# Fish that work well in a water feature ?



## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

Hey all, I have a water feature in my terribilis tank that I would love to add fish too . The "pond" holds about a 1/2 gal of water and has a stream flowing into it . It has no external filter just cycles through so waist would also be a factor ? Though it dose "filter" through lots of gravel . Also have some top water "lilly" that I woulden't like the fish to munch too bad .Lots of sprintails on water surface also possible food source for fish ?Sorry this sounds alot like a beginner topic ,I just really do not know a damn thing about fish except how to catch them ! Ideas welcome . 
Thanks ,
Darren Meyer


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

Darren! You don't know how to catch fish. Thats why its called fishing and not catching.
Dave


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

Hey Dave play nice this is your last warning :twisted:


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

*LOL*

LOL
All kidding aside. I would not put eating fish past a terriblis. But you would know better than I would.
Dave


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## Joe Baginski (Dec 21, 2004)

*White Cluod Mt. Minnows.*

These work great...get big as a large tetra and do fine in almost anytype of water. I've also used them to keep snail mosquito populations down in ponds.

Are you going to the meeting Darren?


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

Yes I'm going !!!!Any frogs you want ? 
Darren


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## Joe Baginski (Dec 21, 2004)

*Frogs?*

Email me ( jbag[email protected] ) and let me know what you've got.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

*small live bearers!*

dare I say it.... guppies! And endler's live bearers. And mosquito fish. I've kept young animals in my frog ponds in the past. They are a great bug clean up crew for what lands in your tank. And they'd reproduce to replace the fish the terribilis might eat....

Small bettas might also do well depending on the species. I'm fond of the wine red bettas. Basically I recomend slow water - still water - back water species that can handle a wide range in water qualities like the fish I talked about above.

My only think against cloud minnows in that situation (and why I wouldn't recomend zebra/leopard danios which are similar in requirements) is that they are schooling fish, and a 1/2 gallon, even with more gallons of water available under the false bottom/gravel bottom (just not for swimming space) is not enough for a good school (5+). They need more swimming space as they are active fish. They'd live there, but just because they can, doesn't mean they should, and that it'd be best for them.


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Hey Darren! Thanks for having me over to your place while I was in Washington state.

I agree with Corey about the Bettas. They don't need much water and they're easy to care for.


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2005)

Cocos, peat, and the other products we use make standing water in our tanks a little acidic. So I would check your PH before choosing the right fish. I would let the tank cycle for 3 months before adding any fish, since every tank goes through the nitrate/nitrite/ammonia/bacterial cycle.


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Darren's tank has been up and running for a while. Probably more than three months at this point. Try checking the PH first. If you're using RO/DI water, I would guess it to be around 6.5 or so if it has leaves and cocos panels that it's filtering through.


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## dpotter1 (Feb 29, 2004)

I whould try either White Clouds or Danios. They are both rather hardy and can take poor water quality.


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

White clouds or betta.

Luke


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

Well I got some simple neon tetras . They look as though they'll be just fine .Feeding started as soon as I put them in .BTW the tank has been set up for 4 years now , just gravel ,no soil . and produced many a frog .
Thanks for the replys ,
Darren


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## DaFrogMan (Oct 8, 2004)

Darks!de said:


> White clouds or betta.
> 
> Luke


The white clouds would probably be fine, but I don't know about the betta. Anyone ever stuck their finger in a betta bowl and waited until the betta bit it? (I do this in my spare time, lol just kidding)

But think of what a betta could do to a poor unsuspecting frog who has it's leg sitting in the water. :shock:


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

Lol, i've done that plenty of times. Though it may startle a frog, it would not harm it. But a betta would work well just because of it's natural habitat and that fact that it breathes atmospheric air.

Luke


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Heh. For their size, male bettas have some of the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom, and they have sharp teeth too. Most of them are not aggressive to anything but other bettas, but every once in awhile you get one that wants to take a chunk out of anything else living that gets near. While they would certainly not pose any danger to adult frogs, if the adults deposit tads in the water feature, a male betta might harrass them. If you do decide to get bettas, get female bettas. They are social (so can be kept more than one to a tank) and non-aggressive.

I used to have a male betta that would attack any other fish in the aquarium. He would even flare out at fish that looked nothing like another male betta, such as catfish and alge eaters. I ended up having to move him into his own tank. I didn't want to get rid of him, because he was the most gorgeous betta I'd ever laid eyes on, bright wine red with comb fins. But I couldn't keep him with anything else.


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

*Well*

I have a male betta. He doesn't alwaysdo this, but once in a while if I throw in a hydei or two he goes to town.
(Insert Jaws Music here)
Dave


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

When I mentioned "bettas" I wasn't just talking _betta splendens_ (the average betta in the pet shops). Those guys can be very hit or miss personality wise. I've had females in the past just as aggressive as some of the males (lost a number of fish thinking she would be nice and passive). One of my absolute favorite fish these days is the wine red bettas, like Jack pictured below:










They are harder to track down, but are much more passive and would probibly be an excellent canidate (haven't tried these guys personally). And yes, he adores FFs.

I'm still not a fan of schooling fish (including neons, which tend to be touchy anyways) in such a small space. Rules and guidelines for successful fish keeping don't change just because the "fish tank" is the water body in out frog tanks.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Well, the betta I had looked just like this, except he was that very dark red color you sometimes see instead of this lighter red.


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## steelcube (Mar 17, 2004)

Corey, I think the one in the picture is called b.coccina.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2005)

Maybe some killi-fish would look nice, they're found in small pools and eat any kind of live food. I kept them for several years and they're really not difficult to keep and breed. To me that's the most beautiful fish :shock:


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Nathalie said:


> Maybe some killi-fish would look nice, they're found in small pools and eat any kind of live food. I kept them for several years and they're really not difficult to keep and breed. To me that's the most beautiful fish :shock:



I agree, thats what i plan on putting in my latest viv.


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## mnm (Jan 24, 2005)

I would definately go with killy fish. We have epiplaty dagetii in our water sections and they do great. Not the most colorful of species, but boy are they great cleaners. And I've never seen a hardier fish. Will tolerate a wide range of conditions.


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