What stocking surprised you?

[Cinnebuns]

I'm wondering what live stock, fish, inverts, whatever, did you think you would hate but ended up loving?  

When I started this hobby I said "no snails" and now I'm keeping 4 different species. I never expected snails to be interesting. Some more interesting than others but they all have a role. I seriously can't believe how many snails I now have!

Here's a pic of my magenta mystery snail and my beautiful female Japanese trapdoor snail

[JettsPapa]

When I first started keeping fish I didn't care for livebearers.  Now I have guppies in 8 of my 10 tanks, and in another month when the weather warms up more I'll have them in at least two tubs outside.

[MickS77]

Definitely Guppies for me 

[Sal]

Snails are SO fun to watch, I totally agree with you @Cinnebuns

I have a couple...

We had a pair of gold dojo loaches that were SO cool.  Unfortunately one succumbed to ick, and the other jumped out of the tank unknowingly to us when the lid was accidentally left open.  I would like to get another pair someday!

And the other...  a boring ol' betta.  Daughter wanted one so we set up a 5 gallon nano this past Christmas, and that fish has more personality than any human I've ever known.  It's unreal, honestly.  😂

[Guppysnail]

Hydra. I had them when I was a kid collecting then avoided them as an adult. Now I have 3 kinds and love them again. Crazy interesting.  Second was damselfy nymphs. Had them accidentally almost 2 years ago in a shrimp and bladder snail set up.  Panicked because of everything on the internet. Then watched them closely. While my bladder snail population took a noticeable hit my shrimp only took a minor hit.  They were very fascinating.  I did not know what type they were  and had mail ordered the plants they came on so could not allow them to grow to maturity and fly off if they were not native to my area but they were fun while I had them.  I replaced the substrate to be certain none escaped. 

[Keeg]

Plecos! I only got one to deal with little algae bits on the back glass as it can be a pain to reach. I never thought I would like it so much but he grew on me. The co-op hooked me up with an orange little guy and I went to a different store to get some drift wood to munch on. Wonderful addition, doesnt each algae much anymore but he is still cool to watch poke his head out for wafers or just to see what the guppies are eating, he's huge in comparison now! 

[josephnoctum]

Emerald Dwarf Danios (Danio erythromicron) (Formerly Rasbora before the reclassification). I got them because my wife wanted a shoaling group for one of her 10 gallons and I already had Celestial Pearl Danios in another 10 gallon so I wanted to mix it up. Those ended up being one of my favorite nano species to watch. I've never seen such little fish play such complex social games with each other. They really ended up being one of my favorites. 

[Bev C]

mine is snails ,  I have room for only one main tank with a 1 small quarantine  tank .. and i have always tried to not over populate..  fish and everything

i went years with no real plants because of my first pelco and accidentally  got pest snails from the pet store ( i think wood had snail eggs)  had to redo my tank to get rid of them  did not want a snail period 

When i got into plants i still did not want snails  i do a plant dip ,, on my plants before adding to tank

But i got some nerite  snails for algae control and  pet store said their  eggs do not hatch in freshwater  then i found out mystery snails population can be controlled my taking out the eggs while  they are in the sac ,,

Now  i just love my snails  all keeps my tank cleaner & i love watching them,, of how they move and look

my favorite fish love them all but  my bristolnose pelco has my heart too ,, i love watching all my fish at feeding time ,, but love doing vegetables for the snails and pelco

Edited April 6, 2022 by Bev C

[PineSong]

I'd say I'm surprised by how much I like my black molly. I guess because mollies are so common and I'd never paid any attention to them, I wasn't expecting to be so impressed by her, but she's really gorgeous and has a lot of tank personality--she is giant and definitely a boss. 

 

[drewzero1]

On 4/6/2022 at 3:48 PM, Bev C said:

mine is snails ,  I have room for only one main tank with a 1 small quarantine  tank .. and i have always tried to not over populate..  fish and everything

i went years with no real plants because of my first pelco and accidentally  got pest snails from the pet store ( i think wood had snail eggs)  had to redo my tank to get rid of them  did not want a snail period 

When i got into plants i still did not want snails  i do a plant dip ,, on my plants before adding to tank

But i got some nerite  snails for algae control and  pet store said their  eggs do not hatch in freshwater  then i found out mystery snails population can be controlled my taking out the eggs while  they are in the sac ,,

Now  i just love my snails  all keeps my tank cleaner & i love watching them,, of how they move and look

my favorite fish love them all but  my bristolnose pelco has my heart too ,, i love watching all my fish at feeding time ,, but love doing vegetables for the snails and pelco

I was afraid of snails for so long because of the threat of 'infestation', but nerites were a gateway snail that led to a fascination with Brotia snails (I've now had B. herculaea and B. pagodula, love them both). I've got a few 'pest' bladder snails in one tank and (maybe) a few MTS in the other and honestly their presence makes the ecosystem richer.

Another big one for me is catfish. I never thought I could enjoy a fish that stays on the bottom, hides all the time, and is generally pretty drab and ugly. But cories are adorable and their bumbling behavior is hilarious. Banjo cats are so weird and awesome, and beautiful in their own ugly way. I enjoy the games of hide-and-seek we play.

[malk_keblai]

It was corydoras for me. Before keeping cories, I avoided them b/c I saw them as derpy, chunky fish that hardly moved. A friend broke down his aquarium so I took in his fish--a school of peppered cories included. Welp, turns out I'm a fiend for derpy, chunky fish and to my surprise they're real active. I'll watch them school, go up/down the glass, and ram their faces into food. I've since purchased 4 other species. Love them cories

[AndreaW]

Snails for me as well. I got a pair of Mystery snails for my son who is a snail fanatic (he has a pet garden snail, too). I am surprised by how much time I've invested on researching them and trying to figure out the best way to be sure they have enough calcium and thrive in that tank. I even bought stuff to make them "Snello". I seriously don't know what has come over me! I truly care about them now, even if I still don't fully appreciate them.

However, I have totally fallen in love with my Nerite Snails! They are the only tank mates my Betta will tolerate. I know it annoys him when he flares at them and they don't seem to notice, but it's very charming and I love how clean they keep the tank.

I also have to admit I have bladder snails. I'm still pretty intent on not having them in my tanks, but some came on plants so I put them in the quarantine tank because I promised my son I wouldn't kill them. (He doesn't know that I have some babies in my Betta tank that I squish when I see them.) There's no filtration in the QT tank so I was kinda hoping they would "take care of themselves" but so far, they have reproduced and my son is delighted in his "Army of Snails".  They are literally sitting is stagnant water with some aquatic grass I didn't think would survive and some floating lettuce that is turning to mush. Somehow, they are thriving despite the neglect.

I also inherited my sister's Kuhli Loach that survived her heater outage. I felt bad for him so I got another Kuhli and the two of them are quite entertaining and fun to watch.

[Guppysnail]

On 4/7/2022 at 4:00 PM, AndreaW said:

Snails for me as well. I got a pair of Mystery snails for my son who is a snail fanatic (he has a pet garden snail, too). I am surprised by how much time I've invested on researching them and trying to figure out the best way to be sure they have enough calcium and thrive in that tank. I even bought stuff to make them "Snello". I seriously don't know what has come over me! I truly care about them now, even if I still don't fully appreciate them.

However, I have totally fallen in love with my Nerite Snails! They are the only tank mates my Betta will tolerate. I know it annoys him when he flares at them and they don't seem to notice, but it's very charming and I love how clean they keep the tank.

I also have to admit I have bladder snails. I'm still pretty intent on not having them in my tanks, but some came on plants so I put them in the quarantine tank because I promised my son I wouldn't kill them. (He doesn't know that I have some babies in my Betta tank that I squish when I see them.) There's no filtration in the QT tank so I was kinda hoping they would "take care of themselves" but so far, they have reproduced and my son is delighted in his "Army of Snails".  They are literally sitting is stagnant water with some aquatic grass I didn't think would survive and some floating lettuce that is turning to mush. Somehow, they are thriving despite the neglect.

I also inherited my sister's Kuhli Loach that survived her heater outage. I felt bad for him so I got another Kuhli and the two of them are quite entertaining and fun to watch.

Bladder snail are problem infestations in waste water treatment plants. They are almost indestructible by water quality. I’ve used them to cycle tanks when I didn’t have an available running tank. Throw an airstone in or your water may smell a bit pungent after awhile. Otherwise they are fine 🥰

[Widgets]

I tend to over-analyze things, then analyze them some more. When it comes to stocking, I spend too much time reading the sometimes conflicting descriptions and opinions. When I do decide to get something, I already have a good idea what to expect.

That said, I have never really kept shrimp (ghost shrimp) except as fish food, both accidentally and on purpose. I have been reading about Neocaridina Shrimp, trying to decide if they would survive in my community tank with it's current and planned stocking. I was talking to a friend that has some, and he gave me one to see what happens. I wasn't ready for this, I still has more analysis to do. I also wanted to get an area of carpeting plants established. I had no choice, I was going to be trying it right then.

The shrimp survived. There are stretches of days at a time where I don't see her. Then I will see her weeks in a row. It is so neat having a shrimp that lasts more than a few days in the tank. It has been great to watch her grow, and now I want to see little shrimplets grow up. I am pretty sure that not many will survive in the community tank, and those that do will probably hide until they are mostly fully grown. I decided to setup a shrimp tank to be able to watch the shrimplets grow.

While they weren't something that I expected to hate, the Neocaridina Shrimp have definitely surprised me in how much I love them.

[Ken Burke]

I’m with @Cinnebuns and @Bev C, snails.  Definitely snails.  But I’m a little selective in my snail preferences.  MTS? they are ok.  Nerites? really don’t care for the sesame seeds. trapdoor snails? luv em!  mystery snails? oh yeah.

[Jawjagrrl]

As a former mbuna person, it wasn't too surprising I loved catfish and loaches too. Never was interested in livebearers but got some male endlers for my shrimp setup and enjoy them a lot more than expected. It's been the gateway for my spouse to get hooked on fish  - his tank just added 6ish new residents today, our first bred fish together. 

I didn't expect to enjoy snails (even the "pest' snails) as much as I do, but I really didn't think neocaradina shrimp would be such a draw - but I think I enjoy them even more than most of our current fish. Spotting new shrimplets for the first time is always exciting, especially since these are products of a skittle tank and colors are often unexpected! I love our little calico bristlenose and dwarf crayfish too.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Jawjagrrl

[Odd Duck]

Moss.  All kinds of different, funky, mosses.  Fissidens of 4 species, Hooker’s, Jade lotus, Cameroon, Distichophyllum maibarae, mini weeping, oh, and Christmas and Java.  I’m pretty sure I’m missing some, too.  Having grown up with only Java moss available and it either fails or takes over, I wasn’t that impressed or interested.  That trend continued for decades.  Then I quit fish for a while.  Came back and there were many new fish, plants, lights,and mosses that look like THAT?  Cool!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m falling completely in love with my tiny Betta persephone - nano bettas that can have a group of males and females peacefully live and breed in a small tank?  What’s not to love?  I adore my unusual plecos, my new-to-me tiny tetras and rasboras, but that isn’t surprising.  I knew I loved fish.  I didn’t know I loved funky mosses.

[Jawjagrrl]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:30 PM, Odd Duck said:

Moss.  All kinds of different, funky, mosses.  Fissidens of 4 species, Hooker’s, Jade lotus, Cameroon, Distichophyllum maibarae, mini weeping, oh, and Christmas and Java.  I’m pretty sure I’m missing some, too.  Having grown up with only Java moss available and it either fails or takes over, I wasn’t that impressed or interested.  That trend continued for decades.  Then I quit fish for a while.  Came back and there were many new fish, plants, lights,and mosses that look like THAT?  Cool!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m falling completely in love with my tiny Betta persephone - nano bettas that can have a group of males and females peacefully live and breed in a small tank?  What’s not to love?  I adore my unusual plecos, my new-to-me tiny tetras and rasboras, but that isn’t surprising.  I knew I loved fish.  I didn’t know I loved funky mosses.

I do take a certain delight in making foraged mosses work for me too - not sure how much there will be in the 75s project, but the 55 may sport quite a bit as it starts to shape up. 

[Cinnebuns]

On 4/7/2022 at 3:00 PM, AndreaW said:

my son is delighted in his "Army of Snails"

Thats super adorable!  I have to say, even though I have found myself going a little far in how many snails I'm buying, idk if I would ever want bladder snails. I actually paid $22 for a sample pack of plants on ebay recently. When I ordered it I thought the guy only kept ramshorn snails with his plants. The guy was super cool and honest with me that it was rams, badder, pond, and Malaysian trumpet snails. I actually wanted ramshorns but bladder and pond snails I don't think I can ever embrace. Halfway through preparing the plants to desnail I decided it wasn't worth the risk and threw them away sadly. 

On 4/7/2022 at 7:30 PM, Odd Duck said:

Moss.  All kinds of different, funky, mosses.  Fissidens of 4 species, Hooker’s, Jade lotus, Cameroon, Distichophyllum maibarae, mini weeping, oh, and Christmas and Java.  I’m pretty sure I’m missing some, too.  Having grown up with only Java moss available and it either fails or takes over, I wasn’t that impressed or interested.  That trend continued for decades.  Then I quit fish for a while.  Came back and there were many new fish, plants, lights,and mosses that look like THAT?  Cool!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m falling completely in love with my tiny Betta persephone - nano bettas that can have a group of males and females peacefully live and breed in a small tank?  What’s not to love?  I adore my unusual plecos, my new-to-me tiny tetras and rasboras, but that isn’t surprising.  I knew I loved fish.  I didn’t know I loved funky mosses.

I didn't expect moss to be an answer!  Interesting!  I truly wish I was better with plants. I think I finally got ahold of some healthy Java moss that's doing great after my many laments with the stuff I had before. Any secrets?  I learned that actually clipping the moss can encourage it it to grow faster and thicker. Is that true?  I never would have thought to clip moss other than to divide it otherwise. 

[Guppysnail]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:58 AM, Cinnebuns said:

bladder and pond snails I don't think I can ever embrace.

Are you sure?

 

[AndreaW]

@Guppysnail ~ Bladder snails are pretty cute and acrobatic. I love watching them parachute, skim the surface and seemingly levitate. Watching them float down on duckweed is pretty entertaining, too. That's part of why my son's snail army is still around. Once they are big enough to be entertaining, I can't do anything with them. I can only squish the ones that are tiny specs on my glass. I'm considering upgrading them to a large terrarium jar with at least some bubbles and moving them down to my son's bathroom.

[Torrey]

On 4/8/2022 at 4:19 AM, Guppysnail said:

Are you sure?

 

I'm dying here!!!

I suspect this is dinner and a date, lol

[Odd Duck]

On 4/8/2022 at 12:58 AM, Cinnebuns said:

I didn't expect moss to be an answer!  Interesting!  I truly wish I was better with plants. I think I finally got ahold of some healthy Java moss that's doing great after my many laments with the stuff I had before. Any secrets?  I learned that actually clipping the moss can encourage it it to grow faster and thicker. Is that true?  I never would have thought to clip moss other than to divide it otherwise. 

I didn’t expect to end up moss crazy, so . . .

I’ve found really like the mosses that have a more significant central stem-like growth habit.  They are a bit slower growing, appreciate a bit of current, tend to like cooler water, do better with fairly clean water, and only need moderate light.

First pic is Physcomitrium hookeri (Hooker’s moss).  Pic 2 & 3 is after more growth.  Pic 4 is the remainder after trimming the Fissidens geppii for the moss slurry in the 100 G Angelfish tank.

[Ken Burke]

On 4/8/2022 at 3:47 PM, Odd Duck said:

I didn’t expect to end up moss crazy, so . . .

I’ve found really like the mosses that have a more significant central stem-like growth habit.  They are a bit slower growing, appreciate a bit of current, tend to like cooler water, do better with fairly clean water, and only need moderate light.

First pic is Physcomitrium hookeri (Hooker’s moss).  Pic 2 & 3 is after more growth.  Pic 4 is the remainder after trimming the Fissidens geppii for the moss slurry in the 100 G Angelfish tank.

Can I loan u some driftwood? You can put it right next to to your amazing moss for 3-6 months, then return it.  
 

I won’t even charge u anything if some of the moss attaches to it or anything. 😁

[Cinnebuns]

On 4/8/2022 at 5:19 AM, Guppysnail said:

Are you sure?

 

Lol snails crack me up far more than I ever thought they would. But yes. I still think i will avoid bladder and pond snails. Rams took me some time to accept but I did to help the fry tanks. Idk if I can get myself to adventure further into rapidly populating snails. 

On 4/8/2022 at 2:13 PM, Torrey said:

I'm dying here!!!

I suspect this is dinner and a date, lol

Lol same. I didn't expect to laugh that much at a snail video but I did!!