Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping => Gallery Showcase => Topic started by: Sue on May 16, 2014, 07:45:21 PM
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Here are some pics of my new gudgeons. I'm not 100% sure of one of the females; it is possible it's really a young male. Time will tell.
The pic of the male reminded me to warn anyone getting these fish. You know how cat's eyes (the animal not the things in the road) glow in photos taken with flash? Peacock gudgeon eyes look opaque at certain angles. I'd forgotten that, but a few anxious minutes with a magnifying glass showed these white/blueish eyes are actually black and normal.
The pics are
A male
The three females
The female that might possibly not be
And finally, what happens when I go near the tank when the fish are due to be fed ;D
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Lovely looking fish - very jealous! Are they Ember Tetras up at the top in the 4th pic?
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They are indeed ember tetras. They are a good example of what those pale orange little fish in the shop can look like when they've settled in.
And the big pale blurs are dwarf rainbows.
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They are stunning little fish!
When I first saw the pic of The female that might not be I thought it was a pregnant female as it is rather portly! Or had they just had tea?!!
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They are indeed ember tetras.
Thought so, saw some at the weekend - first time I'd come across any and rather liked the look of them. Nice to see them in an established tank.
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Gorgeous! Ahhh I'm very jealous Sue! Your tank is looking great
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When I first saw the pic of The female that might not be I thought it was a pregnant female as it is rather portly! Or had they just had tea?!!
Female peacock gudgeons/gobies do tend to have that shape, males less so but still that 'just stuffed themselves' look. They hadn't been fed, I fed them straight after I took the photos. I know what my fish are like when there is food in the tank - every photo would have had a streak across it as some fish or other chased down a bit of food. That's how I got the last photo, when they saw me they all clustered at the point where I drop the food in ;D
It is several years since I last had these gudgeons. It was before I had the 125 litre , so before 2006, and I just had a pair in my 60 litre tank. I finally remembered about the eyes after scaring myself when these looked as though they had cloudy eyes. I also remembered about males having a hump on their foreheads and females having a black edge to their anal fins - though the ones I've just got don't have much of a back stripe. And I know that juvenile males have a female shaped head till they mature - I got a trio originally last time but one grew up and turned out to be a male so I took him back. I recently read that males have longer anal and dorsal fins. Two of mine, the ones with lumpy foreheads, do have long fins while the other three, which also have yellowish bellies, have short fins.
Fingers crossed I've got 2m 3f.
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I have to report some bad news about the gudgeons. I got up this morning to find one male dead without a mark on his body and the other male with bulging eyes all red and swollen, and he was sitting in a corner not moving. I don't think they'd been fighting or they'd both have shown more damage. The second male looked so ill, I put him down.
On the plus side, the three females look OK for the moment but I'll be keeping a close eye on them too.
I just hope nothing gets passed on to the other fish. I should have quarantined the gudgeons :(
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What a shame, poor fishies :( Hope the rest stay well.
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Sorry to hear that Sue :-( Wonder what it was. Fingers crossed for your other fish staying happy and healthy
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Thank you both for kind words.
I suspect an internal infection of some kind. The bulging eyes on both sides of one of them, combined with the red all round them suggests something of the sort. And I know that without antibiotics there is very little chance of curing something like this.
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Oh, really sorry to hear about your gudgeons, Sue. :( What a shame, I hope the others stay well.
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That's sad news indeed.
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I was enjoying the thread until it turned into a tragedy! :'(
I was hoping to add a pair of these but a lfs said they don't stock them as they require brackish water. Another store I previously asked at didn't say this but they didn't have any in stock otherwise I would have bought a pair.
Any advice about whether they need brackish water and whether a m/f pair are suitable for a 120l planted tank with other community fish (tetras, platy, corys, harlequin rasbora, dwarf gourami).
Hope the others are ok!
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Definitely does not need brackish water, quite the opposite in fact, prefers soft water. I suspect the people in the shop think that because it's often called Peacock Goby "it's a goby, gobies need brackish water", but in fact it's not a goby at all, just looks a bit like one.
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"it's a goby, gobies need brackish water"
Ha, that's exactly what they said! Thanks for the response Richard, I'll keep my eye out for a pair of these.
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Sorry to hear about your fish. I'd really like to get some at some point. Can I ask how you put a fish down? I have no idea.
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Can I ask how you put a fish down? I have no idea.
Can I direct you to this thread (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,308.0.html) on fish euthanasia.
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I have to report a female has now gone. She was floating at the top of the tank yesterday, with bulging eyes and red abdomen. She was so far gone I put her down.
The remaining two females appear to be OK (for the moment at least). Last evening both were swimming round the tank in and out of the plants, nibbling at something on them. Fingers crossed they don't come down with whatever-it-is as well.
Since these fish have died/got sick within 2 weeks of buying them and no other species in the tank is showing symptoms, I think they had whatever-it-is when I got them. I know it was a Maidenhead Aquatics, but their branches do vary. I know someone who won't buy their fish from this MA, preferring to travel further to the next nearest one, because of the manager of this MA. Maybe they have a point :-\
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Oh no what a shame :(
I must admit my local maidenhead aquatics doesn't look good (to me anyway) every tank has dead or dying fish in them.
There ws someone selling peacocks on eBay might be worth trying .
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Can I direct you to this thread (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,308.0.html) on fish euthanasia.
A somewhat macabre but ultimately beneficial link to bookmark :-\
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A week on, and the last two females are doing well. They are both eating flake or pellets, not sure which as I feed both and crush them up for my very small fish so I only see them eating bits floating in the water.
I have seen them flaring at each other, and the smaller one is showing great interest in the cavity in the mangrove root, the tall thin piece of wood in the tank. You can see the top of it in the last picture in the first post. I find this behaviour most interesting as I didn't think females bothered with caves unless tempted in by a male. I am watching this smaller fish with interest as I've previously had a 'female' which developed male characteristics at puberty. This is one reason I'm not rushing to find any more males just yet. Though this one is showing female traits - non-lumpy forehead, black edge to the anal fin, and anal & dorsal fin not extending to the tail fin. I'll have to wait and see and maybe look for males in a few weeks.
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A week on, and the last two females are doing well.
Great news :)