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Five Favorite Fish?

2K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  MapleFeather 
#1 ·
What five species of (non-Betta) fish that you have kept are your favorites and why would you recommend them? And what five species are on your wish list?


My favorites are:
1. Pantodon buchholzi -- African Butterfly Fish. This is one of my favorites and I will certainly own them again some time in the near-future. They are beautiful, graceful fish with the most amazing fins. Needs a covered tank and some floating plants, but I thin anyone who likes bettas would love this fish.


2. Pangio kuhli-- Kuhli Loach. A group of these in a planted tank are really much fun to watch. This is another fish I don't own currently, but I definitely will again. (Just make sure you have a mesh or something around the mouth of the filter intake pipe.


3. Trichogaster trichopterus -- Opaline Gourami. I could probably have put any of the mid-sized gouramis here. Pearl, Snakeskin, and Moonlight Gouramis are all great. The move with a powerful and confident grace and their marbled blue bodies are impressive. (Oh-- I cannot stand the orange hybrid that you often see in pet stores)


4. Arnoldichthys spilopterus-- Redeye Characin. I first saw a pair of these fish back in the 80's. Except for the Congo Tetra, African Characins rarely appeared in stores at that time. No one in the pet shop knew what they were and none of my reference books listed them. I took a chance and bought them anyway and was rewarded with active, long-lived fish with a subtle beauty that was at its best in natural sunlight.


5. Bunocephalus coracoideus-- Banjo Catfish. I liked these fish for their unique appearance and the fact that it was always exciting to see them. When they were young, they spent most of the time buried in the sand and I wondered if they were alive. They came out more frequently when they were older and familiar with the feeding schedule. I wouldn't trust them with neon tetras or guppies, though.


Wish List:
1. Monocirrhus polyacanthus-- Amazon Leaf Fish.
2. Austrolebias nigripinnis-- Argentina Pearl Fish
3. Copella arnoldi-- Splashing Characin
4. Trichopsis vittatus-- Croaking Gourami
5. Belonesox belizanus-- Pike Livebearer
 
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#2 ·
Awww, so we can't include wild-type bettas? :D I haven't kept any, but they are on my wishlist.

1. Panda Cories
2. CPD
3. Longfin Blue Danios
4. L200 Pleco ("Green Phantom Pleco")
5. Dwarf Pea Puffers

Wishlist...

1. Arowana
2. Black Diamond FW Stingray
3. Pictus Catfish
3. Not Sure....
4.
5.

I only have 3 rather large fish on my wishlist, because I know if I ever do get the chance to get one, I will probably go bankrupt, LOL.
 
#3 ·
Gosh non-bettas?!

1 Red rainbowfish
2 Neon tetra
3 Harlequin rasbora

Gee that was short. I haven't kept that many non-bettas ever since becoming "serious" about fishkeeping (I've killed many fish in my childhood...). And I decidedly do not like cories and I've gotten somewhat bored of my multies and I think peacock gudgeons do not have as much personality as I was told.... my two are pretty dense even by fish standards. I like fish that are somewhat assertive.

Wishlist

1 Fancy goldfish (I need the space for 100+ tank)
2 Pea puffer or figure 8 puffer
3 Yo-yo loach
 
#4 ·
Favourite Fish

Pseudomugil mellis (Honey Blue Eye)
Pseudomugil gertrudae (Spotted Blue Eye)
Pseudomugil tenellus (Delicate Blue Eye)

All three species of blue eyes are small but striking fish, and the males put on a spectacular show when sparring. In spite of their smaller size, they are active fish, and will do better in a tank that offers them space to move around (for me this means a bare minimum of 10 gallons).

Rhadinocentrus Ornatus (Ornate Rainbowfish)

While I only kept Rhadinocentrus ornatus for a short time, the males look spectacular when sparring and when in breeding dress (they develop an orange/red 'nupital stripe' that runs the length of their topline). Trust me when I say if you keep these fish in a tank that receives natural sunlight, you will be rewarded. However, if you want to breed these fish in large numbers, it's best to do so in a pond rather than an aquarium.

Aphyosemion Gabunense (Gabon Killifish)

In my opinion, A. gabunense, is the most beautiful killifish species available in Australia (we are limited to a dozen species or less here). Mine were bold and curious little fish, and the colour on the males is amazing. In my soft water, they were prolific breeders, and after dealing with my finicky wilds, I loved the fact that they ate whatever I put into the tank.


Wishlist
Melanotaenia pygmaea (Pygmy Rainbowfish)
Melanotaenia utcheensis
Pseudomugil ivantsoffi
Pseudomugil luminatus
A. halleri, A. pyrophore, A. congicum, A. coeleste, A. ocellatum, A. sp. Oyo (Sadly being in Australia my chances of owning these particular species of killifish are close to impossible).
 
#5 ·
I've only been in the hobby for about a year so I haven't owned very many fish buuuuut

1) White cloud mountain minnow: they are cheap and flashy little fish. they look pale at the store, but once you get them home in a natural setting with some dark background or gravel, their color is amazing. they are a smaller fish, full adults barely get over an inch and best of all, they can tolerate colder temperatures. 60's to upper 70's. if you want a tank that doesn't need to be heated, these are wonderful little flashy fish

2) Corydoras: i like them because they are much more active then Oto catfish. I can actually see them eating and constantly wondering around the bottom of the tank. They are also nice in smaller tanks but they are very active fish.

3) Giant Danio: I think these are newer on the market, I've only seen them within the last few months at the local fish stores, but they are very active and constantly swimming from side to side of my tank. they have wonderful blue and yellow striping under their silver. They can be aggressive and I would suggest keeping them in larger groups to reduce nipping between them. my local store only had 4 and I'm hoping they will get more in. I wouldn't put them in with anything that could fit in their mouth. They are nice at keeping guppies from overtaking a tank.
 
#6 · (Edited)
1. Tiger Oscars: They are intelligent, there eye sight is amazing. They recognize the bag their food comes in. They are big when they're older, you need a large tank. 75 gallon min for the bioload.

2. Yellow Tail Aceis, best part is they are pretty docile for an Mbuna, they can be kept in with peacocks and haps. They don't like aggression in the fish tank, they tend to police the tank and stop any super aggressive behavior. No one messes with them.

3. Peacocks are interesting, only the males color up. Sometimes the female will take on the color of a dominant male. The water chemistry is one step away from a salt water tank.

4. cory's easy to care for and gets along with everyone. Will eat anything off the bottom and likes to play in the bubbles from an air stone.

5. Danios and white clouds are also easy to care for. african butterfly fish. I loved feeding crickets to him :)

Wish list

salt water tank. Maybe one day
 
#9 ·
1. Freshwater stingrays....nothing compares
2. Bichirs, like having a living dinosaur!
3. Long Fin albino bristlenose
4. Bamboo shrimp (do crustaceans count?)
5. CPO

@ThatFishThough when you are ready to break the bank send me a message...I just found a source for black diamond stingrays and other rare captive bred varieties!!
Haha, it will be no less than 8+ years, when I am out of college. Some day, in the future, when I am not a broke college student and/or broke out-of-college student. Thanks, though!
 
#8 ·
1. Nimbochromis venustus or better know as the Giraffe Cichlid
2. Any Pleco. I love plecos and I originally wanted a bigger tank so I could have one again.
3. Tilapia in an aquaponics setup
4. Corydora
5. Tropheus sp. "Black"

Wishlist
1. Red dragon Arowana
2. Watchman gobi
3. Black Ice Ocellaris Clownfish
4. Clown Loach
5. An Octopus, probably Octopus mercatoris or Octopus bimaculoides

By far my wish list isn't in order but I do have several more things I want to get and hope to get in my life.
 
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#11 ·
I haven't owned a wide range of species :/ kinda happens when your limited space and seem to only like fish that cant be housed with other fish XD

1) Axolotls, their not quite fish, but its pretty much same as keep them and i absolutely adore my two, cute little pokemon like creatures.
2)Kuhli Loaches. Such neat little creatures, unforunatly their mainly nocturnal, so you can only see them if you sneak a flashlight at night, and you never know when you've lost one, they dissapear, but they really are awesome little snake things.
3)Tiger barbs. their aggressive, and mean and really stunning little fish. i kinda like their mean personality XD
4) Guppies, just got a small breeding colony of guppies as a side food source for my axolotls (when they over populate throw a few in the axolotl tank XD circle of life) and i never thought i would say this, but i love them! their so busy and pretty, i just adore mine.
5) Oto Cats. finicky, but the cutest little algea eater ever, busy and do a pretty darn good job of getting rid of algea.

Wishlist
1) Anything saltwater, i just dont have the time, energy or money to maintain saltwater
2) Oscars, what did i say, i have a fascination for fish that cant be kept with other fish XD
3) Gouramis i love the look of them, really cute
4)Freshwater puffer fish,
5)lots of stuff XD
 
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