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!

 

Honestly, I don't understand why people keep eels unless you like getting your fingers bitten off every time you clean the tank. They're scary. xD

Edit: What's the point of them? They don't do a whole lot.

I'm guessing you mean salt?
Fresh water eels fire, tiretrack, peacock, etc eels don't look like they are very good at biting off fingers.
"Fresh water"(brackish) morays are snot very common. IIRC they are also pretty small unlike their saltwater green relatives.

 

I don’t like gold Fish or Goo fish

I don’t like gold Fish or Goo fish

*Glo*

 

Deformed fish (fancy goldfish, BPs, etc), Glo fish, and fish they can’t properly care for. The amount of people ‘rescuing’ fish and not providing their basic needs is ridiculous.

 

I'm not excited about fish that have been wild caught.

Alot of fish such as fancy goldfish, HM bettas, Dumbo, balloon, etc have a hard time getting around compared to there natural relatives.

Breading animals for "Pretty" and not for there benefit not only happens in the fish hoby. For example a coloring of leopard gecko has seizures but it is bred anyway because the color sells for alot despite its disability. Same for albino leopard geckos, they have a very hard time seeing and clamp there eyes shut if exposed to sunlight.

 

I just don't really get the appeal of flowerhorns, especially since they're not found in the wild and require such large amounts of care and maintenance to make sure they're healthy. Also, most wild-caught fish don't appeal to me because of the stress that it puts the fish through. I figure if the fish doesn't breed well in captivity then it shouldn't be in home aquariums.

 

I don't know why everyone struggles with the concept that not everyone wants 'natural.' Not everybody wants a green tank with beige sand and brown or silver fish. I love glofish; I wish they were legal here, and I see nothing wrong with unnaturally decorated tanks. I'd pick a black gravel and background tank with neon fake plants over a planted tank (I'd pick anything over a planted tank tbh)

I don't get otos, they're finicky and I don't see any visual appeal. They're boring looking and buying fish that die that easy is rage inducing. Also kuhli loaches; they freak me out. Too wriggly. Honey gourami - boring. I think ill add dwarf gourami; they're pretty but not worth the hassle.

I had a bunch a diatoms spread everywhere. I dropped in 3 tiny otos, and every bit of the brown film was gone in just a couple of days. Definitely getting some for my 55 gallon.

 

I'm not excited about fish that have been wild caught.

I don't have a problem with that. I don't know your reasons for feeling that way, but there are places in the world where catching fish for the aquarium hobby has benefits for the environment and the economic well-being of the local people who might not otherwise have a decent income. If their income depends on catching fish they have an incentive to protect the fish populations and the water they live in.

 

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but long finned ANYTHING is on my hit list. I don't think it's attractive at all. Puts the fish health at risk, slows them down, tires them out, makes it difficult for them to thrive in old age, the list goes on.

 

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but long finned ANYTHING is on my hit list. I don't think it's attractive at all. Puts the fish health at risk, slows them down, tires them out, makes it difficult for them to thrive in old age, the list goes on.

Ok but it does look great on rams !!

 

Anything that could actually hurt them. Stingrays come to mind at least, but relatively few people actually keep those...

 

Anything that could actually hurt them. Stingrays come to mind at least, but relatively few people actually keep those...

But but but... Nibbles is adorable!

 

Okay, puffer fish are the exception. Cuteness is always the goal here

 

Any fish that requires cultures of live food. I occasionally hatch brine as a treat for my fish, but I wouldn’t want to do it every day.

 

I know this thread is old and my answer like others is glofish even though I was gifted a globetta lol yes he’s cute but I prefer my red,white and blue one much better

 

this thread is a bit old, but i dont understand the point of balloon fish and longfinned cories.

 

Any fish that requires cultures of live food. I occasionally hatch brine as a treat for my fish, but I wouldn’t want to do it every day.

This is a completely valid take, and normally I would be with you on this one 100%, but scarlet badis have recently stolen my heart and I think I may need to start seriously looking into live cultures lol

 

After owning angels for almost two years, I don’t really get why people continue to keep them, if they’re not actively making a profit from breeding them. They are such a nightmare to deal with aggression wise and you basically have to always have a back up plan in case they decide to turn on each other.
Maybe I was doing something wrong, I don’t know. I started with a group of 6 angels and ultimately ended with one single angel because they wouldn’t stop trying to kill each other.

 

Interestin. Did you have breeding pairs?

 

Interestin. Did you have breeding pairs?

Yes, two. And I enjoyed breeding them, when they weren’t trying to kill each other.

 

After owning angels for almost two years, I don’t really get why people continue to keep them, if they’re not actively making a profit from breeding them. They are such a nightmare to deal with aggression wise and you basically have to always have a back up plan in case they decide to turn on each other.
Maybe I was doing something wrong, I don’t know. I started with a group of 6 angels and ultimately ended with one single angel because they wouldn’t stop trying to kill each other.

I have 6 angelfish but I think they must be all males, they do bicker but nothing serious. They are big, I’ve had them well over a year.

 

Glofish. I had one glofish betta in my entire life and the poor thing was so unhealthy. I tried to give him a happy life, but his genetics were too terrible. Poor baby didn't last 1 month.

 

This is a completely valid take, and normally I would be with you on this one 100%, but scarlet badis have recently stolen my heart and I think I may need to start seriously looking into live cultures lol

I highly recommend white worms. They're extremely low-maintenance, readily reproduce, don't stink, make scarlet badis go bananas, and can live in a shoebox full of dirt so long as you have a spare minifridge or room you can keep at around 60F.