What fish was more fun to keep than you expected and what fish was disappointing?

[The Arthritic Aquarist]

In the latter category, when I was young, I made the mistake of buying a Pacu.

[Gannon]

On 11/2/2022 at 12:56 PM, The Arthritic Aquarist said:

In the latter category, when I was young, I made the mistake of buying a Pacu.

Probably only a mistake due to the difficulty of finding adaquate housing! They at least seem like amazing animals to me. 

[The Arthritic Aquarist]

On 11/2/2022 at 1:57 PM, Gannon said:

Probably only a mistake due to the difficulty of finding adaquate housing! They at least seem like amazing animals to me. 

They get huge.  And, though I had it in a large aquarium, had to eventually return it to my LFS.  Otherwise, yes, they're a bit like a Silver Dollar, just much, much bigger. 🙂

[NOLANANO]

Most surprising fish: Panda Gara - I only have one but that sucker never stops moving and searching for food. I just wanted a bottom feeder and ended up with one of my favorite fish in the tank.

 

Most disappointing fish: Rummynose Tetra - I know its not a popular opinion but I have black sand and a black background and their bodies turned a dull gray. In my mind I pictured a school of bright white bodies with bright red noses that I could see from across the room. What I have is a school of dull gray fish with red noses that are invisible until you get up close to the tank.  They do school really well and I do see why people like them, I just feel like they are taking up a lot of space in my tank and aren't giving the display that I was looking for.

Whenever I find a new home for these guys (or they live out their full lives), I will probably look at cardinal tetra or some Rasboras or something like that.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/1/2022 at 9:26 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

clown plecos

Why haven't you uploaded any cute videos of clown plecos eating zucchini? 😐

[Jimmy]

On 11/1/2022 at 9:57 AM, Fish Folk said:

Siamese Algae Eaters. Got a group for . . . eating algae . . . but they're hilarious. Plus they get along fine with Discus!

I got two SAI when I started my 40b 2 years ago when I panicked at stag horn. It was immediately decimated and eventually they both got big and started fighting. Flash forward to now I only have 1 SAI and not sure what happened to the second. Now the remaining is a fat sausage that sits on the bottom  and occasionally darts from one side of the tank to the other lol.

Biggest surprise in recent times was Normans Lampeyes. Very subtle color but with a flash light the males are a disco ball. They were initially shy but now beg more than my guppies and rice fish.

 

When I was a new aquarist I adopted a tank that had a Chinese algae eater. Worst fish I’ve ever kept not sure how they made it into the hobby 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/2/2022 at 12:43 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Why haven't you uploaded any cute videos of clown plecos eating zucchini? 😐

😂 I swear if someone can get my fish to eat some food like that... by all means!  I can't even get the plecos to eat repashy if they aren't RLPs/BNPs.  Clowns for me tend to stay in the wood and rummage around when the lights go out.  Whenever I feed veg and stuff it usually just gets ignored and because of that I stick to repashy only now for days when I want to give them something super healthy.

Maybe I'll have to try again!  I have learned a bit more, haven't tried in a long time.

On 11/2/2022 at 12:02 PM, NOLANANO said:

Most surprising fish: Panda Gara - I only have one but that sucker never stops moving and searching for food. I just wanted a bottom feeder and ended up with one of my favorite fish in the tank.

 That's awesome to hear.  I can't wait to get some 🙂 .

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I swear if someone can get my fish to eat some food like that... by all means! 

Have you tried boiling it? @Guppysnail’s BNPs like veggies. I don’t know why the clowns have different preferences.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/2/2022 at 6:08 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Have you tried boiling it? @Guppysnail’s BNPs like veggies. I don’t know why the clowns have different preferences.

I dont know either, but between RLP and BNPs.... BNPs have mouths like a clown pleco, but clows just really tend to graze on wood.  My clowns, if I add a cave, that's where they go.  Most plecos for me because of lighting intensity issues (they like blackwater / lower light tanks, typically).

I have tried frozen and fresh+blanched, but one thing I never paid attention to was organic vs. regular.  I've tried the green beans, snails have gotten lettuce, I've tried a lot of different ones, but just never had success.

[Chad]

Let me start off by saying this post has quickly become a favorite of mine. Great info, well written responses, very insightful. So I have to share mine. 

My biggest surprises are my background fish, the tetras, and the cherry shrimp. Turns out I love to watch fish school more than I like to watch beautiful fish swim. The rummy nose tetras and green neons have topped my list so far.

My biggest disappointment would be bettas and guppies. The bettas got boring for me (lots of personal preference here, please don't hate:) and the guppies' erratic swimming got tiresome to watch. Again personal preference. Also, I had lots of trouble with both species regarding their health. I think both are super awesome fish, but I would say to the inexperienced that you should be prepared and very observant when dealing with both.

I'm amazed that the fish and shrimp I got to round out my aquarium turned out to be my favorites. So my advice is to try keeping as many as you can in as few a tanks as possible 😉 

[Tanked]

Disappointing:

 Amano Shrimp head up a list is that is too long, mainly because I rarely saw them, they died in weeks, and around me they are $8.00 each.

Fun:

SAEs.  I have 5 and they act more like a herd than a shoal. They are just fun to watch alone or when they are interacting with the other fish.  They love to chase and be chased by the lone Zebra Danio.

Surprising: 

Ember Tetras.  When viewed in very low morning light, my fish cam sees the adult fish as bright red glowing coals while the rest of the fish are nearly invisible.

 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Most fun: any of the species or genera of pupfish.  They are active, curious, and just entertaining.  Like watching puppies play!

Worst: for me it was Endlers.  They never seemed very "with it" to me, and just produced clouds of babies that I had to pull apart the tank to catch. 

[drewzero1]

On 11/3/2022 at 9:06 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Most fun: any of the species or genera of pupfish.  They are active, curious, and just entertaining.  Like watching puppies play!

Worst: for me it was Endlers.  They never seemed very "with it" to me, and just produced clouds of babies that I had to pull apart the tank to catch. 

I nearly forgot! I've been disappointed by endlers twice now, and my second breeding attempt is essentially over. Both times the adults died off one by one over a few months, and I only ever saw one fry. I'm giving up (again)(for now).