With Respect, What Fish Don't You Like?

[Brian]

I haven’t kept a fish I don’t or haven’t liked for one reason or another.  I love them all I guess for what and who they are.  I just can’t dislike something or someone for being who they are.  With that said hybrids with a deformity I just don’t understand.  Parrot fish or ballon live bearers and so on.

 

[Tihshho]

On 5/17/2022 at 10:27 AM, Brian said:

I haven’t kept a fish I don’t or haven’t liked for one reason or another.  I love them all I guess for what and who they are.  I just can’t dislike something or someone for being who they are.  With that said hybrids with a deformity I just don’t understand.  Parrot fish or ballon live bearers and so on.

 

I have a feeling my list of "dislike" is more so a more so like a list of "disinterest." Besides the Glofish (which IMO don't look right in natural tanks) I don't think there is any thing specific besides them that I "Don't Like." Disinterest list is much longer, but unrelated to the thread 😂

Edited May 17, 2022 by Tihshho

[WhitecloudDynasty]

On 5/17/2022 at 9:56 AM, Tihshho said:

Glofish are probably at the top of the list for me for a 'type' that won't ever be purchased or brought home solely on them being gimmicky.

In terms of bubble eyes, those are not genetically modified, but more so dedicated selective breeding. There are tons of species on this list. A majority of color variants of fish come from this as well as anything 'veil tail'. Wild Betta splendens (your common Siamese Fighting Fish) do not have long finnage naturally, but were selected to produce long and more colorful variants. 

In the right setup bubble eye goldfish can live for a long time...not as long as a common but most common become feeder anyway so it all depends on how you look at it.

I dont have any fish I dislike, I have respect for them all and the breeder who created them. I can't dislike some else's passion.

 

What I dislike is ppls breeding unhealthy fish and passing it down for generations. Short body can cause problems Yes, but some will be fine. Breeding for health before conformation even if it take 2 or 3 more generations to get the right conformation 

[Henry the fish keeper]

I really dislike the flowerhorn especially the males because that have that huge hump which I think it's disgusting. No offense to the people who like male flowerhorns.

[Wrencher_Scott]

oh some will hate me for this but Guppies and Sword Tails don't do it for me.  (

[Jawjagrrl]

Not an original statement at this point in the thread, but extreme genetic modifications like blood parrots and flowerhorns that make their quality of life far from ideal. I learned just yesterday that there are long-finned oscars now? 😞 I'd personally never keep glofish, but their modification isn't impacting their ability to function that I am aware of, and if someone wants to keep them with dayglo gravel, etc., great! I like more natural tanks and enjoying the amazing diversity of fish in the hobby in their natural forms. I probably won't live long enough to enjoy all the amazing fish out there!

That said, given a lack of ways to place them, I'll probably limit my livebearers - endlers don't make large broods, but even so in just six weeks I've got 4 batches - and I only had one adult female! All the girls are now in a separate tank until I get another one set up for them that is bigger than the nano tanks for which I got them. 

 

[Liddojunior]

Angelfish?
They spend their time just effortlessly gliding in the water peacefully. Their grace and beauty is to hide their true chaotic nature. 

To me they always look like they swim on autopilot while they spend energy plotting how they’ll take on every other fish when the time comes. 

[Jeff]

African Cichlids. Too hard to do a planted tank. 

[Patrick_G]

I’m not sure I dislike any particular fish. With large fish like Oscars, and some other Cichlids I much prefer  the way they look when they’re small, but the big ones have cool personality so that helps. 

[jwcarlson]

Dislike probably isn't the right word, but: goldfish, african cichlids, and any of the freakishly large fish that have almost no business being in home aquaria.  

I think that my tastes have changed quite a bit over the years.  I used to have oscars and some yellow labs... occasionally some natives over the years... live bearers on/off.  Right now, I wouldn't want any of those fish.  But am having a good time at the moment with discus and a community tank with tetras, corys, shrimp, and a gourami.

[Cinnebuns]

On 5/17/2022 at 8:56 AM, Tihshho said:

In terms of bubble eyes, those are not genetically modified, but more so dedicated selective breeding.

Selective breeding IS genetic modification. The only difference is time. You literally cannot find a single fish in a store that has not been genetically modified. It's impossible. 

For me, the line is if it adversely effects their life. In some cases it does and in others it doesn't. A lot of times people forget that unless the fish is wild caught, it's genetically modified, even if it isn't as obvious as in the case of bubble eyes or glofish. 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Cinnebuns

[cavdad45]

I dont like the GloFish trend.  Too many fish that shouldnt be housed together,and it creeps me out how they make the glow and make it hereditary

[Keeg]

im going to be honest, corydoras. I just dont like their body shape and size that much. I feel like if I wanted a catfish, then I would get a catfish that looks like a catfish and not this little tug boat of a fish 😂

 

plus ryukin goldfish, I dont like their weird dorsal shape 

[Patrick_G]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:32 AM, Keeg said:

im going to be honest, corydoras

Every other hobbyist  😂

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/17/2022 at 4:36 AM, xfretz said:

At a certain point, a bigger tank won’t make a difference to the fish. a 120 gallon tank is going to give a dozen zebra danios a pretty similar experience to a 2,000 gallon in terms of swimming space and territory, but big cichlids that are often 6”+  probably need much more space than is usually recommended if you want to keep a group and see natural behavior and pairing off, spawning, etc. 

A lot of it for me too isn't just height, but specifically space. Tanks like a 55G makes a 75G seem like 2x the floorprint. It's physically very similar but there's such a vast difference in space and utility. I specifically think a lot of fish would do so much better with a larger floor, even less height, but it's hard as a hobbyist to provide that outside of a very expensive pond setting.

I don't think you can compare, even something like Joey's big internal "pond" to something like what OFR has with their massive cichlid tank. One is 12" deep and the other is a massively different footprint. At some point. You need a koi pond or something massive just to have a more natural ecosystem and keep multiple types of cichlids. It's one of the most difficult "community tanks" for me and I always see fish getting beaten up as a result of not having the space they need or the right environment. It's all over YouTube unfortunately.

A lot of African cichlid keepers will end up with species only tanks, which theoretically is absolutely fine. But I think at some point when you compare that setup to something like the OFR massive pool they converted and have those same types of fish in, there is very different behaviors and very different experiences for the fish.

^^ that's kind of why my next tank might be a frag tank or lowboy or something. Special order, if that's something that ever happens.

[Tihshho]

On 5/17/2022 at 1:32 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Selective breeding IS genetic modification. The only difference is time. You literally cannot find a single fish in a store that has not been genetically modified. It's impossible. 

For me, the line is if it adversely effects their life. In some cases it does and in others it doesn't. A lot of times people forget that unless the fish is wild caught, it's genetically modified, even if it isn't as obvious as in the case of bubble eyes or glofish. 

So technically you are correct. I was more so focused on test tube fish. In the hobby when people discuss Genetically Modified, it's usually something where you're cramming genetic material into a species that never had it. Selective breeding, though technically a form of genetic modification, is part and parcel of this hobby. Without selective breeding we would have a lot of species of fish that don't look like they are today. Veil tails would be gone, most of the designer Betta's (for color and finnage) would be gone, neocardinia would all be hints of browns and light oranges and reds, and the Cichlid world for a lot of hobbyists would be drab. 

[Biotope Biologist]

I might catch flak for this one but I don't think seahorses or any of their ilk belong in the pet trade. I spent ages loving them from a distance, still do, but the stress that comes from the IDEA of owning them is enough to drive me crazy:

- No stomach so feedings 8-15x a day

- Extremely sensitive to water quality changes

- Antisocial

- And after ALL THAT DEDICATION they only live like 3 years at most

 

I will also throw my hat in the ring for Arowana. Like a pitbull; beautiful, neglected, and misunderstood, but still don't have any desire to own one.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I'm not big on bubble eye goldfish.  The bubble eyes look like water blisters to me. Also I don't like Glofish at all because they look unnatural and I don't know how they were "created" (?)  I felt the same about another fish that looked like it had fluorescent paint on its top fin. I think it used to be called an Indian glass fish, although I don't know if they are still around or have the same name.  Anyway - that can't be natural either. Right?

I recently learned that pufferfish teeth have to be trimmed, but I can't bear to watch any video on it, nor could I ever picture myself doing that. Trimming a tooth would be like nails on a chalkboard to me. No way Jose!

Edited May 18, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
correction

[modified lung]

I don't like the looks of discus and angelfish although I get why someone would. Flowerhorns however I don't understand at all. 

I kinda like glofish

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I do not enjoy balloon versions of anything - mollies, rams, etc. I think you have basically bred them to have medical issues as I am knee deep in physiology every day it is just too much.

Anything with such a large tail or deformity that impedes their ability to swim which is a basic function of a fish. Certain bettas drive me nuts. Mind you I like my Moscow guppies which may be on the verge of this but they seem to be able to do what they need to. 

[Torrey]

On 5/17/2022 at 9:22 AM, WhitecloudDynasty said:

What I dislike is ppls breeding unhealthy fish and passing it down for generations. Short body can cause problems Yes, but some will be fine. Breeding for health before conformation even if it take 2 or 3 more generations to get the right conformation 

So much this!

I have bred fish I didn't personally have much interest in, because my LFS needed a reliable supplier of a quality fish. I also bred Rottweilers for years, because I love the breed, and I *LOVE* the German standard (I also appreciate the German Breed books that require dogs get a vet clearance every year and if a genetic defect shows up the entire line is genetic tested and even carriers are removed from breeding (I can't get behind the mass euthanasia they promote. I'm a spay/neuter solution person). I practice the same considerations for breeding fish as I did for breeding Rotts:

What is the standard?

Does it include a health parameter?

If 10 fish are perfect to the standard, but aren't healthy, and 4 are almost perfect but have offspring that are nearly indestructible, I am working with the 4 and moving the 10 to a showtank where they can't sustain offspring but they can look pretty all day long.

I don't think there's any fish I have looked at and just disliked. I won't support unethical and unsustainable practices if I am aware of what is happening. Many of the genetically modified via selective breeding (goldfish, koi, bettas) are centuries old. I have mad respect for anyone's ability to have the patience required to dedicate generations of their family to selectively breeding a species of fish that up until very recently were quite hardy as well.

So, while some fish aren't as interesting to me as others (I have typically maintained the longest interest based on how challenging breeding was/maintaining water parameters because I liked a challenge), I have reached that stage in my hobby where I want to be able to spend more time watching and less time proving I can do something...

So even the species that used to bore me, now bring me joy.

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Torrey
Edited to be more in alignment with Forum Guidelines. Can educate w/o using potentially harmful language.

[Jacob Hill-Legion Aquatics]

Parkinsoni rainbows, now I love rainbowfish and I think all of them look amazing and I’d keep them all if I could except parkinsoni rainbows, I just think for some reason that it looks weird how the orange/yellow colour on it looks like it’s falling off. And I said that i didn’t like them on a livestream to Bob (steenfott aquatics) and he timed me out 😂 cause they’re one of his favourite fish. I just think there kinda ugly. (Sorry not sorry)

Edited May 17, 2022 by Jacob Hill

[Jennifer V]

On 5/16/2022 at 11:29 PM, Odd Duck said:

I’m not a fan of fish that have been bred to have disabilities - balloon bellies (they look that way because of their horribly distorted spines - how painful must that be?), giant koks or wens so large they can’t see past them and can’t eat without a surgery to restore their line of sight, fins so abundant they can barely swim and have such pain from the fin burden they self mutilate from the pain and destroy their own fins.  There are other examples, but that makes my point sufficiently.

I can appreciate their beautiful colors and that people like to have something unique, but I just can’t understand why people continue to breed fish that are doomed to poor health and especially a life of pain.

That's a good point. I am really attracted to long finned fish but would I be perpetuating a vicious cycle of breeding for appearance rather than health? 

[Rickf]

Buenos aires tetra .They would not stop eating my soft plants. Rotala ext. Had to remove from tank.

[saphbettas]

While I think little pea puffers are the cutest things ever, I just can't bring myself to be fond of giant freshwater puffers. I'm not a fan of those teeth at all, they simply aren't cute to me. (Sorry Aquarium Co-Op's Murphy!) I'm not a fan of parrotfish either, for the same reason.