Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Identification => Topic started by: Woodsie on June 25, 2020, 02:06:28 PM
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I thought it was a five banded barb and I think it came with some of them but as its grown it has a rounder shape and less bands plus it keeps away form the others
It's quite small, maybe 6 cm and it must be somehting like 6-8 months old
It's quite peaceful swimming slowly around the tank usually among the plants. It only speeds up when the food is about.
Sorry the pics are not that good. And please ignore the Gourami that snuck into one.
It's quite a pale colour but that maybe as it is on its own, I think if it coloured up it would be reddish
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It's a black widow tetra, also called black skirt tetra. Gymnocorymbus ternetzi.
https://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/black-widow-tetra.html
It has a bit of a reputation as a fin nipper (watch for the gouramis!) but if there are enough of them it usually isn't a problem.
There is also a white widow/skirt tetra which is the same species just white instead of blackish.
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Yes it is definately a black widow
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Ahh thank you, again. I'd never have gone for a tetra. Now I know thanks.
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I'd never have gone for a tetra. Now I know thanks.
A little tip-off for you: tetra fish have a short fin, called an adipose fin, between their dorsal fin and their tail fin. If you're ever unsure of a fish's identity, looking to see if they have one of those, can help narrow it down into whether they might be a tetra of some sort or not. :D
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The green and white stripey plant in a couple of your photos - is it a dracena? If it is, you'd be better taking it out and putting it in a pot on the windowsill as it's not an aquatic plant.
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I can confirm Sues suspicions on the identity of the dracena, and her advice is correct!
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Wow, thanks both. I bought it at my local independent aquarium shop as a tank plant and it has survived a little over a month so far.
Is this a common thing, dracena being sold as aquatic plants I mean.
Is it done on purpose' i.e. should I be worried about the seller if he does this?
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Did it come with a little label, out of interest? Does the aquarium shop sell gardening items or reptiles? I've bought a couple of plants in the past in an MA store that turned out to be for reptiles (although they don't/didn't actually keep reptiles in store).
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When I first started buying plants I ended up with dracena from MA. It was very common a few years ago. Since then I've noticed they have move to true aquatic plants.
I'm also a big fan of Aquarium Gardens and Aqua Essentials for online purchases.
I don't think this sort of thing is done on purpose, but it does stand as a good example of why we need to do our own research prior to purchasing anything (fish, plants, decor, everything).
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It is reasonably common unfortunately. Ideally they should have told you this, but the plants do sell and people keep buying them when they dies so there is clear motivation there...