Weird Flagtail?

H]-[H · Jul 2, 2014

Hi guys, yesterday I bought a 10~11 inch flagtail and its body seemed weird.. Looks elongated than normal?
It also has some battle scars on its right side of scales (didn't see it during purchase) which has healed..
Another thing, is it normal for these fish to hang at the top and suck water from the surface? Cause mine does that often and it likes to splash water too..
Sorry, first time keeping a flagtail.. Initially I was going to buy a small one around 5 inch but they don't have any so ended up with this big guy :/

slippery slimecoat · Jul 2, 2014

Looks like a nice, normal looking flagtail to me. Mine will suck at the water surface at times as well. Especially when I've put flake food in the tank. Congrats on finding a larger flagtail! You don't see them at that size for sale every day.

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H]-[H · Jul 2, 2014

slippery slimecoat said:
Looks like a nice, normal looking flagtail to me. Mine will suck at the water surface at times as well. Especially when I've put flake food in the tank. Congrats on finding a larger flagtail! You don't see them at that size for sale every day.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Thanks

Don't really know what it is sucking at the surface.. it looks like gasping for air but my tank is heavily aerated so must be normal behaviour?
At times, mine will suddenly dive downwards when sucking happily at the surface (hence the water splash) for no reason too.. as if it spooked itself
Do you have any pic of yours?

slippery slimecoat · Jul 2, 2014

H]-[H;6936077 said:
Thanks
Don't really know what it is sucking at the surface.. it looks like gasping for air but my tank is heavily aerated so must be normal behaviour?
At times, mine will suddenly dive downwards when sucking happily at the surface (hence the water splash) for no reason too.. as if it spooked itself
Do you have any pic of yours?

Being that yours is a new purchase I'd keep an eye on it just to be sure. But I do recall seeing mine at the surface even when I haven't put food in. They can be very flighty fish and can spook easily. Mine is about 8-9". I bought it about 3 yrs ago at about 2.5-3".

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xraycer · Jul 2, 2014

I've had mine for nearly a year and its grown to about 5"+ and it never hangs out near the surface. Even during feeding, it would hover only just slightly above mid water column in my 180.

Its tankmates are a bunch of paratheraps of the same size, and can get nippy, so perhaps this is why the flagtail doesn't like to go to the surface, where it feels vulnerable....idk

slippery slimecoat · Jul 2, 2014

Interesting. Mine hangs toward the top quite often. Especially while feeding. But its tankmates are clown loaches and spotted silver dollars. Nothing that bothers it at all.

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brich999 · Jul 2, 2014

Cant comment on behavior, but it looks perfectly normal to me except the pattern on the tail. Kinda unique like an oddball clown loach or something. Nice pickup

Allan01230 · Jul 2, 2014

that flagtail looks fine.. I had one that grew to 16 inches in a 100 gallon. I sold him to my lfs, had it for a few years it sucked water off the top a lot and was fine.

PDRed302 · Jul 2, 2014

Flagtail looks good and normal to me.

My flagtail skins the surface with his mouth all the time; no problems. He even blows bubbles out sometimes when he swims back down.

...nice pick up

Bottomfeeder · Jul 3, 2014

He looks healthy. In fact, he looks great. I'm guessing the reason he looks distinct to you is that he's so large. A lot of schoolers that start out more disk-shaped tend to become more streamlined as they get older.


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