[Ragul]

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

Hey friends,

I have recently added many pairs of fishes - oscar, mono angel, neon akara, gourami, firemouth, parrot and angels to my aquarium which was left with only with a single shark and crocodile fish

i was looking to add a flowerhorn of a size equal to my aquatic family, some are saying that they can accommodate but some differ, what say? any idea?
will post the snaps soon

Sounds like a good menu for my cat ... can I bring it over?!!

--R

[ruchirtnt]

Originally Posted by Ragul

Sounds like a good menu for my cat ... can I bring it over?!!

--R

Surely my rottweiler will love your menu in the offering

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

Hey friends,

I have recently added many pairs of fishes - oscar, mono angel, neon akara, gourami, firemouth, parrot and angels to my aquarium

Sorry to say, but most of the species mentioned here (apart from parrots) are individually territorial and semi-aggressive, in fact can get quite hostile towards other species. This would sooner or later result in clashes and wars, resulting in a few fatalities. In fact this is an international integration tank - world war III - oscars, firemouths and parrots are african cichlids, angels are from the amazon in south america and gouramis are from thailand.

What gouramis do you have by the way? If they are kissing gouramis, they will soon start harassing other fish once they settle down. Most other gouramis are docile and should not cause problems.

... which was left with only with a single shark and crocodile fish

What on earth is a crocodile fish?? Haven't heard of any such species in all my 15-20 years of keeping aquariums Could you post a picture of this? really curious to see

i was looking to add a flowerhorn of a size equal to my aquatic family, some are saying that they can accommodate but some differ, what say? any idea?
will post the snaps soon

Flowerhorns are quite aggressive and should be kept separate. In fact,among the other ones you mentioned, I would separate the Oscars and firemouths also. All these 3 are quite aggressive.

P.S - note that oscars and flowerhorns need a big tank. Especially Oscars, can grow pretty big after a few years. What are the dimensions of your current tank?

[ruchirtnt]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

What on earth is a crocodile fish?? Haven't heard of any such species in all my 15-20 years of keeping aquariums Could you post a picture of this?

kindly go through the below URL and you will get an idea

https://www.google.co.in/search?sour...crocodile+fish

Originally Posted by KarthikK

P.S - note that oscars and flowerhorns need a big tank. Especially Oscars, can grow pretty big after a few years. What are the dimensions of your current tank?

I have a aquarium with size 36*24*18

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

kindly go through the below URL and you will get an idea

Thanks for this! Never knew such a species existed. Was this crocodile fish very expensive to get?

I have a aquarium with size 36*24*18

Assuming that's in inches, that's a bit too small for the number of fish you mentioned. My suggestion is - try getting another tank of equal/bigger dimension and divide the population into that. Oscars and flowerhorns get quite huge - you might need minimum length of 4-5 ft when they start growing.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

P.S - note that oscars and flowerhorns need a big tank. Especially Oscars, can grow pretty big after a few years. What are the dimensions of your current tank?

Oscars and Firemouths are South American cichlids and parrots are hybrid creations between cichlids [American again]

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please avoid quoting a full post as it inconveniences our mobile and small screen users. Thanks!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Oscars and Firemouths are South American cichlids and parrots are hybrid creations between cichlids [American again]

oops! you're right. Thanks for correcting. The fish encyclopedia book I usually refer to, wrongly lists them as African cichlids and I have been believing that ; need to cross-check on the net next time. Parrots are man-made hybrids AFAIK.

[deathwalkr]

in that case might i suggest you buy a new one?

this is a good start
Amazon.com: Pocket Professional Guide to Cichlids (9780793805846): David E. Boruchowitz: Books

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

in that case might i suggest you buy a new one?

this is a good start
Amazon.com: Pocket Professional Guide to Cichlids (9780793805846): David E. Boruchowitz: Books

Thanks! This will make a good addition to the existing book collection if I ever seriously get into Cichlids, but I've always been more into Cyprinids and Anabantoids .

[W.A.G.7]

O.T question - Are all these exotic fishes (Cichlids, Cyprinids, Anabantoids ) all from South America only? How do they adapt to Indian conditions? And if they eat each other, then why keep them in a single tank? I never knew such species existed and they were kept as pets till I saw the responses on this thread!

Originally Posted by Ragul

I am going to have to pepper spray this tomcat I'm afraid ...
How small is the smallest can of pepper spray and where can I get it?

That wouldn't be a really nice thing to do. I think that can be quite painful. What you can do is get your cat or (if you can catch hold of it) the tom neutered. That will tone down the aggression. Second option, catch hold of him, put him in a sack and leave him far off somewhere; so he will not trouble your cat.

[deathwalkr]

most of these so called exotic fishes are locally bred these days. only really rare ones which are tough to be breed in captivity are wild caught and those get very very expensive.

the world of aquariums is too vast to contain in one post.

i would start with what size tank you can accommodate and what would your budget. then you can start narrowing down types of fish you want to keep.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by Ragul

I am going to have to pepper spray this tomcat I'm afraid ...
How small is the smallest can of pepper spray and where can I get it?

A pic of my HotRod Kitty attached
--Rahul

Gosh, don't go straight off to the pepper spray route. I'd suggest you get a water spray pump/gun instead. Plain old water, sprayed with varying intensity (depends on the target) works wonderfully... esp. with cats. Safest and cheapest way too.

[IronH4WK]

Yes, get a water pistol or something like that. From what I've seen cats hate water I remember when we wanted to give my in-laws cat a bath, it was like taking the devil to church! It dug its claws in my palm!

[Ragul]

^^^ Guys
I am not confident of getting as close as 1 mtr to the cat forget catching it. Yesterday I surprised it because it though it was safe after jumping the wall.

I hope to catch such a moment and scare it away. This is not only for the cats - I've about 4 or 5 street dogs jump over the 5 ft high wall and enter my courtyard to terrorize my cat every other day. A few months back they trapped a tomcat and brutalized it so badly, it struggled for 90 mins before giving up on life. I posted about it then.

I dread the day when there are kittens at home and they cannot climb up the window sill quickly enough when the pack of dogs leap over the fence like hungry wolves. These dogs actually go pack hunting at night and survey every gate from house to house after midnight.

I have to stop them from coming before it happens...

--R

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

O.T question - Are all these exotic fishes (Cichlids, Cyprinids, Anabantoids ) all from South America only?

Those are just categories of fish. They are categorized based on some specific traits each category has - such as behaviour, diet, geographical location, etc among many other things. Cyprinids and Anabantoids are majorly from the South east asian region, although it is possible to find some specimens in other regions as well. You'll find lots of info on the web on these.

How do they adapt to Indian conditions?

They originated in those geographies. But if your question is whether they are caught in rivers of south America / Asia, the answer is no. Due to the huge demand for these varieties in the aquarium market, these varieties are now mass produced in fish farms and then exported on a large scale, from where fish shops get their 'stocks'. There is no adapting actually. We do not actually release them into 'Indian' waters. When you buy a south American fish, you have to replicate the environment required for that fish. This includes keeping the water in the required pH, water hardness levels, plants from its native region, temperature range the same as its native waters, etc.

And if they eat each other, then why keep them in a single tank?

Well this happens only with geographical mismatches and/or size mismatches. If a fish is too small and there is a large predatory fish, the smaller one will sooner or later become prey. Most of the times, it is advisable to keep fish varieties of 1 region in the same tank and avoid cross-combinations across geographies, simply because their requirements will be different.

When most beginners start off, they make the mistake of going to the fish shop and buying different fish which just look good to them, then combine them in the same tank. Later, either clashes happen or else there is an overload on the biological system due to an overcrowded tank, resulting in a black friday when there are too much of toxins in the water (this biological system is actually called the nitrogen cycle). Again too much to type in here on this, you can look it up on the web

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

the world of aquariums is too vast to contain in one post.

+1 to what deathwalkr said. There is way too much information to tell in 1 post. You can go through the internet or some good fish books and try to narrow down on what kind of tank / fish you might want.