Rare fish

[CichloTomsoma Stuptidia]

B) Hi, all...question.....What do you think the most rarest freshwater fish is out there and how much would you pay for it? Tom

 

[Pufferpack]

Well I don't know how rare they are in the wild but I picked up a pair of Plectrochilus erythrurus that I could find very little info on the web about. Turns out they are rare in the aquarium hobby because they are a parasite catfish that need the blood of larger fish to survive.

 

[Alia]

OMG! Vampire Catfish!
So what did you do with them?

 

[Pufferpack]

Well after getting some info on their needs from a helpful fellow at Catfishplanet, I was forced to return them to the lfs I got them from (it was either that or get a 250 gal tank to house a big fat Koi to keep them fed ) I also brought a printout of all the info I was able to gather. I went back a few days later (to buy a replacement tank for my busted one) and they were still there, but at least this time they were labled correctly so that hopefully the next buyer knows what they're in for. If someone has the capacity to keep and feed them they are a real interresting fish. Here are a couple of pics I took when I had them Parasite Cats

 

[Jamnog]

i think fresh water puffers are pretty rare... i cant seem to find any and i gave up im going the way of cichlids atm. yesterday while at the fish shop the local expert told me that the perl cichlids where rare thus £25 a pair was reasonable i was about to say something then i remebered they where firemouths and they dont get too big ... small cichlids ... hmm non agressive firemouths... they sound rarer than they are surprisingly. i think cm would be the one to talk about rare fish and i cant think of many other people who could price the little devils.

 

[Pufferpack]

Wow Jamnog, I'm surprised that you're having a hard time finding Fresh water Puffers, I can't go into a lfs or lps in Calgary without seeing at least the Dwarfs. The Puffers seem to be gaining popularity in the hobby rapidly, I have found 4 types of FW puffers and 2 BW Puffers in one shop alone (Dwarfs, South American, Red-Eye, and a lone Fahaka...as well as Figure 8's and Green Spotted the BW staples it seems) I have also seen some of the Ceylon puffers in one lfs that were mis-identified as GSP's, I brought this to the clerks attention and when I went back a week later they were labled correctly, and bumped up $5.00 in price .
If you would like to find some suppliers in your area I can check some of the other forums for Puffer keepers in your area and send you their ID's.


Edit: If we want to look at rare FW Puffers my vote would have to go to the Mbu, the largest FW Puffer...here is a clipping I found discussing Mbu's

I remember someone named ted selling a 20 inch+ mbu puffer for like nearly 1k... the fish was measured out with a metrestick (he had pics) and it was MONSTROUS

...I think you need a min. 300 gal aquarium for just the 1 fish

 

[Jamnog]

i can feel mts coming on im regretting not going for the puffer tank like i was planning i think i should once i get my own place that should be within the next year. one other rareish fish could be cooli loach in a sand tank during day time but then there must be fish none of us know anything about like rainbow trout or something

 

[cichlid_freak]

I have a pair of Paratilaptia Polleni. They are endangered in their natural habitat due to farming practices, fishing, and the introduction of Snakeheads. However, in the aquarium trade, they are becomeing more and more available. I got my pair for $100. But, I am having to sell them off because I can't take my 75gal in the dorm.

There are many endangered, not just rare, fish in the trade. Some are infrequent in the trade, like the Apistograma cocatodies sp. triple red, but are not very expensive, about $5.

It is a guessing game. But, there is definately one "fish" that shouldn't cost $1, but runs between $75 and $1,000, the Flowerhorn. The reason for "fish" is because they don't even exist in the wild, they are hybrids. These stupid fish are ruining the trade. Until them and Parrots, the trade focused on preservation of pure lines, instead more and more FW keepers are buying these "fish."

I'm sure there are more

 

[soopaman]

those figure 8 puffers look nice.. there is alwayz puffers in the store i go too.. i wonder how many i can keep in a 25 gallon.. anyone know.. they grow to be 3 inches right??

 

[steve-0]

i think fresh water puffers are pretty rare... i cant seem to find any and i gave up im going the way of cichlids atm. yesterday while at the fish shop the local expert told me that the perl cichlids where rare thus £25 a pair was reasonable i was about to say something then i remebered they where firemouths and they dont get too big ... small cichlids ... hmm non agressive firemouths... they sound rarer than they are surprisingly. i think cm would be the one to talk about rare fish and i cant think of many other people who could price the little devils.

even walmart in my town has puffers

 

[Pufferpack]

those figure 8 puffers look nice.. there is alwayz puffers in the store i go too.. i wonder how many i can keep in a 25 gallon.. anyone know.. they grow to be 3 inches right??

Figure 8's are a brackish water puffer (they can survive in FW, but they don't do well) that grows up to 4" I believe. In a 25 gal tank you could get 2 possibly 3, but depending on their personalities even 2 could be too many for a 25 gal. They, like most puffers, are territorial amongst their own species. If you are looking for a less aggressive FW puffer try the South American (Colomesus asellus), they grow to about 3"

 

[Jamnog]

i spose different fish are rare in different parts of the world then ive not seen any in wales yet.

 

[soopaman]

i knew about the water type.. didnt know how they are.. ill only get 2, depending on how well the ghost shrimp makes it in the tank with the oscar..

 

[kevin007]

yesterday i went to my local fish/pet shop, Big Al warehouse outlet and they had a tiger shark in a big tank with another shark, too bad they wern't for sale, i wonder what will they do with it when it get's bigger than the tank, i forgot to mention that they had 2 sting rays, for $90.00 Can , the shop has probably over 1,000,000 fish on sale! now that's a big fish store if sting rays r classified as fish than i would say that it was the rarest fish i have ever saw, and so is the tiger shark. i also saw a porcupine fish in there, i think it's poisonous hard to believe eh? oh and they had african mudskippers! LOL

 

[kevin007]

r sting rays poisonous and are they tropical fish