What's Your Oddball Fish?

I have a Macrognathus circumcinctus that I love, he sticks out in the bunch too

I see what you did there

 

I have a quad of Crenichthys baileyi, they just started producing some eggs recently. , what new species have you bred recently? Tne ones you say haven't been bred before?

 

My odd balls are my brindled madtoms and my new red eye puffer.

 

The real oddballs are the fish we haven't seen before, which do enter the hobby. You would never know it if the fishstore part of your town suffers from Petchainitis, but there are constant discoveries and new importations that allow hobbyists to solve some cool puzzles.
The two fish I mentioned above are Lake Mweru Cichlids, a Congo lake with a newly imported flock of related Cichlids - I got one of the undescribed Orthochromis and one of the undescribed Pseudocrenilabtus to spawn. No great skill - no one had kept them before. Attractive fish.
There are a few never or rarely imported tetras coming in, and always new discoveries in killies, Bettas and Cichlids. There is a lot to be seen. It's all odd.
We have to support the importers who are taking risks on this stuff, and the stores willing to sell something that doesn't appear in corporate marketing statistics. As we get better at fishkeeping, we can build networks and exchange knowledge. A forum like this doesn't have to be for newcomers only. We all have a lot to learn from each others, since we're oddballs too.

 

The real oddballs are the fish we haven't seen before, which do enter the hobby. You would never know it if the fishstore part of your town suffers from Petchainitis, but there are constant discoveries and new importations that allow hobbyists to solve some cool puzzles.
The two fish I mentioned above are Lake Mweru Cichlids, a Congo lake with a newly imported flock of related Cichlids - I got one of the undescribed Orthochromis and one of the undescribed Pseudocrenilabtus to spawn. No great skill - no one had kept them before. Attractive fish.
There are a few never or rarely imported tetras coming in, and always new discoveries in killies, Bettas and Cichlids. There is a lot to be seen. It's all odd.
We have to support the importers who are taking risks on this stuff, and the stores willing to sell something that doesn't appear in corporate marketing statistics. As we get better at fishkeeping, we can build networks and exchange knowledge. A forum like this doesn't have to be for newcomers only. We all have a lot to learn from each others, since we're oddballs too.

I completely share your sentiments. I don't necessarily classify only strange looking fish as odd. I'm sure every fish could appear odd to someone who's never looked at them up close.

It's always been the rare, more unique specimens that caught my attention. There's an excitement factor in seeing a fish that is not regularly found in the every day aquarium.

I'm spoiled in that I have several very respectable stores within 5 miles of my house. All of which get very unique fish in. For instance, one carries true giant gouramis (osphronemus goramy).They will sell them too, but will require specifications on the tank to house them. They will not simply sell them to any customer in the off chance that someone will park one in a 10 gallon tank.

I also got my dormitator maculatus locally. Although it may not be the rarest of fish, it's not something you will find in a Petco, or in an average home aquarium. Before they sold me the fish, they looked over my setups to ensure the well-being of the fish. These are the places that will push the industry further and provide new options while still ensuring the well-being of these creatures.

 

Googled the dormitator maculatus as id never heard of the species, they look awesome ! Plus I love the common name "the fat sleeper" that's great !

 

I used to collect Fat Sleepers down in Florida, took them down the street to a lfs and sold them (you could still do that in those days). Left a minnow trap overnight, next morning there were about two dozen fairly large individuals in the trap. They were almost packed in like sardines! I was actually trying for something else, though I can't remember what.

 

Googled the dormitator maculatus as id never heard of the species, they look awesome ! Plus I love the common name "the fat sleeper" that's great !

He's a gentle giant. Really fun to watch. They don't have a normal swim bladder, so instead of hovering in place, he'll sit on things. It's cool to see him use his fins like arms and legs.

Here he is




Speaking of cool huge LFS fish, check out this monster! Anyone have experience with giraffe catfish (Auchenoglanis occidentalis)

 

Wow, that's some big guy other there............

 

He's probably 12-14 inches or so.

 

Auchenoglanis occidentalis, the giraffe cat - I have seen them, and that is a huge fish. It's a potential 2.5 to 3 footer. I keep my fish with the rule that the total adult length decides - a tank should be 8 times the full length of a fish for me to keep it humanely. So not having a 24 foot tank...
You could cheat and get away with a soft substrate 10-12 foot tank if it were deep front to back. I have friends with tanks like that, but my house and budget are too small. I have admired that catfish when I saw it, but it gets too big for my resources.
Very very cool and interesting fish though.

 

Yeah, they said this one is about 4-5 years old and that it'll get much larger!

 

My favorite oddball is the tire track eel. Quite common as oddballs go, but there's something about them that always appealed to me. The store I bought him from had so many huge fish I lost count, but the one that stood out to me was their fire eel. He was anywhere from two to three feet. Apparently they had another that was sold not too long before.

 

All eels and bichir type fish appeal heavily to me. The LFS by me has a pair of Japanese dragon eels that always marvel me. It sometimes takes a minute to get away from the "shut up and take my money" state of mind. If it weren't for the $2000 price for two fish and countless more thousands for a setup, they'd be mine!

 

Black Ghost Knife Fish! I don't have one , but as far as odd ball fish go, that is it!

 

I'm jeolouse of your fish... I have no rare ones, but I certianly have an "oddball". Keshet is the oddest fish I've ever seen. My kind of not so local LFS had a sleeper goby which was really neat, they also have red belly pacus. As well as huge lionfish.

 

My picks twig catfish; archerfish; butterfly fish; half beaks

 

I'll go ahead and share my oddballs/rare fish:
Polypterus Senegalus (Tennis and Bouncy balls are for the Blood Parrot, its a long story):
Dwarf Puffer:
Scarlet Badis (2x):
Parachromis Motaguensis:
Guppy with #5 on left side:
The Parachromis and Polypterus are in a 210 with a 75 gallon sump, the Guppy and Puffer are in a custom 16g, and the Scarlets are in a 4g.

 

Haha, awesome! I wonder if your guppy was a race car driver in a past life!

 

I'm an oddball lover as well. Typically have had puffers, but looking to do a brackish setup which will include mudskippers and a hogchoker (flounder)

 

I had an electric catfish last year. I feel like that's a pretty oddball fish. I got him for 15 bucks at a LFS because he was shocking the workers, and tank mates were dying left and right. He was SUPER cool but I never saw him and I couldn't give him a big enough aquarium needed. I resold him to a different LFS for 55 bucks. Pretty successful if you ask me. I can try to find my pictures of him if anyone wants.

 

I had an electric catfish last year. I feel like that's a pretty oddball fish. I got him for 15 bucks at a LFS because he was shocking the workers, and tank mates were dying left and right. He was SUPER cool but I never saw him and I couldn't give him a big enough aquarium needed. I resold him to a different LFS for 55 bucks. Pretty successful if you ask me. I can try to find my pictures of him if anyone wants.

Absolutely. Pictures are worth a thousand words!

 

These are the only ones I could I find. I know they suck but at least you can see I'm not lying.

 

Do my pygmy sunfish count? I really wish that places like Petco sold pygmy sunfish instead of bettas. I'd consider them to be the only true "bowl species" of fish, as they can survive quite nicely in a 1-2 gallon bowl, considering you do weekly water changes.

 

Do my pygmy sunfish count? I really wish that places like Petco sold pygmy sunfish instead of bettas. I'd consider them to be the only true "bowl species" of fish, as they can survive quite nicely in a 1-2 gallon bowl, considering you do weekly water changes.

I don't see why not. I posted my Scarlets on this thread.

 

Do my pygmy sunfish count? I really wish that places like Petco sold pygmy sunfish instead of bettas. I'd consider them to be the only true "bowl species" of fish, as they can survive quite nicely in a 1-2 gallon bowl, considering you do weekly water changes.

I'm sorry I don't want to be "that guy" but a pygmy sunfish ia absolutely not a "true bowl" species, there is no such thing, not a single species will thrive in a 1 - 2 gallon bowl. The only reason betta are able to survive and where they common misconception that they are just fine in a bowl is due to them be anabantoids, other wise known as labyrinth fish because of the shape of the special organ they possess which allows to utilize atmospheric oxygen. A pygmy sunfish does not have this adaptation so getting out size requirments alone, a 1 - 2 gallon bowl will not contain enough dissolved oxygen and it will eventually suffocate

 

These are the only ones I could I find. I know they suck but at least you can see I'm not lying.

Sinister looking beast!

 

Sinister looking beast!

Thanks! He had a real nasty shock too.

 

Stopped by the shop I mentioned with the Fire Eel and tried to get a pic of the big guy... And he decided to hide most of his body in the gravel. At least I tried, here.

 

I guess the most unusual fish I have right now are the butterfly hillstream loaches, which are still pretty common. Can't get a decent picture of them since their tank is full of algae... I keep axolotls too, if amphibians count : )

 

View attachment 280747 Stopped by the shop I mentioned with the Fire Eel and tried to get a pic of the big guy... And he decided to hide most of his body in the gravel. At least I tried, here.

What sized tank is it in?

What sized tank is it in?

I skimmed through the post and thought you owned the eel. The tank looked rather small.

 

I guess the most unusual fish I have right now are the butterfly hillstream loaches, which are still pretty common. Can't get a decent picture of them since their tank is full of algae... I keep axolotls too, if amphibians count : )

Axolotl absolutely count. If you have pics, I'd love to see them.

 

What sized tank is it in?


I skimmed through the post and thought you owned the eel. The tank looked rather small.

I own a tiny tire track, but this fire eel was at a store a good ways away from my house. The tank was definitely too small for just the fire eel, and they had some other big fish in there with him.