What Kind of Fish Do You Simply Not Understand Why People Keep?

I was listening to a podcast recently, and the interviewer asked the interviewee what fish they simply don't understand why people keep it, and that got me thinking. What kind of fish do others out there simply not understand why others want it?

So here is mine and my reasoning.

1) Monster fish.
Pretty obvious why, but just going to throw it out there, I do own a Mbu Puffer, but he was a rescue. I actually decided against getting one a while ago due to the size. My ultimate reason for this is why would your average person want a fish that grows 4ft or bigger. Being honest, the demographic of people who want them compared to those who can actually have a place for them is so off. I can walk into almost any shop and say 'I want a red-tailed catfish' and next week I pay $14.99 for one whom I can then keep in a 10 gallon like many others- let alone, in 4 months you're feeding it whole frozen shrimp, and in a year its like a pound a day and it just keeps growing. I am not going to limit this to just those either, I include things like oscars, red devils, Dovii, common pleco, god forbid if anybody gets an arapaima. I am not here to state these fish are not cool/pretty, but just stating that the majority of them who have them, probably shouldn't, and the retail industry sells them like mad. In addition to this, normal people think something like a 29 gallon is a 'big' tank and a 55 is 'huge'.

My second one, I hardly understand, but think is ridiculous is glo-fish.
There's all these other options out there to have a slice of nature with silk plants or fake plants with nice pea gravel, and you choose to get the neon pink gravel and have blue rainbow sharks and that bright green betta as a display tank. Sure? I guess.

This might just be my complaints with the retail fish industry in general, but I know there are some people who just don't understand getting a certain fish for the amount of work it is. Thank you for reading!

 

I don't get why people buy fish like the iridescent shark. They get too big. They're sensitive too.

 

I don't get why people buy fish like the iridescent shark. They get too big. They're sensitive too.

Its due to the ornamental fish trade labeling a catfish as a 'shark' makes for amazing amounts of sales. I am going to admit- when I was 6 and it said shark I had to have it. Then I bragged to my classmates I had sharks. (Though I had bala sharks, not iridescent, same concept applies). It is probably the largest issue in the aquarium trade- bad names for fish that produce sales instead of good homes.

 

I was listening to a podcast recently, and the interviewer asked the interviewee what fish they simply don't understand why people keep it, and that got me thinking. What kind of fish do others out there simply not understand why others want it?

So here is mine and my reasoning.

1) Monster fish.
Pretty obvious why, but just going to throw it out there, I do own a Mbu Puffer, but he was a rescue. I actually decided against getting one a while ago due to the size. My ultimate reason for this is why would your average person want a fish that grows 4ft or bigger. Being honest, the demographic of people who want them compared to those who can actually have a place for them is so off. I can walk into almost any shop and say 'I want a red-tailed catfish' and next week I pay $14.99 for one whom I can then keep in a 10 gallon like many others- let alone, in 4 months you're feeding it whole frozen shrimp, and in a year its like a pound a day and it just keeps growing. I am not going to limit this to just those either, I include things like oscars, red devils, Dovii, common pleco, god forbid if anybody gets an arapaima. I am not here to state these fish are not cool/pretty, but just stating that the majority of them who have them, probably shouldn't, and the retail industry sells them like mad. In addition to this, normal people think something like a 29 gallon is a 'big' tank and a 55 is 'huge'.

My second one, I hardly understand, but think is ridiculous is glo-fish.
There's all these other options out there to have a slice of nature with silk plants or fake plants with nice pea gravel, and you choose to get the neon pink gravel and have blue rainbow sharks and that bright green betta as a display tank. Sure? I guess.

This might just be my complaints with the retail fish industry in general, but I know there are some people who just don't understand getting a certain fish for the amount of work it is. Thank you for reading!

Betta fish!
Betta’s need a super quiet environment and all the owners of betta’s I’ve met can’t keep it quiet, they betta’s die from stress and at a young age, it’s horrible

 

I don’t understand why anyone would decide to get a common pleco or sail fin when they get so unbelievably large when you can just get a bristlenose or a rubber lip, or even a clown pleco.

Here's another perspective on size. Most of the "monster fish" sold in the hobby aren't really monster-sized, so that word gets thrown around too liberally. Common plecos, Oscars, and Red Devils are relatively large in the context of fishkeeping, but still not unmanageable or financially unattainable to properly keep for many people. I don't even consider koi to be "monsters." The only fish you mentioned that constitute as a true monster is the Arapaima.

Now to answer your question, I don't get bubble-eyed goldfish. Because of line-breeding, they're delicate, short-lived, and come with a myriad of genetic issues; but because they're supposedly "cute," it's okay. Another fish I don't get are bettas. I can understand having one or two, but I don't find them that alluring to occupy as much space and real estate that some people give them. I would never split a 10g or 20g in half for a single fish.

I agree on the betta thing. I think bettas in general are overrated tbh. I love my betta boy but he doesn’t really do much.

 

I love all fish but some people think it is weird to keep crayfish but I keep them and love them

 

Melanochromis auratus

Well, I have kept them and I learned a great deal. But the male is the meanest deadliest of aquarium fish. Females are fine.

Problem is I had a tank of all females (yellow). One turned male (blue) and killed everything in sight. That's what they do.

I gave him his own tank. He would stalk ME and chase me away when I cam close to feed him!

Meanest most territorial fish.

Really does not belong in a tank. Needs a huge lake!

 

I gave him his own tank. He would stalk ME and chase me away when I cam close to feed him!

Meanest most territorial fish.

i would love to own a plucky fish with this kind of attitude

 

The one I can't understand (other than maybe a "this is cool" animal) are axolotls. Many look like baked mole rats with their gills hanging out. I'm not trying to offend anyone that has them, but I personally don't think that they are cute at all. I think they are COOL, but just not something I'd get... (maybe I'm biased because I couldn't have a community tank with them lol)

I’ll grant that the albino/ leucistic ones sorta resemble a hairless rat. (I can only see it b/c you said it, I think they look closer to blind cave salamanders.)
But the wild types and melanistic axolotls don’t. I personally think they’re all cute, but the black ones in particular look like a night fury dragon if you pretend the gills are ear flaps.

I have some in cattle troughs to control algae and mosquito larvae. Is that okay?

We tried that in 50 gal stock tanks for our goats one summer. I’m not sure how effective they may have been, because within a few days the chickens found them and ate them. It was both a sad end to the fish, and strangely funny to see the chickens overcome their hatred of being wet to get free sushi. I caught one bird in the act, but it was the last fish.

What do you do with the goldfish in the winter?

 

I’ll grant that the albino/ leucistic ones sorta resemble a hairless rat. (I can only see it b/c you said it, I think they look closer to blind cave salamanders.)
But the wild types and melanistic axolotls don’t. I personally think they’re all cute, but the black ones in particular look like a night fury dragon if you pretend the gills are ear flaps.
View attachment 766826


We tried that in 50 gal stock tanks for our goats one summer. I’m not sure how effective they may have been, because within a few days the chickens found them and ate them. It was both a sad end to the fish, and strangely funny to see the chickens overcome their hatred of being wet to get free sushi. I caught one bird in the act, but it was the last fish.

What do you do with the goldfish in the winter?

Ok, NOW I want one. Just from that picture!

Also, to totally derail the thread, the fish I can't believe more stores don't carry, is a leopard moray eel. Just saw one on an online store, and now I want a 300g tank and another $150 for the eel. A FRESHWATER MORAY! Why aren't these sold in petsmart? People would buy them, and then HAVE to come back and upgrade their tanks!

 

Also, to totally derail the thread, the fish I can't believe more stores don't carry, is a leopard moray eel. Just saw one on an online store, and now I want a 300g tank and another $150 for the eel. A FRESHWATER MORAY! Why aren't these sold in petsmart? People would buy them, and then HAVE to come back and upgrade their tanks!

Why? Because the species has not yet been bred in captivity, so all are wild caught. Combine this with the fact that they haven't been really evaluated by the IUCN since 2012, they might be already endangered in the wild.

 

Ok, NOW I want one. Just from that picture!

Also, to totally derail the thread, the fish I can't believe more stores don't carry, is a leopard moray eel. Just saw one on an online store, and now I want a 300g tank and another $150 for the eel. A FRESHWATER MORAY! Why aren't these sold in petsmart? People would buy them, and then HAVE to come back and upgrade their tanks!

Freshwater Moray Eel? No such thing. Just do about 1 google search and the first thread says they need brackish/marine to live. It is true.

Also, 150$??? I saw them for $11.99 at a store near me, about 12-15" long. Pretty sure all of them died because they were kept in freshwater. Was quite a shame, but what are you going to do...

 

Freshwater Moray Eel? No such thing. Just do about 1 google search and the first thread says they need brackish/marine to live. It is true.

Also, 150$??? I saw them for $11.99 at a store near me, about 12-15" long. Pretty sure all of them died because they were kept in freshwater. Was quite a shame, but what are you going to do...

It's a bit more complicated. The importer I linked has the most reliable info usually. I find the articles quite interesting.
Du hast nach gymnothorax gesucht - Aquarium Glaser GmbH

The ones you saw may well have been dying off because (as so often with species that move between the habitats) the adults tend more towards freshwater, while juveniles live in the sea.

 

This is where I saw the price and freshwater claim.

 

It’s funny this list comes up a lot. Something nobody ever mentions is discus. Glo-fish flowerhorns but never discus. You do realize you’ll never find discus in these colors in the wild. They’ve all been bred into these colors. But everybody excepts that as ok. I find it funny and wonder why?

I think it is because only the colors are altered from the wild type (like many angelfish). Their bodies are not deformed, and the colours are somehow not as artificial-looking as glo-fish..

 

I think it is because only the colors are altered from the wild type (like many angelfish). Their bodies are not deformed, and the colours are somehow not as artificial-looking as glo-fish..

I here ya. But do you think this would be found anywhere else but a fish tank .

 

I was listening to a podcast recently, and the interviewer asked the interviewee what fish they simply don't understand why people keep it, and that got me thinking. What kind of fish do others out there simply not understand why others want it?

So here is mine and my reasoning.

1) Monster fish.
Pretty obvious why, but just going to throw it out there, I do own a Mbu Puffer, but he was a rescue. I actually decided against getting one a while ago due to the size. My ultimate reason for this is why would your average person want a fish that grows 4ft or bigger. Being honest, the demographic of people who want them compared to those who can actually have a place for them is so off. I can walk into almost any shop and say 'I want a red-tailed catfish' and next week I pay $14.99 for one whom I can then keep in a 10 gallon like many others- let alone, in 4 months you're feeding it whole frozen shrimp, and in a year its like a pound a day and it just keeps growing. I am not going to limit this to just those either, I include things like oscars, red devils, Dovii, common pleco, god forbid if anybody gets an arapaima. I am not here to state these fish are not cool/pretty, but just stating that the majority of them who have them, probably shouldn't, and the retail industry sells them like mad. In addition to this, normal people think something like a 29 gallon is a 'big' tank and a 55 is 'huge'.

My second one, I hardly understand, but think is ridiculous is glo-fish.
There's all these other options out there to have a slice of nature with silk plants or fake plants with nice pea gravel, and you choose to get the neon pink gravel and have blue rainbow sharks and that bright green betta as a display tank. Sure? I guess.

This might just be my complaints with the retail fish industry in general, but I know there are some people who just don't understand getting a certain fish for the amount of work it is. Thank you for reading!

Why do people put paranas in their tanks. They do nothing just swim around.
Also why flowerhorns. I get why people like them but you cant have anything else in the tank not even gravle because its gonna bonk itself and pop its head.
My third is goldfish in a bowl. Do I really have to explain it.

 

My thing is Glo fish!!! Every fish tank with them has everything fake. Plastic plastic plastic!! It kills me aghghhh!

Don't get me started on goldfish in bags/bowls.

 

bubble eye gold fish for sure. I feel so bad for those poor fish

 

My thing is Glo fish!!! Every fish tank with them has everything fake. Plastic plastic plastic!! It kills me aghghhh!

I hate plastic plants. But that's not a fish flaw, it's a flaw of people who tend to keep them. Same can be said about bettas, goldfish or any other typical child's aquarium fish.

 

Yeah, that's fair. It is just 90% of the time they have fake fake fake and I don't dig that unnatural glowing neon look.

 

Why do people put paranas in their tanks. They do nothing just swim around.

Technically all fish 'just swim around'. Fish just look different!

My angelfish I think are quite graceful, my puffers I envision them like bees underwater- buzzing about, I think discus are kinda derpy, but they all 'just swim around'.

 

I here ya. But do you think this would be found anywhere else but a fish tank .View attachment 766921View attachment 766922

No, the potential obviously exists for colour mutations, but they wouldn't survive long in the wild. Although, just out of interest, when I was working in Belize (a long time ago), we went to this lake where the large predatory cichlid, Petenia splendida, was abundant. Most were a dark bluish grey colour with stripes, and not very visible from the top. But there was also a gold morph, bright gold like a goldfish. Nowhere near as common as the normal ones but we would see them quite frequently, they were obviously surviving there despite the presence of various fishing birds.

 

I here ya. But do you think this would be found anywhere else but a fish tank .View attachment 766921View attachment 766922

Tons of brightly colored fish live naturally in the ocean. Since corals and anemones are colorful they still have good camouflage/ or their colors are warning of poison.
Isn’t there anywhere freshwater with wild colorful discus?
I mean, neon/cardinal tetras, lemon tetras, celestial pearl danios, scarlet and blue Badis, Everglades Pygmy sunfish, some of the wild type bettas, .... off the top of my head.
Are all colorful. And wild.
Even if it’s only the males when in breeding colors.

 

For me it's glo fish. I just hate how they look so artificial and they look creepy.

 

I don’t like glo-fish either. No frankenfish for me! Do you ever wonder how many people who would basically have fainting fits over gmo products buy these little beasties?

This comment made my day

 

Tons of brightly colored fish live naturally in the ocean. Since corals and anemones are colorful they still have good camouflage/ or their colors are warning of poison.
Isn’t there anywhere freshwater with wild colorful discus?
I mean, neon/cardinal tetras, lemon tetras, celestial pearl danios, scarlet and blue Badis, Everglades Pygmy sunfish, some of the wild type bettas, .... off the top of my head.
Are all colorful. And wild.
Even if it’s only the males when in breeding colors.

Nope you won’t find these in the wild. Anywhere in the Amazon. These colors are man made. Kind of like glo-fish.

 

Nope you won’t find these in the wild. Anywhere in the Amazon. These colors are man made. Kind of like glo-fish.

I could have sworn that neon tetras were natural and can be found in the Amazon.

 

I could have sworn that neon tetras were natural and can be found in the Amazon.

88 ssinit was only referring to the discus.

 

88 ssinit was only referring to the discus.

That makes a lot of sense. It has been a long day xD

 

I don’t like glo-fish either. No frankenfish for me! Do you ever wonder how many people who would basically have fainting fits over gmo products buy these little beasties?

You've inspired me.

 

I never really understood african cichlids, they all look the same to me with just a different coat of paint

 

Nope you won’t find these in the wild. Anywhere in the Amazon. These colors are man made. Kind of like glo-fish.

The difference is that discus (also goldfish and angelfish and others) have been selectively bred to achieve the colour varieties that we see in aquaria, utilising naturally occurring mutations and fixing these by choosing who breeds with who. In the wild while some mutations do occur, most individuals would not survive to breed, any any that did would breed with normal ones, ie the mutation could not be fixed in the population. Glo-fish on the other hand are genetically modified using genes from other organisms (I believe including fluorescent corals and sea anemones). Flower horns and blood parrots are hybrids of two different species that would not occur naturally in the wild.
Anyway, the wild type discus are not exactly drab, Personally I think they are among the most attractive types!

 

The difference is that discus (also goldfish and angelfish and others) have been selectively bred to achieve the colour varieties that we see in aquaria, utilising naturally occurring mutations and fixing these by choosing who breeds with who. In the wild while some mutations do occur, most individuals would not survive to breed, any any that did would breed with normal ones, ie the mutation could not be fixed in the population. Glo-fish on the other hand are genetically modified using genes from other organisms (I believe including fluorescent corals and sea anemones). Flower horns and blood parrots are hybrids of two different species that would not occur naturally in the wild.
Anyway, the wild type discus are not exactly drab, Personally I think they are among the most attractive types!

Technically blood parrots could occur in the wild. They are a mix of redhead cichlids and Midas cichlids which are both from the general area of Central America. So if they bred in captivity to create the hybrid I could image they could breed in the wild as well.

 

Just my two cents - I think GloFish are actually a net good. Their only "crime" is being incredibly gaudy - far from the worst! But it offers a humane alternative to those who might've otherwise gotten a dyed fish. I don't see how they're different from brightly colored bettas, as both are "genetically modified" by humans, other than that GloFish didn't have to be inbred to get their bright colors. I don't have GloFish anymore though, so I don't know if anything changed in the past few years ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Technically blood parrots could occur in the wild. They are a mix of redhead cichlids and Midas cichlids which are both from the general area of Central America. So if they bred in captivity to create the hybrid I could image they could breed in the wild as well.

Still a really ugly hybrid though . Just because something CAN exist naturally, doesn't mean it SHOULD .

 

Technically blood parrots could occur in the wild. They are a mix of redhead cichlids and Midas cichlids which are both from the general area of Central America. So if they bred in captivity to create the hybrid I could image they could breed in the wild as well.

It is possible but unlikely. Most species in the wild, even if they occur naturally together, have evolved mechanisms such as mate choice or habitat / nest site selection that avoid hybridisation and keep the two species separate. In captivity where there is no choice these mechanisms will often be overcome as the urge to breed is stronger.

 

That makes a lot of sense. It has been a long day xD

Same here. Already past midnight.

 

Still a really ugly hybrid though . Just because something CAN exist naturally, doesn't mean it SHOULD .

IMO all chiclids are ugly

 

IMO all chiclids are ugly

I think there are a ton of really beautiful cichlids. I love all of them honestly, other than the BP.

 

I here ya. But do you think this would be found anywhere else but a fish tank .View attachment 766921View attachment 766922

Frankly, yes. Have you seen what saltwater coral reef fish look like?