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flagfish question

Started by Guest_bart_* , Jan 25 2010 10:41 PM

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11 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_bart_*

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Posted 25 January 2010 - 10:41 PM

I had a few central mudminnows in a 10 gallon and my brother wanted to setup a new tank for them. He got a 20 long and added soil and gravel. He planted anacharis, c.spiralis, hornwort, green myrio, and some small stuff in the front. The general idea is a wall of plants in the back 2/3 of the tank and some small stuff in the front. The light is a 65 watt coralife. At first the hair algae was getting bad but with the addition of more plants and an influx of lots of bladder snails, the algae is completely gone. There is one otto in the tank and we introduced 4 central mudminnows yesterday. Most of the snails are gone now and surely will be all gone soon. We plan on getting 2 topminnows from btdarters if he still has them and would like to add a flagfish or 2 to the mix. The mudminnows are pretty neat when they feed but overall rather boring. There surely will be plenty of hair algae as the bio-load goes up and the snails are all gone. Would a male and female flagfish be appropriate with mudminnows and topminnows in a 20 long? A little color would be nice though I have read lots of mixed things about them. Some people say they can be incredibly aggressive yet are fantastic algae eaters.

So this would be the load.

4-5 mudminnows
1 otto sp.
2 blackstripe topminnows
1-2 flagfish?

Here are some pics of the tank. Believe it or not there are actually mudminnows in there. :laugh:

#2 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 25 January 2010 - 11:52 PM

I have mudminnows in a 100 gallon and a 30 gallon tank. I'm going to convert a 10 gallon for some because I almost never see them in the larger tanks. Personally I would leave them in the 10 and set up the 20 for other natives. (Disclaimer: I am not capable of having just one tank.) I think the mudminnows will hide from the flagfish. I also don't think you will have much trouble with algae. You will probably have some initially, but as the tank matures and the plants take off, the plants will out compete the algae for nutrients and it will go away.

#3 Guest_Jan_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 07:28 PM

I have a similar selection of fish in a ten gallon. Eastern Mudminnow, Least Killies, a Tesselated Darter, 4 Flagfish, and 3 Golden Topminnows.
They all get along fine, including the Flagfish.

I got my Topminnows from Sachs Aquaculture - they have a very good selection and service.

#4 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 08:41 PM

I have a similar selection of fish in a ten gallon. Eastern Mudminnow, Least Killies, a Tesselated Darter, 4 Flagfish, and 3 Golden Topminnows.
They all get along fine, including the Flagfish.

I got my Topminnows from Sachs Aquaculture - they have a very good selection and service.

Do you see the mudminnow regularly?

I've bought fish from Sachs too, I was happy with the service.

#5 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 08:49 PM

Just a thought would a trio of
Central Stonerollers---- Campostoma anomalum
do well in this type of a tank?

#6 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 09:33 PM

Nice tank. Flagfish will love those plants...for breakfast lunch amd dinner. :rolleyes:

They can be a bit nippy with other fish but a male with two or three females to chase will leave other fish alone.
They apparently are good at eating fry. I never got mollie fry when I had flagfish in the tank. My biggest complaint was how they mowed down certain plants. That finally got them evicted.

#7 Guest_bart_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 09:40 PM

I should think stonerollers would prefer more current and are probably just as good at rolling plants as they are stones. I think they would probably be too big too.

The mudminnows are being a bit more visible but love to lurk in the weeds as it their nature. This is fine and what we expected. They just need some flashy tankmates. :biggrin:

I have heard lots of people whining about how nasty flagfish can be on some of the tropical forums. That is probably because they keep them with more delicate fish. The mudminnows don't take nuthin' from nobody. We love watching them posture and fight. I enjoy a little violence in the tank as long as no one gets hurt or too stressed. This being said, are flagfish really the terrors people make them out to be?

#8 Guest_bart_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 09:44 PM

I've heard from one or two sources they have been known to eat plants. Most say they will leave them alone. Did your tank have sufficient algae to keep them fed?

#9 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 09:49 PM

Did your tank have sufficient algae to keep them fed?

At that time I had so much hair algae I was close to breaking down the tank. The sailfin mollies pretty much lived on it - I rarely gave them flake or meat. The flagfish ate plenty of algae but they [unlike the mollies] nibbled on the plants and developed a taste for a micro-sword that I was coaxing to spread. They mowed it down literally - nipped off clean at the substrate.

#10 Guest_bart_*

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Posted 26 January 2010 - 10:04 PM

Anyone else have this problem?

#11 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 27 January 2010 - 09:57 AM

I've heard that some algae eating fish such as flag fish will eat plants if they aren't getting enough vegetable matter in their diets. Feeding algae wafers or flakes should cut down on plant nibbling.

#12 Guest_bart_*

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Posted 13 February 2010 - 09:21 PM

My brother and I were at the LFS and while checking out the new live stock, not looking for anything in particular and what should we see? Flagfish! Nate got one for his tank. Very exciting to see in person for the first time. Everything seems cool so far. Trading blows with the mudminnows but that's about it.