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deetu

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I started a 2.5 gallon dwarf seahorse tank. The ponies were wild caught and are in QT. I also got snails and macro and l guess an egg came in with them somehow. Now what do l do with the little guy? (Reflection make it look like 2) What do you think he is? Tuna?

20191105_160552.jpg

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That's not a tuna, they're plankton as babies. 

 

We need a better pic, from the side. What to do with it depends on what it is, but probably you'll want to rehome it- you likely don't want it with your seahorses. It might get big enough to eat them.

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9 hours ago, Tired said:

That's not a tuna, they're plankton as babies. 

 

We need a better pic, from the side. What to do with it depends on what it is, but probably you'll want to rehome it- you likely don't want it with your seahorses. It might get big enough to eat 

I was kidding on the tuna but interesting to know. I have a 20 gallon tank so it wouldn't stay with the ponies for sure. 

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Hard to tell from that. It's almost shaped like some sort of killifish, but I don't think there are any saltwater killies.

 

Can you catch it? If you put it in a clear-sized enclosure, you can use a net or your hand to restrict it to an area right up near the side, so it's easier to photograph. 

 

How does it behave? That may help figure out what it is. 

 

I'd keep it. If it was caught in seahorse territory, it's probably a relatively small species. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see what it shapes up to be.

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That was my other thought, but I don't think the mouth is quite upturned enough. Plus, that would have to have come in as a fry, not an egg (mollies don't hatch from eggs), which is less likely.

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35 minutes ago, Tired said:

That was my other thought, but I don't think the mouth is quite upturned enough. Plus, that would have to have come in as a fry, not an egg (mollies don't hatch from eggs), which is less likely.

Well they said "I guess an egg" so I am assuming they didn't see an egg but idk...

 

It's a cool find...my macro never comes with fish 😭

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5 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Well they said "I guess an egg" so I am assuming they didn't see an egg but idk...

 

It's a cool find...my macro never comes with fish 😭

Definitely had to have hatched. I freshwater dipped and looked over everything that came in. 

Humm... come to think about it,  l removed what looked like slimy egg sacks from the macro 

6 hours ago, Tired said:

Hard to tell from that. It's almost shaped like some sort of killifish, but I don't think there are any saltwater killies.

 

Can you catch it? If you put it in a clear-sized enclosure, you can use a net or your hand to restrict it to an area right up near the side, so it's easier to photograph. 

 

How does it behave? That may help figure out what it is. 

 

I'd keep it. If it was caught in seahorse territory, it's probably a relatively small species. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see what it shapes up to 

It's pretty mellow. Hides in macro or behind sponge filter... then swims between filter and heater near the bottom. Been feeding the nassarius snails just put in so either he just hatched and is eating flake or nibbling on the macros. 

 

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You should keep it, grow it up, and see what it is. Get it a bit bigger and get some color on it, and I'm sure we can figure out what it is. I'll hazard a guess that it's going to stay smallish.

 

Do you have any tiny frozen foods that would work? If not, it will probably nibble on ground-up flake food or crushed pellets. I'd suspect it's eating pods. You should definitely add pods from other tanks, if you can, so it'll have something to go after. 

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7 hours ago, Tired said:

You should keep it, grow it up, and see what it is. Get it a bit bigger and get some color on it, and I'm sure we can figure out what it is. I'll hazard a guess that it's going to stay smallish.

 

Do you have any tiny frozen foods that would work? If not, it will probably nibble on ground-up flake food or crushed pellets. I'd suspect it's eating pods. You should definitely add pods from other tanks, if you can, so it'll have something to go after. 

No pods in there.  I can put in new hatched brine shrimp since I am feeding the dwarfs.

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2 minutes ago, j.falk said:

The body shape reminds me of a feeder guppy.  I'm with Tired...grow it up to see what it develops into...I'm hoping it's a swordfish!  😄

Good shout, looks a bit like Guppy Fry at 3-4 weeks old

 

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Definitely didn’t come as an egg. Marine fish have a planktonic stage of development that can last upwards of several months depending on the species; the needs for these planktonic larvae cannot be met outside of a dedicated system. 

I’d say most likely a guppy, but it could be any member of the livebearer family 

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Don't some marine fish have non-planktonic larvae? I know I've heard of a few species being accidentally bred. Not as in "ah, my fish laid eggs! I should raise the babies", more along the lines of "when did I get more of those", like happens in freshwater tanks sometimes.

 

This may also be a brackish water fish, which I'm pretty sure have plenty of non-planktonic larvae. Marsh killifish, maybe? 

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1 hour ago, Tired said:

Don't some marine fish have non-planktonic larvae?

To my knowledge, those who do have non-planktonic larvae are either mouth brooders or require other intensive parental care (cardinalfish, jawfish). I know there’s one species of damselfish that feeds its benthic larvae a mucus off it’s body similar to discus, but for the life of me I can’t remember what they’re called. 

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Interesting that so many marine fish go with those sorts of strategies, when a decent number of freshwater fish more or less make mini versions of themselves. Maybe because marine fish can be plankton, whereas that really doesn't work for freshwater environments, what with all the solid objects and walls.

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Well, mystery solved.

Had a smack head moment and contacted Jason at Foxy Fish, where the seahorses were from.  He said it's a minnow.

Like I said, I did pinch off slimy egg sacks off of the green ogo and must have missed this one.

As per Sciencing.com: Females lay adhesive eggs in algae, on aquatic plants, on pond bottoms, under rocks or in gravel nests.

Minnows adapt easily to a variety of habitats. Most minnows live in clear, freshwater streams, though they may also inhabit swamps, lakes, ponds, bogs and brackish water.

He won't be able to stay in my tank... was suggested to feed it to something :blink:

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