What is the rarest fish you keep/kept?

[elephantnose3334]

Some people own endangered or rare varieties of fish in the aquarium hobby. I have never kept an endangered fish or a rare variety of a certain fish before, so what's the rarest fish you keep/kept before?

 

[KuhliDude]

I once had a lesbian guppy. Which I would say is pretty rare.

 

[jaylach]

I don't know how rare it is but I doubt that you will ever find a rope fish at a Petco. Actually I did have some trouble finding my current rope last year. Clyde, the rope, is my miniature sea serpent all the way down to the dorsal ridges. A lot of people think they are eels or snakes but they are true fish although they do have rudimentary lungs along with gills.

 

[Colin_T]

Lepidogalaxias salamandroides. Rare, endangered, never bred in captivity, and soon to become extinct due to a drying climate and habitat destruction.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Lepidogalaxias salamandroides. Rare, endangered, never bred in captivity, and soon to become extinct due to a drying climate and habitat destruction.

How long have you kept it?

 

[Colin_T]

I've had them a few times for a year or so at a time. You can't buy them and have to drive down south at a particular time of year to get them. They don't take dry food and need very soft acidic water. They will become extinct before they get bred in captivity because of the government.

 

[Back in the fold]

@jaylach That Ropefish is cooler than cool !

 

[jaylach]

@jaylach That Ropefish is cooler than cool !

Ya, they are pretty amazing critters but you can't keep them with small fish like neons or you soon won't have any neons. They are predators but have VERY poor sight. They hunt mostly by smell and vibration. Even though a predator they are still a great community fish as long as other fish are too large to fit in their mouth. Their sense of smell must be extreme. I just fed and was out of meal worms and there were just beetles and a cocoon type stage of the worms between worm and beetle. This stage of the worm doesn't move until the beetle is about ready to come out and they float. Just by smell the rope, Clyde, had one within 5 minutes.

By nature they are largely nocturnal but do come out in in the day especially if fed when it is light out. I feed around 6:00PM. While the one in the above photo isn't yet they can also be 'human friendly'. Eventually this one may but I, to be honest, haven't tried a lot yet. In the past I've had ones that would eat out of my hand and weave themselves between my spread fingers.

On the down side they are better escape artists than Houdini. You can't leave any hood openings within their reach or they WILL get out and they can jump around half their length which, in a tank can get 8-10 inches. If you look them up you will see sized of 15 inches and larger but, from past experience, I think that is just in the wild. Even in a 175 gallon tank I've never seen one go over 10 inches, probable less. When I got Clyde around a year ago he was mature and around 8 inches. He is still around 8 inches. On the plus side of the escapes they DO have lungs along with gills. As long as not totally dried out they will revive.

They are just awesome fish!

 

[Boundava]

Yeah we have 2 ropefish, they are fun to keep and I love how their fins make them look like they have dumbo ears. We have them with our spiny eels, 2 honey gourami, some blue rainbow fish, an assortment of panaque, a pleco and some blue goby.

 

[Elephant nose 4]

Mine will have to be my elephant noses, my oldest is nearly 12yrs, never thought I'd still have him this long, he's part of our family! My other 3 are 7yrs old.
Love these fish

 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Lepidogalaxias salamandroides

I have always loved that fish! It's on my list of dream fish to try to breed. I keep a bunch of plants from the same region, including species found at the margins of the same pools they inhabit. Hubris to think I could breed them? Possibly. But I'll never get the chance, so it will never be anything but speculative anyhow.

In keeping with the topic, my rarest fish is Cyprinodon longidorsalis. Extinct in the wild, and only maintained by a few in captivity.

 

[Boundava]

We have a 75 with 5 Pavo eels. We also have a Borneo eel in the 125, but Kregory is very shy and we just see a nose during feeding.

Both species eat worms, though our last Borneo ate shrimp. We have gotten the Pavos to eat large bloodworms as an alternative and the black paradise fish thank us for it, lol.

I also have a pair of api-api jade Betta, three burdigala and two miniopina.

We will be getting two Macrognathus tapirus eels from a friend who is breaking down her tanks. They will go with the Pavos.