What fish is good for a 10 gallon? 15g? 20g?

[finnfinnfriend]

Isn't there anything that doesn't exist in nature? I kind of have a weird thing about keeping animals in their natural form...

[LittleBettaFish]

What do you mean doesn't exist in nature? You could try something like a Glofish danio. They don't exist in nature. However, you'd need at least a 15-20 gallon tank for a school of those.

Fancy guppies don't 'exist' in nature and are quite pretty to look at, although I've always found them fairly stupid compared to some of my other fish.

Aquarium strain killifish don't 'exist' in nature. You could keep a pair or small group/trio of those.

Most hybrid fish that would truly not occur in the wild are cichlids, and grow much too big for any of the tank sizes you specified.

Can I ask why you don't like keeping fish in their natural form? I find the natural form of most fish a lot more attractive than something like a parrot fish.

[finnfinnfriend]

I feel weird about keeping an animal in its wild form because I feel that it doesn't need my help to survive. Domesticated animals, however, would most likely not survive in the wild and so I feel that my keeping them is justified. I'm totally fine with other people keeping animals in their natural form if they do it right, I just have a hang up about it, lol.

[LittleBettaFish]

You're definitely going to be limited then, as most species in the aquarium trade have stuck pretty true to form.

I don't really advocate the creation of 'balloon' type fish, but they are also something purposefully man-made.

Most colours found in fish such as guppies, mollies and platys, are not natural. They have been selectively bred for, and would not show up in wild populations. Same with the domesticated Betta splenden.

I think a group of fancy 'show' guppies always looks nice. Plus they are pretty easy to care for and if you have a quality male in there you can always work on creating your own line.

[finnfinnfriend]

What about lyretail mollys?

Just curious...are you against goldfish then? Besides common shubunkin and comet?

By the way I consider a color variation to be unnatural so I would keep them.

[Olympia]

Livebearers are probably the most manipulated fish color and form wise.

[Bombalurina]

Originally Posted by finnfinnfriend

What about lyretail mollys?

Just curious...are you against goldfish then? Besides common shubunkin and comet?

By the way I consider a color variation to be unnatural so I would keep them.

I'm with LBF for this. I don't mind fantails and black moores, since they are still pretty functional, but I would never keep bubble-eyes, for instance.

If it helps your natural fish hand-up, the majority of species we get in petshops these days are totally tank bred, and, although they look the same as their wild cousins, would die if we released them back into the wild.

+1 on fancy guppies. I'd spend out on Aquabid and get 4 or so really amazing males, I think.

[Olympia]

Spending a lot on guppies could pay back pretty quickly :D

[LittleBettaFish]

I have no problem with shubunkin or comets, in fact I own three shubunkin goldfish. However, I would never own a ranchu, ryukin or pearscale as I do not find their appearance particularly attractive.

I found a really beautiful and unusual strain of guppies on AB called glass-bellied see thru. There's a picture of one if you scroll down to the end at this link

http://www.aquariumearth.com/?cat=4

You could probably get decent prices from private collectors and possibly more niche market LFS breeding a rarer strain of guppy.

[Olympia]

Wowza, half moon guppy on that link is gorgeous o.o
LBF, do you know anything on breeding these guppies? Is it really controlled, each individual fish documented?