whetu Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Last night while feeding my fish, I noticed one single free-swimming fry up near the top of the water! :bounce: The thing is, I really don't know what kind of fish he/she is, so I hope s/he lives long enough for me to find out. [see my sig for a list of tank occupants.] This Unidentified Frying Object is about 1 cm long (an easy mouthful for any of my fish! ). It is pretty much transparent - all you can see is a head and if you look very closely you can make out a long, clear body with no discernable markings. It is swimming in that jerky motion used by little fry, and is always hanging about in the same part of the tank - near the top, at the back, in wide open view of all its potential predator tank-mates! Brave little fellow! I have bred gold barbs before, and from memory by the time they were this size they already had more colour and a more distinctive fishy shape than this little guy. I'm sure it's already too big to be a cherry barb. The two bristlenoses are male so unless they have adopted, it's not one of theirs. That leaves the CLOWN LOACHES :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: or the SAEs. Unfortunately I think the SAEs are the most likely parents. :lol: I'm going to leave the brave little fry to fend for itself. I considered setting up another tank for it, but I reckon since it's come this far on its own I might just leave it and hope for the best. Any tips or hints for me and my UFO? Any clues to tell me if it is indeed an SAE? (Unfortunately it's far too little and too far away for me to get a photo.) Thanks for letting me share my exciting news! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Why can't it be a cardinal tetra? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Why can't it be a cardinal tetra? Oh! I missed the cardinal tetras! Realistically though, I would expect Cardinal Tetras' fry to be tiny, even if the eggs didn't get fungussed and stuff - although I suppose that's still more likely than Clown Loaches! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 I'm going to leave the brave little fry to fend for itself. I considered setting up another tank for it, but I reckon since it's come this far on its own I might just leave it and hope for the best. What?! Can't you just peg a cup onto the side of the tank and plop the fry in that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 What?! Can't you just peg a cup onto the side of the tank and plop the fry in that? I dunno... it's survived this long on its own... I think I'm more likely to do harm than good if I intervene now! If it was in its own little space I would have to feed it, do water changes, etc etc. Where it is now it just eats whatever it can find and has a whole big tank to swim around in! I do actually have one of those breeding nets that hangs on the side of the tank, but I don't think I will use it. My Pretty seems to be doing just fine by its tough little self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Still alive as of this morning! I fed red flakes to the rest of the fish and noticed My Pretty's transparent tummy was soon full of red, so it's at least big enough to eat smaller bits of flake. Things are looking good for its survival! Also in the flake feeding frenzy one of the gold barbs came close to the fry, and it zipped away like a little torpedo. :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-town... Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 be interesting to see what it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 be interesting to see what it is Yes, I wish it would hurry and grow up so i can see what it is! Still alive and well as of this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N1CK Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 :bounce: good luck with growing it up also how big is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 It's about 1cm long at the moment, and very skinny. By that I mean it has a fat tummy but the body itself is long and narrow, which is one of the reasons I think it might be a SAE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Still alive, still growing, and still to small and transparent to make out much detail. It looks like it has a single, dark horizontal stripe (like a SAE) but to be honest I could just be looking at its spine through its transparent body. Another possibility has ocurred to me. The arrival of the fry coincided with me getting some Red Pine plants from Animates in Mt Eden. I just chucked the plants in my tank without quarantining or cleaning them first (I know, not recommended...) but anyway that has left me wondering if an egg or a fry might have hitch-hiked its way into my tank. That would be even more exciting - a bit like getting a lucky dip! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 LOL. i love the systery fry game. im surprised nothing has eaten it by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Animates Botany seems to chuck guppy fry in their plants for sale tank. Doesn't look like a guppy fry, does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Animates Botany seems to chuck guppy fry in their plants for sale tank. Doesn't look like a guppy fry, does it? I don't think it looks like a guppy fry... must google some and see. I'm also surprised nobody has eaten it. I must have fat, lazy over-fed fish who have lost the hunting instinct! :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 It is still alive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted September 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 It is still alive? Yes, still alive! Nobody has eaten it yet, so I assume they aren't going to! It definitely doesn't look like anything else in my tank so I think it's a hitch-hiker who came in with the plants. I tried to take some photos but it's so little that the camera kept focussing on the plants and I couldn't get any pics of it. I think Sam might be right that it's probably a guppy fry. If so, I'll wait until it gets a bit bigger then offer it free to a good home. Even though it turns out not to be a baby of any of my fish, it's still quite exciting to have a little mystery in my tank. Especially since my fish ate all the plants it hitch-hiked on so this fry is the only thing I have to show for my efforts. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Here is my best attempt at a photo. Little rascal won't sit still and smile. :roll: Here's the same photo with a dotted outline so you can see the fin & tail shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Thats not a guppy and I don't think it's a fry from anything in your tank, to me it looks like a young rainbowfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 looks like a rainbow fish to me as well. :lol: it could have been introduced with new plants. their eggs are sticky and very resilient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 looks just like a baby of our furcatus rainbows i'd love to have him if he'll be for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 oooh that's exciting! :bounce: I ahve no idea about rainbowfish so I will google him. Thanks for the ID everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted September 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 looks just like a baby of our furcatus rainbows i'd love to have him if he'll be for sale? I think you're right, twinkles! I have a baby furcatus rainbowfish! :bounce: I googled how to look after him and I hope I can do a good job of bringing him up. It seems that he needs a high-protein diet with things like baby brine shrimp. I don't have any of those, so he will just have to grow up eating flakes and anything else left over from the other greedy gobbly fish. twinkles, I will let you know how he progresses and whether he grows into a nice strong healthy specimen. He's too little to ship at the moment but I will reasses when he's a bit bigger. I understand rainbowfish need to live in schools so I suppose it wouldn't be in his best interests for me to keep him in my tank as the only one of his kind. He might grow up to be a sociopath or something. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 Wow, that's a good score from a bunch of plants! I'd be stoked if I got that kind of hitch-hiker. Furcatus rainbows are really cool; I've been eyeing them up at the LFS but I don't have room in my tanks at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted September 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 Wow, that's a good score from a bunch of plants! I'd be stoked if I got that kind of hitch-hiker. Furcatus rainbows are really cool; I've been eyeing them up at the LFS but I don't have room in my tanks at the moment Yes, it is a surprise to me to find he's a rainbowfish. I assume Animates Mt Eden must have some, because that's where I got the plants and that's where his parents must live! My partner's reaction was that we need to get him a whole bunch of friends and have a school of them in the tank. (This is the kind of reaction I like from him :lol: ) but unfortunately he's not prepared to get a bigger tank. We really don't have room for a school of rainbows in addition to everybody else already resident in our 4-footer. Any tips & hints on how I can bring up this little fishy to be a healthy and well-adjusted young adult before passing him on? Anyone want to sponsor him for $1 a day? (I will send you photos and letters from him!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted September 13, 2009 Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 Neon where have you seen them? I've got one lonely boy and really want another 10 or so, but haven't been able to find them. Saw them at one place in auckland last time i was up, but they were pretty manky looking so i had to pass. Would love a whole school of them, they're the coolest looking fishes with the way their little yellow front fins flap around :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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