i.d shark

[cocoa_pleco]

I decided to post this here, because i.d sharks are really catfishes.

My small i.d shark, about 3 inches, cant tolerate light. He just flips out and im worried soon he'll hurt himself. I also want live plants, so I need light.
Getting rid of sharky isnt a option, since he knows me well. If i stand on the opposite end of the tank, he comes up from the other end to greet me. Im really attatched to him
2 questions.

Is there anyway to make him calmer around an actual tank light, because I just have a floor lamp 5 feet awayfrom the tank for some light.(the tanks in the basement).

and,are there any plants besides mossballs ( i already have one) that can tolerate very little light???

[jeffs99dime]

first off. how ya doin? i would get a hood for the aquarium with a flourescent fixture built in. secondly,if you want one part of the tank to be darker, i would suggest a floating plant, to diffuse the light. also, you could make a cave out of rocks or driftwood for him to hide in

[alien]

Nice to post here, mmm shark, is it possible that you can take a pic of the fish or maybe you found any pics at internet so we can know what kind of fish we're talking about, sure caves will do, and as Jeff says floating plants do an excelent effect on the aquarium view


xD

[cocoa_pleco]

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bbayaquariums.com/images/f9.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.bbayaquariums.com/select-action.cfm%3FID%3D9&h=200&w=300&sz=17&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=3wjgvB4S6MPKZM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Di.d%2Bshark%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26 lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG

Exactly like the guy I got. When he was a baby I had him in a 10g with built in fluorescent and he spazzed still. I tried a coconut cave and only my chinese algae eater hid in it. My ghost shrimp bunked on top of the coconut til someone ate him.

[hiphopprincess]

lol i donno how this site works or anything but yeah ..
i jus got 2 id sharks and there wired ..
the second night i had them the one was lying in the bottom corner and i thaught it was dead and when i went to scoop it out it swam .. but when no one is in my room and u walk in there swimming but when you are in here or when you look at them they like lie belly up like there dead its wierd i donno whats wrong with them ive had them for a wee know and they do it all the time .. and i noticed when the tank light is on its worse like u had mentioned .. i donno what is going on and ive tried and tried to look it up and it does not work at all .. if u have any clue how i can find info or if you kno will you please e-mail me .. i would appricate it so much ..
monkies_17@hotmail.com
thank you so much ..
Suzanne

[Drumachine09]

Start a thread and ask your question. You will get plenty of help from us.


Welcome to the A.C.!

[roulfi004]

I love ID, they are beautiful catfish, and they look alot like sharks! However in my experience they are most difficult fish to keep at home, in anything that is not very large:
-They are fast swimmers and require a large swimming area especially as adults
-They panick too often at even sometimes minor things that other fish ignore
-They act dead after spooking and panicking
-They are blind and will most certainly run into aquarium decorations, other fish, etc. and hurt themselves
-They are delicate and canot tolerate too much medicines
-They feed like maniacs, quickly filling all they can find into their bellies which gets bigger at feeding time from the amount of food... difficult to keep with other slower feeding fish... they can eats too much quickly

>> I do not think that they like to hide in rocks and stuff, they seem more comfortable in open spaces
>> I also think less light is probably a solution, until you get that 300g tank you are hoping to build
>> If not, some IDs are just too difficult to take care of: I actually had to choose at the fish store the slowest moving, least panicking ID... (contrary to what i do to all other types of fish, where activeness reflects health)

Mine, the calmest between his buddies at the fish store is the only ID I successfully kept (...so far) in perfect health and full dark black coloring, just prefers to stay in 1 "open space" location all day, // where its a little darker (under the black plastic aquarium cover where the light is much less diffused, while the other side is well lit) // and where there is some water current from the filter water dropping back down, so he can swim himself still (remember they like swimming!)//

A few minutes after lights have gone, and when most of my tiger barbs are hiding for the night, he goes out to dominate the aquarium with his fast and gratious continuous swimming.

Hes a joy to watch at night

I am worried however because he either gets too big (mine is around 4-5 inches long), or dies from injury

I hope my small experience with them helps

[RobbieG]

Maybe you could get a hood/flourescent and put some dark material that won't burn or melt between the lamp and and the glass on one side. That should give you light on one half for your plants and relative darkness on the other for the ID

[cocoa_pleco]

lol. i got rid of him like 2 months ago. this thread is like from december.

He was getting WAY to skittish, so i have him to my lfs and they put him into a nice display tank

[RobbieG]

* Slaps own head repeatedly *

[cocoa_pleco]

:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

[roulfi004]

lol. i got rid of him like 2 months ago. this thread is like from december.

He was getting WAY to skittish, so i have him to my lfs and they put him into a nice display tank

:14:
Did you see how much i wrote!!!

I did wana share my experience with the IDs anyways thumbs2: