I've been thinking about all the fish I've kept in the past, which honestly is a small list compared to how long I've been keeping fish IMO. And there are a few that stand out as "man I wish I didn't sell those!". Oddly enough my top 3 are all in the same group, Mbuna! I was forced to get rid of them though so maybe that left a scar. I also reared 100s of babies with a little bit of selective culling so it was my most successful breeding experience too. My drive with these pictures isn't hooked up ATM but I'll try to find some pictures later.
Most regretted - My white labs. I got them well after setting up the main tank as bitty babies and grew them up separately. By the time they were big enough to be added to the main tank (or their own tank cause I loved them SO much) I had to sell all my Mbunas because my parents whose living room housed the tank hated the aggression, made my delicate mom cry so we couldn't have that. They were good quality too. I don't see a lot of good labs out there anymore and NEVER white ones.
2nd most - My acei, in particular my biggest guy, Walter. He was huge (good genes and I don't think he was done growing) and had a huge personality to match. One of the first fish I allowed my mother to name. She thought he looked grumpy like Walter Matthau and she was right lol. I also had babies given to me from a member of this forum that grew out separately, got attached to and just as they were ready to go into the main tank....yup.
3rd - OB Zebras. These are the ones I selectively bred/culled. I was aiming for females with the most blotches because most of my females lacked blotches so I made some that did. Really lovely ones! Once they were big enough....yeah same story. I had I think 11 tanks running during this time and 9 of them were grow outs lol.
So the white labs take the win because I have never seen white labs of that quality ever again. I can get more OB zebras no big deal but I could never replace Walter, which BTW I found out later the guy I sold most of my Mbunas to killed them all including walter! And I even did a screening with this guy to make sure he had a proper setup and knew what he was doing.
What about you guys? What fish do you most regret giving up? Or even which fish would you like to keep again?
Most regretted - My white labs. I got them well after setting up the main tank as bitty babies and grew them up separately. By the time they were big enough to be added to the main tank (or their own tank cause I loved them SO much) I had to sell all my Mbunas because my parents whose living room housed the tank hated the aggression, made my delicate mom cry so we couldn't have that. They were good quality too. I don't see a lot of good labs out there anymore and NEVER white ones.
2nd most - My acei, in particular my biggest guy, Walter. He was huge (good genes and I don't think he was done growing) and had a huge personality to match. One of the first fish I allowed my mother to name. She thought he looked grumpy like Walter Matthau and she was right lol. I also had babies given to me from a member of this forum that grew out separately, got attached to and just as they were ready to go into the main tank....yup.
3rd - OB Zebras. These are the ones I selectively bred/culled. I was aiming for females with the most blotches because most of my females lacked blotches so I made some that did. Really lovely ones! Once they were big enough....yeah same story. I had I think 11 tanks running during this time and 9 of them were grow outs lol.
So the white labs take the win because I have never seen white labs of that quality ever again. I can get more OB zebras no big deal but I could never replace Walter, which BTW I found out later the guy I sold most of my Mbunas to killed them all including walter! And I even did a screening with this guy to make sure he had a proper setup and knew what he was doing.
What about you guys? What fish do you most regret giving up? Or even which fish would you like to keep again?