Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

minnow questions

Started by Guest_FirstChAoS_* , Jun 22 2009 10:51 PM

Reply to this topic

5 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

Guests

Posted 22 June 2009 - 10:51 PM

I have a few questions about cypriniformes, a few are about my tank and fish, a few others are basic curiousity.

1. Are their any other cyprinids that are poor community fish other than fallfish? I sort of worry about some of the larger ones like creek chubs.

2. I got a longnose dace for my tank today, does this species need any special care and feeding?

3. A seen a few stores online sell fathead minnows as rosey reds, petco sells rosey reds as feeder minnows. are these fatheads too? (yes, i am wondering about store purchasable natives).

4. Are carp in the minnow family? I hear some books list them as minnows and some not.

5. Minnows are often regarded as small, but i have caught 16 inch fallfish before. this makes me wonder how big minnows can get? I hear the Squafish (or colorado pike minnow) is the largest minnow in the US, how big does it get? What is the largest native minnow east of the mississippi? I once seen an in-fisherman where a giant mahseer was caught in india which was in the minnow family, is this the worlds largest minnow or are their bigger?

6. What's the largest cyprinid anyone here has kept in an aquarium?

#2 Guest_keepnatives_*

Guests

Posted 23 June 2009 - 12:33 AM

I don't consider creek chubs a community fish at least not with smaller minnow and shiners. They get larger then most and are pigs, hard to compete with for food if they don't consider their tank mates food themselves. With other larger fish they can be very colorful, more so during breeding season of course.

#3 Guest_daveneely_*

Guests

Posted 23 June 2009 - 06:56 AM

I have a few questions about cypriniformes, a few are about my tank and fish, a few others are basic curiousity.

1. if you want community fish, try to avoid things that get big or have big mouths (just as a rule of thumb)...

2. longnose dace do best with current; even when they occupy lakes they occur in wave-swept areas close to the shore. they're not picky eaters.

3. fatheads/rosies are minnows too.

4. carp are most certainly minnows.

5. Catlocarpio siamensis is the largest minnow worldwide, it's restricted to the Mekong and Chao Phraya drainages in SE Asia. While there's some debate over whether they actually get to 3m long, they DO get really, really big! Fallfish are the largest in eastern NA, although creek chubs and flathead chubs can get to about 30 cm...

6. A friend of mine had some Sacramento squawfish that were pretty good sized (~20 cm) in aquaria, and if I remember correctly there used to be a great display of big colored-up Mylocheilus at the Vancouver Aquarium...

hope this helps.

Edited by daveneely, 23 June 2009 - 06:57 AM.

#4 Guest_PhilipKukulski_*

Guests

Posted 23 June 2009 - 09:24 AM

3. A seen a few stores online sell fathead minnows as rosey reds, petco sells rosey reds as feeder minnows. are these fatheads too? (yes, i am wondering about store purchasable natives).

Bob Muller and Dr. Smith at U of Mich
found that Rosyreds are a mixture (hybrid) of 3 minnow species.

Edited by PhilipKukulski, 23 June 2009 - 09:25 AM.

#5 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 23 June 2009 - 08:53 PM

Creek Chubs can be good community fish... it just has to be a rather rough community... I kept a couple of Creek Chubs (at 4-5 inches) with a bullhead cat (at 5-7 inches) and a sunfish (4 plus inches)... so it was sort of a community... rather rough and tumble, and no body fit in anybodies mouth for at least a year or so... (and then I moved away from the tank so I am not sure what happened after that)...

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#6 Guest_tricolor_*

Guests

Posted 24 June 2009 - 11:37 AM

5. Catlocarpio siamensis is the largest minnow worldwide, it's restricted to the Mekong and Chao Phraya drainages in SE Asia. While there's some debate over whether they actually get to 3m long, they DO get really, really big! Fallfish are the largest in eastern NA, although creek chubs and flathead chubs can get to about 30 cm...

And proportionally it may have the biggest head too :twisted:

In the old times pretty big ones can be found in canals close to gardens and fields close to the river, probably gorging on plentiful detritus and tiny lifeforms.