Photography? Share your pics.

Bro, it's wal-mart goldfish....

...and? Goldfish are in the Carp family which are some of the longest living fish on the planet.....records indicate some carp species can live over 100 years. Where the fish came from shouldn't change the expected life-span for a particular species, although poor husbandry will. Goldfish are much more high-maintenance fish than people understand and are one of the most mistreated animals in captivity. Your average Comet goldfish can grow up to 12 inches and requires at least a 30 gallon aquarium to be kept healthy. because they are such dirty fish and produce such high levels of ammonia, filtration should be rated DOUBLE the size of the tank (60 gallons) and 50% water changes weekly are needed. I could go on and on, but believe me when I say, Goldfish are a very VERY poor choice for starting off in fish-keeping. The fact that most people don't care if they live or die doesn't change the requirements they are supposed to have, regardless. Definitely NOT a fish meant for a bowl, like a Betta.

</3

Very well said, nice to see an educated person. When I worked at a fish store some lady decided to bitch at me because I was trying to explain how to take care of a goldfish and she thinks I was just trying to take her money, she even went on how she had a sister who had a goldfish in a bowl for 6 years and I just wanted to say to her "wow she must be pretty sadistic." Funny thing is two weeks later she came in and bought a tank...

I guess I should back up my talk, since I always say "Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk"

My 120 gallon Central American Cichlid tank (60"L x 18"W x 24"H)

Show me dat frilly setup.

I gotta snap some shots of the new Frilled set-up...i just converted a cage for her a few months ago since warm weather was coming, but I haven't taken any pictures of it yet. Here's a Midas Cichlid instead...he's a few years old, bred once and got a big scar on his head from a fight w/ a giant catfish. He's actually "Dad" to the orange and peach colored Flowerhorns in the 120 gallon.






He has to be kept alone now cuz he'll kill any fish I try to put in with him...even fish TWICE his size and armored. He hits the glass so hard, you can hear the smack 2 floors up and he attacks non-living objects as well as hands and fingers, including siphon hoses, heaters, filter intakes, etc (he's already broken 2 heaters previous). I tried to show his size by putting a measuring tape near him, but the perception is off and he's actually closer to 13 or 14 inches....for some reason the picture, distance, glass etc didn't show up right.....but he's MASSIVE....and he was only 3 inches when I got him about 4 years ago

beautiful

@AREZ God of War

WOW That Midas Cichlid is absolutely gorgeous!

I thought you might like that. Almost the pure white strain which is extremely difficult to find....ALMOST. Still he's my boy....named Deebo, after Deebo from the Movie "Friday"

He has bitten me before, and he draws BLOOD....the teeth are conical and reptilian-like rather than serrated like a Piranha.....and they go DEEP.

Fish and birds are my favorite, but I love everything really. What size tank is he in, looks to be a 55g?

Also just curious, are those aquaclear HOB filters? Those are actually my favorite since I love the basic box design for packing in the biomax ceramic pieces and a sponge.

The tank which I thought as a 70 gallon is actually by-market a 67.5 gallon, however, manufacturers label tanks by the outter measurment from border to border. This is nonsensical because the glass alone is sometimes 1/2 inch thick and U can't fill it to the borders. I measured it from INSIDE glass to glass and it turns out to be a 62.5 gallon, so the manufactur's rating actually adds another 5 gallons of "unusable" space. If there was nothing but water, it would have 62.5 gallons when filled to the inside lip of the border. Outside it measures 48"L x 13W x 25.5H (a 55 gallon is the same but only 21 inches high)...the width is the only thing I have a problem with considering for a fish that size it should have 24" width going by the "formula" : 4x the length of the fish for length, width = 2x length of fish, but he seems to be content for now.

The HOBs are a Whisper (i forget the #?) and a Penguin 170, but combined they are rated up to 80 gallons of water. Factor the amount of water displaced by the fish itself and about 60 lbs of gravel/stones, I'd guess there's about 50-55 gallons in the end. The air pump for bubbles is a 2-port, rated up to 120 gallon tanks and the one on my 120-gallon is 4-port, rated up to 180 gallons. The 120 gallon also has a Fluval 205 canister filter and a Penguin 350 HOB, (and a Powerhead) combined rating up to 120 gallons, which as far as canisters go, is still usually CAPABLE of doing twice the package's rating (so let's say 160). Also, my natural bacteria colonies are outstandingly healthy, therefore, my water maintenece extremely minimal now as well.

I'm all about canisters cuz like I said....they definitely filter much more water than they say on the box. Try one, you'll never go back to HOBs or submersibles. Even still, i try to do water changes anywhere from once a week to once a month when needed, and I change 70 gallons at a time. My rocks seem to have Iron ore in them so I have to in orderto keep my heavy metals balanced.

I still can't get over how beautiful that fish is...

I have 3 of his babies left in the 120 gallon and they are for sale......


Unfortunately HE is not.

Unfortunately I never have much money so I can't take on more pets

welcome to the club. lol

That really means a lot, I'm always hard on myself and want to achieve better, but I'm glad people here are appreciating them.

I'm was going to the national history museum tomorrow, but it's such a nice day I think I may go back to Huntley Meadows and take multiple trips back and forth, I hope I see as much as I did last time I was there!

That explains the bump on his head

That's actually triggered at sexual maturity in alot of male cichlids, particulary Amphilophids. It is called a Nuchal hump or "Kok" ; a congregation of hormones and endorphins that signify to nearby females that he is sexually mature and ready to spawn. The more dominant a fish gets, the bigger the nuchal hump gets. This makes them very popular among hobbyist due to the spectacular displays they put out and owner-responsiveness they are known for. The one you see in the picture (hump) is actually much larger now and the scars are much more healed as well. Midas, Red Devil, Red Terror, Green Terror, Convicts, Mayan, and several other Cichlids share this characteristic, and some people even buy specially formulated food, "Humpy Head" to enhance the hump.....also putting a mirror next to the tank to make him think it's a rival male will equally increase the hormone rush and make the hump swell bigger.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphilophus_citrinellus

I woke up this morning and saw this pretty lady at the feeder and luckily she stayed long enough for me to grab my camera...

Female Red Bellied Woodpecker.


I can't wait to get a picture of a Northern Flicker, they are my favorite and I love their beautiful yellow feathers under their wings when they fly.

@AREZ God of War : I dont have a photo but i won a goldfish in a no more than 2 litre bag of water from a carnival ran by gypsies, it had half of its tail fin missing and a fresh looking wound along its side.

I got that when i was 7, it died when i was 17, after living in a tank made of plastic with novelty coloured stones and being fed 1 or 2 pinches of fish flakes each day i remembered.

I wouldnt give a kid a fish as a pet, i went mental until i got that fish, and soon after i was bored of it, something on tv probably caught my attention. But yeah it was good that it managed to live that long, it was silver and orange, no idea what breed, but it was called Big Ern after a character that Bill Murray played in the movie King Pin, which i loved as a child, even though i didnt understand much of it being a fairly crude film!

@BDMao88 finally found this thread! Awesome stuff.

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

@Treadmill thanks man!

@smokey not to make you feel bad but if you got a goldfish from a carnival it was most likely a single tail goldfish which would grow to 16 inches, I doubt yours ever grew to that size and would have had plenty of time in 10 years, so most likely you stunted it's growth and the organs kept growing.

It really disgusts me how people get pets *yes I know some of you were kids at the time, but you do have parents* and don't do any kind of research at all and just want to have a pet and don't want to take the proper care of it. You should never bring up to somebody that you had a fish for x amount of years because that's like torture. It's like me bragging about how I tied my dog to a tree and he lived for a few years before the fox got him.

It's a shame how fish are treated as a hobby rather than a pet. Yes some goldfish and other fish can survive in horrible conditions, some fish can be extremely resilient and others very sensitive. Fish are far from being a cheap pet too, but people love taking that route.

My girl's cousin insists she must keep a goldfish all the time and it too is a single tail and she keeps that thing in a plastic container you would use to house crickets and all that fish does is stay at the surface gasping for air and doesn't move.

Sorry I had to rant a little...