Hardiest/toughest fish you've ever kept...?

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karahello

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More of a curious question, what was the hardiest type of fish that you have ever kept?
 

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Yoyo loach, I used to have an individual in a too-small, incredibly dirty tank and he was fine. Quite a trooper. Still alive, with a friend in a too-small clean tank now.
 

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My Blue Gourami.
STORY TIME!
Back in 2006 when I was like 7 or 8, I got two Gourami's for a tank in my room, a 5 Gallon ! Well the tank became REALLY dirty to the point where I could barely see the other end of the tank (didn't do a water change for like 2 years), and I rarely fed them. And around 2008 my Gold Gourami died ;( poor guy. BUT my Blue gourami held on for 1 more year (2009) when I got into actual fish keeping, with my 3 friends in my neighborhood. Well, I cleaned the tank and got a 15 Gallon filter for it (it used to have a 5 gal. filter), and added Melanistic mosquito-fish (gambusia) and regular mosquito fish. It stayed in the tank 1 more year with them until late 2010 when I moved her into my 25 Gallon, Yay! Well, she lived for about 4 months, until she picked up a really mysterious disease and died....Thus ended my beloved friends life. She is now frozen in a cup in my garage freezer, lol, along with about 10 other fish.

Ps. most of my fish died from ich outbreaks (I Had 2 normal outbreaks, and 3 MASSIVE outbreaks.
 

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Neon Tetras! They just died right away! They seem not hardy at all! Bt some people had success with them.

EDIT: oops! I thought you said most UNHARDIEST fish

Then for me would be ether Bettas of Halquen Rasboras
 
Zebra danios. When I was younger I was less than diligent in doing water changes. When I took the water in to get tested, the guy at the LFS flat out refused to believe that anything could live in that water without proof.
 

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My little Cardinal Tetras..... I have about 3 in my 55 gallon and they were my first fish. I was so ignorant that when the kind man at the LFS told me to let my tank sit for 5-6 weeks I literally just did that.....so after 6 weeks at had water very much unchanged from the beginning. I added these little guys and watched them swim around in a 75 gallon tank for a month before I added any other fish. This was probably ideal for them, but when I look at them now it reminds me of how much I did not know about fish keeping!! They are sort of blah!!! a bit boring really, but I plan on always having some in my large tanks to remind me of my very, very humble beginnings.
 
Cloyde, easy he has lived through a ick outbreak In a community tank, an aggressive platy and me massing with his set up.

Also check my signature if confused.
 
Jaws and my other 2 large Colombian sharks. I've moved them 5 times and soon to be 6 and final time. They've dealt with minI cycles high ammonia problems and when I put the 2 smaller sharks in they had a small ich outbreak but the large ones didn't get it nor where they phased by it.
 

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Sorry to hear that Chickenfarmer.

My six Clown Loaches that I started my 90 gallon with have been pretty hardy.



OK they had the dreaded whitespot when I first got them but it was cured without any losses.

Since then they have done well and are now 17 years old.

All the others I started with are now gone, either died of old age or were removed for bad behaviour.

The latter includes my Sailfin Plec, bought at 2cm long. We worried about him surviving but need not have. I gave him away at 16 years, 30cm long and never a hardiness issue!

Unfortunately he chased the other fish during the night and was never at ease with my Clown Loaches- he was my most completely hardy fish ever.


 
Good morning,

The hardiest fish I have ever kept are all listed in my signature below.

Ken
 
My toughest are either the betta, whose story is filled with misshaps and still he happily kicks on, the 10 cherry barbs who just keep on keeping on, or the GW killI who is the toughest fish ever. These guys are my stayers.
 
I have some tough fish in my house, but my hardiest would have to be my Bloody Red Parrot female. She came to me with a prolapsed uterus two years ago, made a full recovery, survived a few months of tank neglect, and is still swimming.
 
Maybe cardinal tetras or goldfish. My mom had 2 goldfish in a bowl, and my grandma didn’T want to clean it when she had guests over and hid it behind a book, she forgot about them for 2 months. And found them when cleaning and they lived longer.
 
I’d say goldfish or bettas. They are probably the two most abused fish in the hobby but they still manage to live way longer than other fish would in little vases
 

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I dont hear a lot of people talk about this, but kuhli loaches. They’re probably not THE hardiest fish, but certainly out of everything I’ve kept they are. They’re just now starting to be captive bred, so they aren’t weak and “domestic” like bettas or guppies. Those guys dealt with some of my most insane mistakes and lived fine. I had one get stuck in a bucket for 48 hours with just about no water and he lived!!! I still have him. Despite being scaleless, they’ve lived through multiple mini cycles, ick treatment and antibiotics, a tank leak, literally staying in the tank while I moved it, and probably many more things.
 
I am planning to do a poll, So far I will add goldfish, bettas, guppies, and khuli loaches.
I dont hear a lot of people talk about this, but kuhli loaches. They’re probably not THE hardiest fish, but certainly out of everything I’ve kept they are. They’re just now starting to be captive bred, so they aren’t weak and “domestic” like bettas or guppies. Those guys dealt with some of my most insane mistakes and lived fine. I had one get stuck in a bucket for 48 hours with just about no water and he lived!!! I still have him. Despite being scaleless, they’ve lived through multiple mini cycles, ick treatment and antibiotics, a tank leak, literally staying in the tank while I moved it, and probably many more things.
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Also, cory from aquarium co-op said that it survived in a tank without a heater or a filter for a couple of months. These are really hardy. They are also amazing
 
I haven't kept too many fish to give a def answer but I do agree with AggressiveAquatics - bettas got to be one of the hardiest. I found Moonlight in a tiny bag the size of a 4 year old's fist, on the cold floor and completely sealed. She has been there for 10 days - part of a shipment from Thailand. She had a fungal infection and bloat. I QT-ed her and medicated her w Paraguard and Metro + Prazi med food. One day she accidentally got sucked into the siphon and came through the other end! 3 weeks later, she is now not only a healthy fish in my 20 gal but the most active of my three bettas. Love bettas forever.
 
Cyprinids in general, Carps, Minnows & Barbs, are probably the most durable aquarium fish.
This family of fish as typically made up of "Riverine" species. In the wild, Stream fish have had to adapt to extreme, constantly changing environmental conditions. Rapid & extreme temp changes even rapid changes in water chemistry.
 
Plecos, they have armored bodies and have easy diets. My male lemon bristle nose pleco is chill but when i put in food he acts likes a bull dog.
 
Oscars & common plecos have got to be up there. When I was young and stupid, I had an oscar & pleco that lived several years in a 55 gallon tank with little to no maintenance (feel bad about it now).
 

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Goldfish was mentioned 3 times
Betta was mentioned 5 times
Khuli loach was mentioned once
tetras were mentioned 3 times
Mollies were mentioned once
Platies were mentioned once
Plecos three times
and Oscars once

I AM NOT 100% sure, but this is what I have so far

Vote I will add votes based on the other post
 
The hardiest fish I’ve had recently were Rosy tetras, and by far ! If/when I start another community tank, they will be my first choice.
 
I find it interesting that bettas and platies are on here. I haven't owned either and I think they are beautiful fish, but they seem to be the ones I see most often on this board being sick, being injured, dying, and people stressing over. Fascinating that they are the most hardy as well. Maybe they overcome a lot of those illnesses and injuries (obviously not deaths! LOL) better than other types?
 
I find it interesting that bettas and platies are on here. I haven't owned either and I think they are beautiful fish, but they seem to be the ones I see most often on this board being sick, being injured, dying, and people stressing over. Fascinating that they are the most hardy as well. Maybe they overcome a of those illnesses and injuries (obviously not deaths! LOL) better than other types?
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I heard that they are not bred right or are raised in brackish water. Not sure though.
 
I find it interesting that bettas and platies are on here. I haven't owned either and I think they are beautiful fish, but they seem to be the ones I see most often on this board being sick, being injured, dying, and people stressing over.
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I agree 100%. I have had bad experiences with both platies and bettas, and I too have noticed they are most written about on this forum for being ill.
 
The hardiest fish I’ve had was a common pleco. It lived for 6 years in a 1/2 gallon tank before I knew any better . Can’t believe it made it that long though, I think I did water changes every month or something.
 
I find it interesting that bettas and platies are on here. I haven't owned either and I think they are beautiful fish, but they seem to be the ones I see most often on this board being sick, being injured, dying, and people stressing over. Fascinating that they are the most hardy as well. Maybe they overcome a lot of those illnesses and injuries (obviously not deaths! LOL) better than other types?
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I think it's because they are more frequently bought by new and misinformed keepers. These are both fish that are often kept in uncycled, tiny tanks. My platies lived through multiple ammonia spikes and heater fails, and my bettas have lived through even more.

I rescued a betta from a 1 gallon, uncycled, unfiltered tank who had advanced dropsy. I was sure he would die, and I had no meds on hand, but he held on and recovered within a month. After that, he lived another year with me. There were permanent effects left from the dropsy, but he still seemed happy.
 
Kuhli's aren't very hardy tbh. I've had them and only had one die but it was the main reason I distanced myself from the fish community actually. I believe they're worth the work!
 
Kuhli's aren't very hardy tbh. I've had them and only had one die but it was the main reason I distanced myself from the fish community actually. I believe they're worth the work!
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Having one fish die doesn't sound like a strong proof of not being hardy. Things happen, even goldfish die.
 
My nominations:
1. Weather loach. Good from 32F to 115F. Will tolerate being moved from 115F water straight into 45F water (I was a panicked kid as my heater had gone crockpot). Nitrates, who cares. Nitrites, don't care about those much either. Reasonably floor tolerant. PH tolerance is beastly. When all your other fish are dead, the weather still wants to be fed.
2. Snakehead, tolerates everything well, including floors. Well OK, not so tolerant of hands in tank but that is more of a you problem than a fish problem. The honey badger of fish.
 

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before I got into the hobby we had a pleco who got no food no light no nothing for 5 years. he is living a good life now.
 
2. Snakehead, tolerates everything well, including floors. Well OK, not so tolerant of hands in tank but that is more of a you problem than a fish problem. The honey badger of fish.
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I don't even know what a snakehead is but this made me laugh out loud. It also made me not want to get one!
 
My vote is for a fish not listed: the white cloud mountain minnow. They rarely get sick, tolerate a wide range of temperatures and water parameters. They are one of the easiest egglayers to breed. They can get streptococcal infections in poorly maintained tanks, but routine housekeeping should minimize that risk.
 
March will be 2 years for me in the hobby and I still have 3 Black Skirt Tetras and 3 Zebra Danios from day one. Three danios died over time, and later on I added 3 BST, and the 6 BSTs are still surviving.
 
But... why?
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it was my dads tank, and nobody really looked after it, me and my siblings were little when my dad was in the hobby
 

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