PlaneFishGuy Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 What's your favorite wild fish to keep? Could be wild caught or captive bred and still reasonably close to the look of the wild counterparts. Not looking to go down a genetic rabbit hole as I know that can get pretty complicated and two fish could look almost identical and be genetically different. I like the idea of having an aquarium with fish that you could go see in the wild and wanted to get ideas from the folks on the forum. Pictures would be awesome... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I collect and keep several kinds of native fishes. One of my favorites are pygmy sunfish. I have colony that is currently breeding: It is nice to see them in the wild and learn about what need by looking at their native environment. It is also nice to collect the native plants that they live in too. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Always love seeing your pygmy sunfish! @Daniel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Dingle Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 @Daniel Those are beautiful fish! Thank you for sharing. I want to keep a pair of wild betta for my next project. I think I'll start easy and go with wild betta splendens and if I have success I'll try a more difficult betta species. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 Awesome fish @Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casual aquatics Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I’m gonna be the odd ball and say blue cat or spoonbill catfish if we are talking wild 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keddre Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I’m going to ignore the fish and go with apple cucumber. I had it for a couple years until I moved, but I plan on getting another when I get a house next year 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorydorasEthan Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Corydoras. They don't have to be altered at all to have great patterns/colors. Always moving around or playing together in schools. They are great community fish and perfect tank mates for pretty much everything that isn't territorial/big/aggressive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 17 minutes ago, keddre said: I’m going to ignore the fish and go with apple cucumber. I had it for a couple years until I moved, but I plan on getting another when I get a house next year Wow! I didn’t even know this was a thing! Is it freshwater? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I was wondering about the rainbow darter. They are quite beautiful. Does anybody know how to get ahold of them? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 @Daniel Love the sunfish! 🐟 Decades ago, Carolina Biological used to sell Three-Spined Sticklebacks, the N.A. fish that builds a little nest to house their eggs. I wish I had tried to start a colony of them. I believe now, they may be listed as endangered. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keddre Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 9 minutes ago, Lifeisgood said: Wow! I didn’t even know this was a thing! Is it freshwater? No, salt. I haven’t been able to find any cool inverts in freshwater yet which sucks because I’m an invert nerm. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garren Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 The pygmy sunfish would be my favorite. Thank you @Daniel for inducing me to them. Someday I might keep them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 5 minutes ago, Anita said: That is one crazy, cool looking fish! Those dorsal spines are something else. I’m dying to get into some native fish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 Awesome wild fish so far - thanks for all the feedback. Keep them coming please. I live in an area where all we really have are big box options - its really cool to see all the options that are out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celly Rasbora Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 I recently saw rainbow shiners for sale. It's native to Alabama and I think it would be cool to have a tank of them. I'd have to make a river tank, though, so it's probably not going to happen, unless I suddenly find room in my house for such a thing. It's a beautiful fish, though. I found this article with beautiful photography that features Alabama's most colorful fish (and other fanciful critters and flowers as big as dinner plates.) https://www.al.com/news/2016/05/in_the_land_of_tiny_technicolo.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingFishKeeper Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Haven't kept them yet, but I love paradise fish, particularly the Macropodus ocellatus. I just like labyrinth fish in general now that I think of it lol. Also just the classic neon and cardinal tetra. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deku-Corydoras Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 (edited) I don't keep any natives, but I think the Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) is a neat little fish, and it's very common so catching a few to keep in captivity wouldn't harm any ecosystems. The Redside Dace is also another Ohio native I like. A lot of the shiners are cool too. Dang, this is making me want to do a native tank. Yet another idea to add to the list of things I want to do but probably will never do. Edited March 18, 2021 by Deku-Corydoras 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 @Deku-Corydoras Redside Dace looks awesome - almost like a native rainbow shark I live in the southeast (alabama) and Ive been kicking around the idea of a southeastern native community tank. I haven't deep dived too much into fish compatibility yet but the feedback on the this thread is giving me some ideas (i.e. alabama rainbow shiners and gulf coast pygmy sunfish in a heavily planted tank) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 (edited) My favourite wild fish are L number Plecs just beautiful so many species something for every one Edited March 18, 2021 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 lake sturgeon. absolutely the coolest fish to keep. would not do it again though as they are long term unkeepable due to getting huge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 @lefty o the prehistoric look is awesome on the sturgeon. I can see tap dancing around why the grocery bill for a family of four and the fish food bill don't look any different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 (edited) @Colu the blue pleco is awesome - I've been out of the hobby 20 years. I look back and its hard to imagine that the internet was barely a thing then. I remember being subscribed to a ton of magazines that would show up in the mail and that was the limit of your exposure. If you pop-quizzed me back then I would have guessed that blue pleco was some sort of saltwater variant that just hadn't been featured in "tropical fish" or 'Aquarium Fish" Magazine. Also that was back when you judged how credible a magazine was by how thick and glossy the pages were...and you convinced yourself that after paying 6.99 (1.85 above minimum wage) you didn't mind the fact that 86% of the magazine was paid advertisements. Edited March 18, 2021 by PlaneFishGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 If we're talking wild fish that are native to USA, I would say the pygmy sunfish or rainbow shiners. Otherwise, I love the wild discus, once they get bigger and are comfortable in their aquarium, they can have some gorgeous colors, as I am sure a lot of you have seen in videos of @Dean’s Fishroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeonduck Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 14 hours ago, Anita said: @Daniel Love the sunfish! 🐟 Decades ago, Carolina Biological used to sell Three-Spined Sticklebacks, the N.A. fish that builds a little nest to house their eggs. I wish I had tried to start a colony of them. I believe now, they may be listed as endangered. I had seen Americans mentioning three spines sticklebacks but I hadn't looked up to see if it's the same species as we get in Europe. Turns out it is! I love watching these in the wild and have always wanted to keep some in an aquarium but there supposed to be quite tricky to keep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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