this photo.

[McGurk]

I suspect you’re right and that it’s a native catfish.

[Pep_n_Ann]

I think the striped ones are black fin tetras. They don’t look quite like tiger barbs to me.

The red one is probably a serpae tetra.

No idea about the catfish.

[beowulf]

That makes sense they’d all be tetras, they like to school together.

Here’s a morning photo of the very inquisitive cat fish

[hoopoe]

Could this be a bronze catfish. Sometimes they are dull brown

[McGurk]

It doesn’t look like any species of pleco with which I am familiar. The presence of the fresh water mussel lends support to the idea that it’s a native catfish.

Who would probably prefer to be in a colder tank than the tetras, along with the fresh water mussel.

[CanadianTrotter]

@Pep_n_Ann

I think the striped ones are black fin tetras. They don’t look quite like tiger barbs to me.

The red one is probably a serpae tetra.

No idea about the catfish.

I think you’re right about the black fin tetras and the serape tetra.

The other two look like some sort of tinfoil barb.

It does look like a native catfish and if it gets big enough it will eat the others or stress them out by chasing them all the time.

[CanadianTrotter]

@beowulf

All the fish look in decent weight and health. I figure I’ll give them two weeks to settle and quarantine and will probably split the school up and put some in the 50 gallon after quarantine is over.

If you put the tinfoil barbs in the 50 gallon they will grow really big, really fast.

I had a 65 gallon tank with an assortment of fish. The Pleco and 4 tinfoil barbs outlived everything else and they grew huge!

[SummerRose]

Those are amazingly healthy fish (and live plant?), given that they’re living in a 5 gallon tank. It’s virtually impossible to keep anything other than a betta alive and healthy in a tank that small. I wonder how the prior owner managed that?

[beowulf]

I have no idea. The prior owner said her kids weren’t taking care of them anymore and I think she wanted to give them away before it became neglect.

The live plant is fake - but I have plans. I mean plants.

I have a 10g they got upgraded to because I agree that seemed like way too many fish for the tank size. I’ve always been told it’s 1g per compatible fish.

I can’t get over the mussel. How on earth do I care for that thing?

The consensus on my local aquarium page is that the two catfish are either channel catfish or brown bullhead catfish - both of which are legal to own wild-caught. Either way they are adorable and really interactive!

And whatever the little stripey fish is, he’s also pretty nosy and comes right out when he sees me. The other two bigger striped fish definitely look like skirt/black fin tetras of some sort.

[cayuse]

I had a pleco that lived about 10 years. He was huge! My fish

[CanadianTrotter]

@cayuse

I had a pleco that lived about 10 years. He was huge! My fish

I called my pleco Rochester, he was almost wider than he was long! I ended up selling them and the tank to a pet store and they put them on display. I moved away from the area so I have no idea how much longer they lived.

My oldest boy won a goldfish at a fair, he called it Snoopy. Snoopy graduated to a 25 gallon tank and was soon re-named Moby Dick. When he could barely turn around in his tank I gave him away to someone that had a goldfish pond.

Out of all the fish I had over the years I think the Kuhli Loach were the most entertaining.

[wildlifer]

Hard to tell from the photos but the catfish looks like it has a fairly forked tail, so not a bullhead. What state are you in?

Freshwater mussels feed on algae & other particles they filter out if the water. In our mussel propagation facilities, we feed them a slurry of algae piped in to their tubs.