What fish is this ?

[erictck]

Hi All,

I got this BLACK fish from my LFS and seems that it doesn't like to eat. I'm kinda worried now... was told by my LFS that it'll eat dry food or brine shrimp(prepared-cube?). But doesn't seem like it.

Would be great if someone happen to know what it eats and the name of this fish.

thank you very much.

[erictck]

this fish is actually quite small. It's abt the same size of a tang that i have at the background. But it has large fins/tails ? sorry abt the poor quality but in real life, it's much better looking.

It has this orange line at the on it's end tail, full black body with white area in the middle. The orange line and the black body is quite a contrast.

[reefcrazy20]

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=51

i sure hope you have a big tank like over 180gals. they don't really do well in small tanks. don't do well in reef tanks can get over 22inches. you might want to try live food but most of them starve to death. good luck with him. i'm not sure if he is an orbiculate bat fish but it is a bat fish it could also be Pinnatus Batfish - Platax pinnatus.

[erictck]

hmm... from the descriptions, it's a Coral eater ? my LFS told me it doesn't eat flowers/corals...

anyway, i only have 55Gal fish tank. I'm looking into possibilities of getting a bigger fish tank soon. thanks for the advice.

btw, it's doesn't eat and will starve to death ? not possible right ? i'm sure it'll want to eat something ?

[reefcrazy20]

some fish just get stressed and won't eat. i would try some live enriched brine shrimp to get him to eat. how long have you had him?


The Platax pinnatus grows up to 18 inches. The Pinnatus Batfish prefers a tank of at least 80 gallons with plenty of places to hide & swim. The Platax pinnatus is a omnivore and likes to eat variety of foods (meats & veggies). The Pinnatus Batfish is a medium maintenance fish and may act peacefully toward other fish. Not reef-safe. Platax pinnatus (Linnaeus 11758), the Pinnatus, Red-Stripe or Shaded or Dusky Batfish. This species is secretive in the wild, found hiding in wrecks and other dark spots, and should be left there. Requires experienced hobbyist. Keep water quality high (SG 1.020 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F). The Pinnatus Batfish is commonly collected from the Indian Ocean. this is what i think your fish is. like i said the best of luck with him.

[erictck]

gee... doesn't sound so encouraging huh :?

I'll need to do more research on this... I hate seeing fish dying. 180Gal huh ? this i can definately look into.

thanks for the advice though...

[texastrigger]

hmmmm.........so this store sold you a fish without telling what it was, what it ate, and whether or not it would work in your tank. Your LFS sounds a lot like mine. Went in there the other day and looked at a clown trigger that they have been stuck with for a couple months now. The fish dude came up and tried to convince me to buy it and completely lied about everything. Said it was rather peaceful. I asked why they had it in a tank all by itself if it was soooo peaceful. They said it was for his protection. I hope this guy was just stupid and not trying to con me or something.

Best of luck to you!

[Ludwigia]

If a fish store doesn't know the name of a fish, and can't tell you anything about it, run. Go somewhere else. Or come back another day when the store expert is there. That is a beautiful fish, and I wouldn't even attempt to keep it.

[erictck]

after the feedback from the thread... talked to my wife. Asked her to get in touch with the FLS that sold us the batfish to exchange for another fish. the LFS said, "no return" policy. I was so pissed off... :evil:

I got the impression from him that it's easy stuff. But now when my wife told him that we are not comfortable in taking care of this fish, he just turn us down.

The next day, I came back from my business trip. Worried for the batfish, I went to another LFS that i frequent. I told them I am not ready to own the batfish. I was willing to hand over the fish to him rather than trying out my luck with the fish.

The LFS owner is very kind. He asked me to bring the batfish immediately. He has experienced is rearing batfish before. I Took it out from my tank and off he goes to the new house.

I told him that i would like to give him the fish, but as a true gentleman, he said that is not required. He rear it till it's FIT again and if someone happen to want to buy it, he'll reimburstment the money paid for the fish. It's nice to know there are still kinda hearted LFS.

The LFS owner gave me a very good impression of him. The first time when i went over to his place, he asked me, how old is my tank. Told him few weeks old. He asked me to come back in a few weeks time. Cos the water is not stable yet.

i've boycotted the first LFS.

[joanadam]

Good for you, if they are not concerned about the fish they sell they shouldn't be selling them.

[Hohihahihahoho]

What was the name of the first LFS? The 2nd LFS sounds like the LFS I always visited.

Recently, I had a nightmare with my tank. Did 20% water change, changed carbon, sponge filter and "No NO3 bag" to improve water parameters that resulted in sudden increase in NO2. It jumped from 0.3mg/l to 0.8mg/l. Freaked out and rushed to my LFS next day after work. Explained to the guy at LFS my situation and what I did the night before to my tank. He calmly explained what he thought had happened to my tank after listening to me. He offered solutions that might work and a back up plan for worst case. I went back and I did as he suggested and the following morning ... my NO2 was 0.1mg/l and NO3 1mg/l. I was calm after talking to the guy from LFS that day and completely trusted him with his solution and it turned out to work well. Furthermore if things went wrong, he would come to my house and even would take all of my fish to be placed safely at the LFS until my tank stabilized. That's the kind of LFS I would stick around for long time. :D

[erictck]

hi Hohihahihahoho(man.... what a name) :D

i'm from Malacca. Where are you from ? My favourite LFS is @ Malim call JADE Aquarium.

[Hohihahihahoho]

The name came from "Finding Nemo", there was a ceremony in the dentist's fish tank and it was at the moment Nemo earned the name of "Sharkbait", those fish were chanting .... "Hohihahihahoho", more or less. 8)

Favourite LFS is Excellent Marine Marketing.

Later,
KL Dude.