PlanetCatfish.com

hi all i was just wanderin how many of u bought fish from ure lfs which had no name to them and later came on here to find it out i do it alll the time eg just yesterday i bought a loach and now i know what he is

If I see a fish I like I usually go on the net to find out as much about keeping it as I can e.g. water parameters, preferable food, good tank mates, max size & preferable water current. That way there are no surprises - unlike the people who buy the nice little Red Tail Catfish for their 4 foot tank!

The only time I did buy an unknown fish was when I saw what I thought was an L66. The shop wasn't too sure for certain what it was and we perused their pleco book. Knowing the requirements for the L66 I bought it, as I was 90% sure it was that.

Knowledge is power.

And keeps your fish happy.

im with you ramblin I wont buy anything until I find out every possible bit of information on what I'm getting off of the net..That way you avoid problems at a later date..
Although I do have 4 unknown catfish down stairs in the basement they are around an inch and a half long my wifes little 9 year old cousin caught them as fry in a local stream and were in a bucket in his yard ...
I rescued them and have been feeding them up on golden pearls til now but have no idea what species they are

Slightly off thread, but I always decide on what I'm going to keep BEFORE I set up a tank, thus I spend quite a bit of time researcing enviromentals and compatibilies of the species I'm interested in, and the tank is then designed for their benefit.

The eternal student of aquaria, I studied for nearly five years before I started my first marine reef aquarium. One owes it to his or her livestock to educate themselves. I detest hearing stories here and elsewhere about buying tank busters like red tail cats on a whim and sticking it in a 55 gallon tank to suffer and die - LFS who sell them to unsuspecting customers should be ashamed of themselves.

Just my 2 cents.
Dave

I also try to plan a tank in advance; that said, sometimes I find out about a fish and wonder if it would work in my already established tank. I try to always do research BEFORE I bring a fish home. I have never and will not buy a fish at a store that I do not know about.

Whilst all of the above prudence is well noted, I, whlie following a similar course of "research before you buy", have freqently bought fish that I do not know the scientific name of, nor the specific husbandry requirements of the fish.

This generally occurs when I find fish that I have either only seen in photos or have a fairly good idea as to what family they belong to and a general idea of adult size, region of origin and temp requirements.

I am a LFSaholic...I spend hours out of my week searching for new and interesting fish to house. I ask when shipments are supposed to arrive and where they are coming from. It may be a little different for me than most however, as I see it all as reserch for my career in conservation biology. I also run twelve tanks of various sizes of my own and stock and maintain my colleges live animal room.

So, long story short, I don't always have in depth research into every fish I buy, but, I also have the resources to deal with most unexpected surprizes. (also, most of the fish stores in my city know me well enough to accept store credit for any returns that I may have [which is only two in many years of keeping fish]).

I used to buy what I saw. What I mean by that is, if I saw one Peckoltia sp. in a LFS, I would buy him because he was a Peckoltia and I'd never seen one previously. I've since stopped that. I now also plan out my tanks. This means that I often have empty tanks. This drives me mad sometimes, but it's better than having something I can't find a match for. In the future, I will be purchasing from either places I've dealt with in the past or a new LFS that's opened up near me. Even if it means my 29 gallon tank is now just full of plants and driftwood. I haven't found the Cories I want yet.

bronzefry wrote:I haven't found the Cories I want yet.

I can relate to that.. I like to buy the fish that I want, even if it takes me several weeks or more to find them.

That doesn't stop me from occasionally buy something on a whim... But I would have to be fairly sure that I know at least roughly what it needs in terms of care, food and water conditions.

If I haven't got a good idea what it is, and what it needs, it'll stay at the shop... I may of course come back later on to buy it, once I've figured out that it's a fish that suits what I already have.

--
Mats

I only buy fish I know I can house, and I check requirements and tank size before hand. I alos planned out my 40 gallon with my mom, since she put up the money. The one final addition that I just bought was a Bristlenose Pl*co. I had been searching all around me for over a year to find one, and I got a Florida bred one that is about an inch and a half long. So it took me about a year to get my tank just the way I want it. Now I want to start another one.

I have keep tropicals on an off since 1977. When IO was in grade school. No internet then. Everytime I go to a LFS I always look for the unusual. There are so many resources now its easy to find valuable. The last fish I bought on impulse was a Red Devil. I just got back into the hobby so I guess you can figure what he did.

Later

Steve

I was fortunate the other day. I found C.Trilineatus! Just what I was looking for. There are seven (4 males, 3 females). Once out of quarantine, they will have a 29 gallon all to themselves.