Rescue Siamese fighting fish thread

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
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Finally found a fighting fish for sale that I could rescue, On the local Facebook Marketplace of course.
With any luck it's still available. Here is the 'before' picture for the 'before and after'.

1633556492368.png

While this isn't the tier of fish rescuing that gold-tier members like thebiggerthebetter thebiggerthebetter do, one thing I take a lot of pride in is that the living conditions for this rescue should be directly comparable to those of the fish that Fish Story takes in.
(More specifically, recommended minimum tank size for Siamese fighting fish is 19-38 liters, while this rescue will be going in a 12.5-25x bigger 473 liter tank.
That is very comparable to the fish that Fish Story takes in - the species that I know of that are there all have minimum tank sizes broadly falling in the 680-6800 liter range. But they go in tanks that are, once again, in the range of 12.5-25x bigger, 17000-85000 liters).

Hopefully all will go well!
 

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
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Thank you for commenting. I hope this thread inspires other MFKers to take rescues into large tanks with compatible fish.
 

Fishman Dave

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It’s commendable what you are doing but just take care if the plan is to put him with your pim Pictus. Those fins may prove to be too tempting for a nibble at night.
I know you have the Pictus with Khuli loach already but neither are “typical” tank mates of Pictus cats and are on the “done with risks known” side.
 

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
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Yes, care will be taken. I have seen what pictus catfish are capable of doing to a tank mate they view as a snack, and that's not really any better than the conditions I aim to rescue fighting fish from.

To that end, the fighting fish will be introduced to the opposite end of the tank to where the pictus catfish prefers to be (so there is reduced risk of an attack at the moment the rescue gets released from acclimation), and shelter inaccessible to the pictus catfish (as in, a breeder net positioned close enough to the top of the water that a fighting fish can get in or out but a pictus catfish can't) will be available at all times.

If any issues still crop up, I'll look into a seperate 19-38 liter aquarium or stock tank for the fighting fish alone (and before anyone asks, putting it in the 110 liter probably wouldn't be that good of an idea. Because all the accounts I have heard of neon tetras getting bullied and stressed by Siamese fighting fish, I wouldn't trust a Siamese fighting fish with neon tetras any more than I would trust a pictus catfish).

Edit: because pictus catfish live around 5 times as long as Siamese fighting fish, there are going to be multiple rescues over the course of Gray's lifespan. This has me wondering, if I come across one in that timeframe, could a rescue plakat be less at risk in regards to having its fins viewed as snacks? They are not very long at all.
 
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Fishman Dave

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The fish you can put with Pictus cats very much comes down to the temperament of the Pictus.
Yes the obvious to avoid are those which can be considered a meal or present bite sized parts. As your Pictus lives with Khuli loach, which it could easily consider a worm like meal, you may be ok. But, most catfish keepers will tell you that a catfish temperament can also change and some cats that have lived together with other fish a while suddenly don’t.

Since you mention it, I will ask. Why are the Khuli loach in with the Pictus and clown loach and not in the neon tank? They would much prefer gravel and plants to bare bottom.
 

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
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I agree with the first part of what you said. Temperament can do a 180 when you least expect it, I learned this firsthand when Gray abandoned his cave for good and did not hide since after being moved from the growout to the current permanent tank.

As for the kuhli loaches being in the 473 liter instead of the 110 liter, it's primarily a temperature issue. Kuhlis like much warmer water than neons, and I have heard of cases of neons just dropping dead for no apparent reason when kept at temperatures above 24-25 degrees, so one or the other would most likely be temperature compromised if I mixed them.

That, and the kuhlis are nearly impossible to catch. I say this from having to catch only 1 in a 91 cm long tank with all decor removed, water level greatly lowered, and all other fish removed, so catching 5 or 6 in a 183 cm tank with full water, decor, and other fish is not only ridiculously difficult but ridiculously stressful for all of the fish. I would honestly be surprised if there were no stress related kuhli loach casualties if I ended up doing that, so I'd prefer not to risk that.

In regards to the bare bottom, I haven't noticed anything about the kuhli loaches that suggests they are stressed in the tank. They are feeding well, not swimming erratically, and are socializing as normal.
I suspect there is sufficient cover in the form of caves for them to feel secure without the substrate.

One more thing: neon tetras are probably some of the riskiest fish to have outside their preferred temperature range because of how much commercial fish farms have degraded their hardiness in the aquarium. This adds a lot to my iffiness on mixing the neon tetras and kuhli loaches, and may be the cause behind those cases I mentioned of their frequent deaths in >24-25 degree water.
 
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Deadeye

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In a large tank I wouldn’t be worried about bettas eating neons. That’s more of a problem in a small tank where there is nowhere to go.
 

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
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Not sure how large the tank would have to be, but I'm not sure 110 liters would be enough. Apparently the problem with Siamese fighting fish picking on neon tetras is that the numbers and activity of the neons are not things they take kindly to, and I don't see 10 neon tetras (let alone 30 neon tetras and 12 rummynose tetras!) not being stressors because they are alwasy on the move and often altogether.

And, as it turns out, there's something else I missed earlier about the compatibility (or rather lack thereof) of the 2. I was so worried about the figihting fish giving the tetras hell if they were mixed that I didn't notice until now how much higher the preferred temperature of the fighting fish is than that of the tetras.
For the same reasons above on not mixing the temperature-different loaches and tetras, that makes mixing the fighting fish with the tetras even less of a good idea.
 

Deadeye

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All would be fine around 76, that is the average for most tropical fish.
 
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