Mystery Fish..Solved?

by goldfishbetalover on Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:42 pm

some may recall that we recently brought home very tiny baby fish
was told they were guppies....
there were 7 in total
now there are 4 only
one of them I have found and it had expired the other 2 remain missing?...
they are growing quite rapidly...
the big question is what do I have in there?
Just by looking at them I know for certain that they are not all the same species of fish....perhaps 2 of them are the same but 2 for certain are not!
I know photos please?....
Hopefully I can get some on here of them but in the meantime here is what I believe I have:
2 guppies
1 mosquito fish
1 silver platy

by **CAAIndie** on Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:38 pm

Looking forward to seeing the shots. We'll do our best once we see them.

by goldfishbetalover on Tue Dec 31, 2013 5:10 am

Shell says she is going to come up and have a look as well.
2 of them look very much like guppy's...have the distinguishing features
I have looked at photos on the computer to coem to my other conclusions

by GaryE on Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:38 am

I think you may still have to be patient. Mosquito fish rarely show up in feeder tanks, when feeder livebearers are shipped in bulk from Florida (the poor things). But to have them in with display fish would be super rare - they shred the fins of tankmates, especially of fancy guppies.
You should (not) see what they do to a Betta.

Most of the time when I try to identify mystery fry, I am wrong. You may be better at it, but I usually miss that bus. Once they are up around 2 cm, or if they turn out male, it gets easier.

by goldfishbetalover on Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:25 am

I am going to see if I can get some decent photos of these guys
the reason I am thinking that one of them is a mosquito is because the body is slightly different form the 2 that I think are guppies
He seems to swim faster than these 2 and also his body is slightly more slender
the one that I think is a platy has a more rounded shape....he is a silver color sort of with 2 bits of black
Will this mosquito if it is a mosquito kill or hurt the others...he does appear to be chasing one of the fish that appear to be a guppy an awful lot
I told Shell that I may have to bring him to her house tomorrow as we are going there for dinner...she has 2 mosquito fish already as you know
if he won't hurt the others we are happy to keep him
I have read mixed reviews on mixing them happily with guppies....
Thanks Gary!`

by GaryE on Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:04 pm

Betcha he's a male of the guppylike fish -skinny, and chasing girls - he's either a Grade 10 boy or a male livebearer.

I'll betcha absolutely nothing of value I'm wrong about thinking they could be guppies and they'll all pan out as mollies....

by goldfishbetalover on Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:53 am

I would truly love to know what the fish are...all of them....I just don't want anyone to get hurt...hoping to get a few good photos of them today...
Thnx Gary!

by **Shell** on Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:32 am

Here are some pics I took of goldfishbetalover's mystery fish. My guess is that one or two are guppies and one is a mosquito fish, and maybe one is a platy of some sort (the last pic a mosquito and guppy, the first pic a platy??)? There are also two babies in there, but I could not get a shot of them! I'll be interested to see what others think!

by sailfinja on Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:23 am

I think you've got it right. Definately looks like a male mosquito fish.

by GaryE on Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:46 am

I'm thinking a platy, and guppies. I'll wager the colourless male doesn't stay colourless for long.

by goldfishbetalover on Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:15 pm

can these fish live happily together?
they appear to be happy!......

by **Biulu** on Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:22 pm

Yes, I also see a platy, male guppy, female guppy and 2 colourless males.

Those fish can live together without problems in general, although some guppies can get nippy but time will tell.

by sailfinja on Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:57 pm

Second picture the fish just above and left of the moss, reproductive organ seems way to long and slender to be a guppy. Unless I am seeing things wrong.

by GaryE on Tue Jan 21, 2014 4:16 am

I didn't even see him, let alone see his gonopodium. You may have something there. I can't see well enough to be sure, but if that is what it seems to be, I agree with you.

by goldfishbetalover on Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:04 am

oh my.....
so do folk think the little platy will be ok? will others nip at him? should he be on his own?
also if not guppies then what?

by GaryE on Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:04 am

The platy is fine, as are the guppies. Gambusia are always hungry, and so they nip. They are greedy little beasts. Down the line, as the fish grow, you will have confirmation of what you have. Shell has some female Gambusia, if I remember correctly, so he could have a happy home there.

Gambusia affinis only really do damage to fish with long fancy fins. My Gambusia nicaraguensis damge no one - it seems to be a species by species thing.

You're good. No problems.

For now.