Troy Finke - 2009-03-16
Are you sure they weren't just trying to "play" with the koi or school with them. Every single loach or botia I have had love to try to school with other fish whether it be a jaguar cichlid or tetra. I also notice they like to act as cleaner wrasse somewhat. I have seen mine swim sideways against other fish and what not, and I know a lot of koi can be very paranoid and jumpy so it's possible your koi freaked themselves to death from the loaches trying to interact with them. I don't know, it's a thought, I wasn't there watching your loaches so I cant really say.

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Patrick D. - 2003-08-20
I keep one male and three females in a 29 gal. tank with four blues and four pearls. I also have 2 loaches. They all do just fine and the pearls are easy to breed. The blues nip sometimes but only each other. Pearls are easy to keep and work well with gouramis or other same-sized fish.

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kevin from ky - 2008-03-26
Over the last few years I've had a couple of these guys. Only kept one at a time though, in my 55 gallon. They can be a pretty fun addition to your tank if your willing to give them the extra attention. The one I have now I named Louie. He's about 11-12 inches. I've fed him live food ever since I got him about a year ago. He was about 4 inch then. Diet mostly constists of Ghost shrimp, feeder guppies, Rosies, and small worms. He takes food right from my fingertips and his/her grip can be pretty shocking when your not expecting it. I mostly let him hunt. I only put 1 or 2 shrimp or feeder fish at a time to provide him hunting opportunities, rather than tossing a dozen shrimp or fish in and watching him gobble them up in a frenzy before they even know what hit 'em. Watching him strike out at prey from the darkened hole of his ancient tomb liar is pretty fierce. Unfortunately I've lost some of my smaller fish due to his diet (I think) but other than that he's pretty friendly. He gets along with just about everything even much bigger fish. I can hold him and bring him to the surface and he seems to know I'm around when close by. I love the guy and definately recommend to beginners or anyone for that matter

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Henry Chua - 2003-09-12
Lovely. It was ironic that I did not have any interest in any Tetras before. I thought small fishes were unattractive and dies within weeks. However, I was wrong. They proved hardy and impressed me tremendously with their flashy colors. I have twelve of them, and it is interesting to see their colors flashing again after the lights were turned on after total darkness. They almost appeared colorless. I noticed they do eat a lot. Remember not to overfeed. Just because they are tiny does not mean you have to feed exactly the way you do for bigger fishes! DO NOT add in other bigger sized fishes (Plecos, etc) as Neon Tetras sleeps and rests at the bottom and bigger fishes will simply vacuum them in.

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Chris Baker - 2009-07-21
Im one of these people that have let tropical fish take over my life, I live for my fish. I take a particular interest in catfish. I've been reading the comments on Pangasius, this fish should not be sold in pet shops to people who do not realise their full potential. I have a tank measuring 9x3x3.5 and a 20,000 litre heated pond in the conservatory. My largest pangasius in nearly 3 feet long and weighs approx 26lbs. I have 6 in total, they were all cast offs from people who could no longer keep them due to size. In my opinion any animal,(whatever it is) that you buy, you should be able to look after it for the whole of its life. A lot of catfish like Pangasius, Shovel nose, Red tails, Giraffe cats, there's too many to list, but these are frequently available at fish stores from 2" to 6" and look lovely. But they won't tell you, you have a monster on your hands, some like Red Tails will eat most your tank when you get it home. I decided I wanted to KEEP these beautiful fish, so I bought and Built some huge tanks to be able to enjoy them for all their lives. (Recommend building as it's cheaper). If your not prepared to do this then just steer clear, don't waste yor time or money. Above all always research any fish your not sure about before you purchase it. Any fish I see or am offered for whatever reason, if I don't know details about it, I will always go and find out for myself and not take other peoples word for it. I suggest everyone does this. Also, people will tell you their max size in the wild. They seldom reach wild sizes in captivity, that doesn't mean a 6 foot Catfish will only grow 6 inches, it'll probably get to around 3.5 feet, so a little common sense is needed. Happy Fish Keeping.

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Carry - 2005-12-10
First let me say they are fast growing, aggressive, need lots of water changes, alot of filteration, and are messy. My 9'' oscar has waste the size of deer poop. It's crazy. They love to eat. They can and will jump out of the water to get food. That includes your hand if its above the water line. I've owned probably a little over a dozen oscars total. I have 4 right now. I feed mine earth worms, pellets, frozen brine shimp, freeze dried blood worms, algae wafers, shrimp pellets,beef heart, guppies, and freeze dried tubifex worms. I'd like to srart my own culture of either blood worms, white worms, or brine shrimp someday. I think all my fish will benefit from that. That being said I never feed feeders from local or chain fish stores because of the disease feeders have that can be passed onto my fish. It's not worth loosing an 12in oscar to watch him eat feeders. I do breed my own guppies and feed those sometimes. When you breed your own it ensures you have the control over the quality of feeder you are providing. I mean, look at the feeder tanks in the stores. They are always overcrowded, nasty, and have dead fish floating around at the top. Do you really want to expose a 12'' oscar to that that you've took the one year or so to raise? Seems like a waste.

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Frankie - 2012-03-21


Been a fish-keeper most of my life and ive had 'Nics' for several years. The pair I have are large. They have bred a few times (not very often though). Recently, I've noticed that the female has grown a huge lump on her forehead (breeding time). However, she has never shown this trait during breeding before. Now the male has grown a small lump on his head too, but additionally, he has grown a massive face plate quite similar to an Orangutan haha! This has made him look a bit strange as he doesn't have the typical face of a Nic now. Has anyone else observed this before?

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Howard - 2010-06-21
We would like to breed our ryukin goldfish. We were wondering how to sex them, also how to measure size, as I've read they need to be 3-4 inches to be mature enough to breed ( including tail or not) We so enjoy and love our calico fantail ryukin. How can I find out if there are any goldfish shows. Hoping to hear from you soon. Thank you for your anticipated help.
Howard

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Anonymous - 2009-06-17
I have 2 malawi eye bites. They are housed with convicts, green terrors and red devils.

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Dan - 2012-04-22
I have 1 male and 2 female dwarf neons. I also have a beta that is a male. The beta enjoys chasing the dwarves only when the light is turned on. Should I be worried? Why is he doing this? Please answer

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