I was thinking about fish I'm keeping my eyes out for and thought this would be a fun little thread to get people thinking what species of fish they'd like to keep at some time in the future. I actually have certain tanks set up that I can make accommodate these fish within a couple hours simply by rearranging stock and/or bringing water chemistry and temperature to the needed parameters. And, with the rarity of at least one of these, this really is a bucket list for me at my age, lol.
I know my list has evolved and changed over time. I've kept all the fish that have been on it in its various iterations except the latest, which have been Rift Valley cichlids almost without exception. I've managed to obtain all the fish that have been on it in the past except two, both Victorians that are Critically Endangered, and one of which may be Extinct. Both were imported sporadically in the early 1980s, but both suffered severely during the nile perch explosion of the early and mid-80s.
Your list may only have one or two fish, or it could have ten. Don't try to reach a certain number. So, without further ado:
7. L-46 zebra pleco - I can make my water softer, I just have a problem paying two, three or four hundred dollars per fish. I trade or even give my fish away, so it's my opinion that if breeders were truly conservation oriented they'd keep the prices at a level were more hobbyists could afford them.
6. Golden dwarf acara (Nannacara anomala) - These used to be fairly common in the hobby, but I don't often see them anymore. I've kept these guys before and they were just a blast to keep, with all the contrariness of a green terror or other large acara but in a compact package that can't do much harm to anything.
5. Apistogramma sp. 'abacaxis' - I only recently stumbled across these and from the pictures the colors are different from any other apisto I've seen. I just thought they were gorgeous.
4. Cupid cichlid (Biotodoma cupido) - Pictures don't do these justice. I had five that the shopkeeper was selling as mixed Africans. They were getting beat up severely by all the mbuna in the tank, and they were drab as hell when he netted them out. I knew they weren't Africans, but didn't know exactly what they were, and I guessed they were a Geophagus species. They were an impulse buy, something I'm guilty of quite often but have the tank space to do. Anyways, when they colored up I was floored. It took me a couple of years to determine what they were. I just loved them and want to keep them again. Anymore I see these fairly often these days and I'll be ready to order some when spring rolls around.
3. White-cheeked moray eel (Echidna rhodochilus) - Another fish that I had in the late 1980s and early 90s. I didn't buy them actually. My girlfriend and I went to the LFS and I mentioned how cool they were, but had no intention of buying them because I didn't have tank space. Well, she went and bought them for me as a birthday present for my 22nd birthday. They were sold as freshwater morays. I ended up gradually converting them to brackish water since I knew there were no purely freshwater morays, but never identified them until the early 2010s. They were about 6" when I first got them and grew to 9" before tragedy struck. After I moved back to Cheyenne they were in a 55 by themselves. The strainer fell of the filter and one of them got up in there and was severly injured by the impeller. The other ended up with a broken back, and I never determined the reason. I had them about three years. Anyways at a foot long and being brackish, these guys aren't tankbusters and have fairly reasonable care demands.
2. Canara pearlspot cichlid (Etroplus canarensis) - Not common, but they show up on dealers' lists fairly often these days. I just like the way they look, and they'd be a notch on my belt for another Asian species. I already have a tank ready for them when they come up for sale the next time.
1. Iranian cichlid (Iranocichla hormuzensis) - My Holy Grail. It's been No. 1 on my list since the late 2000s. The males are just gorgeous when in breeding dress They have only been imported to the United States once, via Europe, as far as I can determine, and breeding efforts weren't especially successful. I was looking for them to come up for sale anywhere but they never did. Simply acquiring some would leave me dancing on the air. Breeding them would be my ultimate achievement in the hobby, my masterwork, my pièce de résistance, my magnum opus, LOL. The likelihood of any of this is probably impossible considering the political climate and the relations between the U.S. and Iran.
WYite
I know my list has evolved and changed over time. I've kept all the fish that have been on it in its various iterations except the latest, which have been Rift Valley cichlids almost without exception. I've managed to obtain all the fish that have been on it in the past except two, both Victorians that are Critically Endangered, and one of which may be Extinct. Both were imported sporadically in the early 1980s, but both suffered severely during the nile perch explosion of the early and mid-80s.
Your list may only have one or two fish, or it could have ten. Don't try to reach a certain number. So, without further ado:
7. L-46 zebra pleco - I can make my water softer, I just have a problem paying two, three or four hundred dollars per fish. I trade or even give my fish away, so it's my opinion that if breeders were truly conservation oriented they'd keep the prices at a level were more hobbyists could afford them.
6. Golden dwarf acara (Nannacara anomala) - These used to be fairly common in the hobby, but I don't often see them anymore. I've kept these guys before and they were just a blast to keep, with all the contrariness of a green terror or other large acara but in a compact package that can't do much harm to anything.
5. Apistogramma sp. 'abacaxis' - I only recently stumbled across these and from the pictures the colors are different from any other apisto I've seen. I just thought they were gorgeous.
4. Cupid cichlid (Biotodoma cupido) - Pictures don't do these justice. I had five that the shopkeeper was selling as mixed Africans. They were getting beat up severely by all the mbuna in the tank, and they were drab as hell when he netted them out. I knew they weren't Africans, but didn't know exactly what they were, and I guessed they were a Geophagus species. They were an impulse buy, something I'm guilty of quite often but have the tank space to do. Anyways, when they colored up I was floored. It took me a couple of years to determine what they were. I just loved them and want to keep them again. Anymore I see these fairly often these days and I'll be ready to order some when spring rolls around.
3. White-cheeked moray eel (Echidna rhodochilus) - Another fish that I had in the late 1980s and early 90s. I didn't buy them actually. My girlfriend and I went to the LFS and I mentioned how cool they were, but had no intention of buying them because I didn't have tank space. Well, she went and bought them for me as a birthday present for my 22nd birthday. They were sold as freshwater morays. I ended up gradually converting them to brackish water since I knew there were no purely freshwater morays, but never identified them until the early 2010s. They were about 6" when I first got them and grew to 9" before tragedy struck. After I moved back to Cheyenne they were in a 55 by themselves. The strainer fell of the filter and one of them got up in there and was severly injured by the impeller. The other ended up with a broken back, and I never determined the reason. I had them about three years. Anyways at a foot long and being brackish, these guys aren't tankbusters and have fairly reasonable care demands.
2. Canara pearlspot cichlid (Etroplus canarensis) - Not common, but they show up on dealers' lists fairly often these days. I just like the way they look, and they'd be a notch on my belt for another Asian species. I already have a tank ready for them when they come up for sale the next time.
1. Iranian cichlid (Iranocichla hormuzensis) - My Holy Grail. It's been No. 1 on my list since the late 2000s. The males are just gorgeous when in breeding dress They have only been imported to the United States once, via Europe, as far as I can determine, and breeding efforts weren't especially successful. I was looking for them to come up for sale anywhere but they never did. Simply acquiring some would leave me dancing on the air. Breeding them would be my ultimate achievement in the hobby, my masterwork, my pièce de résistance, my magnum opus, LOL. The likelihood of any of this is probably impossible considering the political climate and the relations between the U.S. and Iran.
WYite
