Dwarf goonch

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Tyty13
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Yes we're on the wrong page here...

Ok so when you say rutilus I picture this. Do you think that ours will end up looking similar to this.
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What I think of when somebody says rutilus
What I think of when somebody says rutilus
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Chicxulub
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Chicxulub »

Tyty13 wrote:Yes we're on the wrong page here...

Ok so when you say rutilus I picture this. Do you think that ours will end up looking similar to this.
Ours already look just like tiny versions of that. They look exactly the same, just smaller.

I took the liberty of running the image you attached through photoshop to correct the colors. The warm light is killing it, but it's really not that bad.
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Also, see these pics of my girl. The first pic is at about 6", the second pic is at about 10".

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Image

Finally, compare your picture, my fish, your fish and the baby from Amiidae's pictures of the "Bagarius bagarius" on that profile to this, the holotype for rutilus (thanks Silurus!). Note that the colors on this fish are stained from preservative. It seems pretty clear to me that all the fish in question are the same species. Any differences that you might see (I certainly don't see any) are just artifacts of size.

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Tyty13
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

After comparing all of them side by side, like you I see no major differences at all. So this would mean its a good chance that most 'dwarf goonches' from Thailand are actually rutilus. Right? :-\
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Chicxulub »

Tyty13 wrote:After comparing all of them side by side, like you I see no major differences at all. So this would mean its a good chance that most 'dwarf goonches' from Thailand are actually rutilus. Right? :-\
That is exactly my hypothesis. :)
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

And if that is the case it would raise another question. Are there really dwarf goonch? Perhaps the Indian species? I'm feel inclined to purchase one from India labeled a dwarf but if it was in fact a giant I would have nowhere to house it.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Silurus »

I don't think any of the Bagarius from India remain small.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

I've never heard of the ones coming from India being dwarves, however some sellers still label them that way. Does anyone know somebody who has owned a bagarius that only reached 8 inches in length after several years?
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Chicxulub »

Tyty13 wrote:I've never heard of the ones coming from India being dwarves, however some sellers still label them that way. Does anyone know somebody who has owned a bagarius that only reached 8 inches in length after several years?
I heard of one account on MFK but it was anecdotal. He had one picture and a story. That's not enough proof for me to accept it and roll with it.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

It truly is difficult and somewhat frustrating to think how when ordering one of these species your never intirely sure of what your getting. We really aren't terribly sure of the max size of our goonch from Thailand. But anyway I had a question I was hoping you could answer or at least give your input on. After watching the river monsters episode of the goonch I noticed that when they went under water to film the goonch in the wild for the first time, they were in groups hanging vertically on the rocks. Do you think ours would do well with other goonch tank mates like them?
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Chicxulub »

Tyty13 wrote:It truly is difficult and somewhat frustrating to think how when ordering one of these species your never intirely sure of what your getting. We really aren't terribly sure of the max size of our goonch from Thailand. But anyway I had a question I was hoping you could answer or at least give your input on. After watching the river monsters episode of the goonch I noticed that when they went under water to film the goonch in the wild for the first time, they were in groups hanging vertically on the rocks. Do you think ours would do well with other goonch tank mates like them?
There are many aquarists who have successfully kept groups of like sized goonches together.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Diablo seems to love the river rocks I found him while golfing last sunday
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Re: Dwarf goonch

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For the 3rd straight night I've been interrupted from watching tv because I see something in the corner of my eye moving. The only thing in the room is the goonch tank. I'm thinking that can't be Diablo he just lays a the bottom like a lump. I used the flashlight app on my phone and sure enough it was him scurrying on the sides of the tank laying vertically on the glass. Everytime I turn the light on though he sinks back to the bottom. Is there a type of low light that I can get so I can observe this behavior?
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by DutchFry »

First of all, i have been following this thread with great interest. thanks for starting it!

as for the light question, there are several types of 'moon light' types of lights available for aquarium use. mostly as LED's. they have a nice blue color to it and most fish are not even slightly bothered by it.

for example: http://www.amazon.com/R2-Extreme-LED-Aq ... cr_pr_pb_t
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Thank you for your interest Tim! And for the info. I want too be able to document my fish and help others interested learn more about these fish. While post are great I really want to be able to capture it on film. Nocturnal behavior of this fish hasn't been documented much. Hopefully I will be able to catch him on film eating soon. At night though is when he appears to be most active. I'm going to look at lights today and will hopefully have videos up soon. Also next water change is schedule a week from now, I plan on measuring him again then. I got him at 4.7 inches I believe he's at least 5 and a quarter now. Stay tuned.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

I was able to find a light for him today. I drove 1 hour home with it and it was broke so I drove all the way back to replace it. But here's Diablo's "night light". So far not much different but I expect it to take a few nights for him to adjust.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

I haven't posted in this in awhile. Here are some updates, I have videos of him however I'm having difficulty uploading them. And I'm going to try to get him on carnivore pellets this week..... He also ate two of my girlfriends catfish X_X
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Re: Dwarf goonch

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First time I've measured him since I obtained him almost 2 months ago at 7 inches. He's now 7.5 inches. The biggest difference would have to be how much longer his barbels have gotten.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Chicxulub »

Tyty13 wrote:First time I've measured him since I obtained him almost 2 months ago at 7 inches. He's now 7.5 inches. The biggest difference would have to be how much longer his barbels have gotten.

Mine seems to be fairly slow growing as well. I got her in March at 6-7" and at most, she's MAYBE 10" now. She's a very finicky eater with a tiny 'strike zone' though. I have trouble getting food down to her. I waste a bunch of food nearly every night just making sure she gets something!

Good luck with her. Do post more pics! :-BD
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Haha so you know how I feel too. Wasting all the pellets is frustrating. I tried a week without feeding mine and it still wouldn't take pellets. So it seems live feeders are the cleanest most disired food source.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Richard B »

Feeders are potentially problematic as all sorts of diseases could be present without manifesting themselves. Have you tried earthworms ( night crawlers) my bagarius used to really take them aggressively
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Chicxulub »

Richard B wrote:Feeders are potentially problematic as all sorts of diseases could be present without manifesting themselves. Have you tried earthworms ( night crawlers) my bagarius used to really take them aggressively
Indeed. I've yet to have a fish that won't take worms. Earthworms are actually higher in protein than quality foods like Massivore, so I'm considering switching to using them as a staple food source. I'm moving in a month or so and I think that after I do, I might start a worm farm!
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Hmm ill have to try them with him. I have a Lima shovelnose in with him at the moment and he eats night crawlers. I did hold one in front of his face for a few seconds to see if he'd take it. But as I've learned with him after 3-4 days of no food it's easy to sway him onto something new.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Chicxulub I did a water change today and noticed something different about Diablo. He has started developing black speckles on his fins and they seem to be an orange yellow color. Now it's safe to say that they're the same indeed.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Chicxulub »

Good stuff! It's always good to see real world corroboration of a hypothesis take place! :D
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Just wanted to add a pic of what he does around feeding day. It's great how he's become less shy and comes out and shows this behavior
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Tyty13
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Tyty13 »

Somebody please help me! My goonch was swimming around perfectly 2 hours ago and now is drawing his last breaths the tank has had nothing done to it a week... Why did this happen
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by JamesFish »

Try an air stone in the tank running if its low o2 he should pickup quickly.

Filter might be clogging up preventing circulation. It's a guess.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Viktor Jarikov »

I see he died from your other thread.

It looks to me that the redness on the fish in the last ventral shot could have been a sign of an illness spreading all over his body or at least a strong stress that leads to reddishness spread to fins and other areas. Hard to say from that photo. Has he stopped eating then?

Fish rarely die out of the blue when there have been no changes at all. Please, describe the last week or two of his behavior and the eating. The dynamics is what is likely very important. Like you said, he started to come out a lot and swimming a lot against the glass. That could have been not a sign of shyness going away but of an illness and restlessness.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

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His meals had consisted of hikari carnivore pellets every other day for the past two weeks and my last water change was 50% 15 days ago. I cleaned my filter then. Tank mate was a Lima shovelnose which is now in quarantine just in case. There was no hostility between the two that I saw. I ran an aquaclear filer rated for up to 75 gallons in the tank which is 55 gal. Ph was neutral. Multiple plants in the tank too. It was in my room which gets sunshine for 5 hours a day usually so the plants should had helped oxygen levels. But the Lima shows no signs of stress or problems with breathing or eating. The Lima eats earthworms, perhaps that could of brought bacteria into the tank, I doubt it though. I truly don't know what went wrong... He was a great fish and I feel very upset to have lost him. I'm going to continue to research and try to find out what went wrong. I'd love to know and understand what happened so one day I can try get another one. Maybye a Yarelli. This certainly isn't the end of my love for this species.
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Re: Dwarf goonch

Post by Silurus »

What was the water temperature?
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