yes, I like unique individual fish...

[Magnum Man]

they seem to catch my eye, and I find myself looking for them... most of my tanks are "over crowded", so there are plenty of fish to see, and lots of pretty ones available, my panda loach ( Yaoshania pachychilus ) was out again this morning, as well as a large cherry shrimp ( my morning regular ) I find myself looking for them each morning... there are other cherrys in that thank, but one seems to hang in the roots right next to the front glass every morning... the panda loach, a baby one,, that was ordered in a group of three, but was a solo, by the time it was shipped, I didn't expect to survive by itself , so it's a blessing to see it daily.... schools of fish are cool, but I have ended up with several individuals over time, that I seem to find more interesting to see daily... I think something in us wants to identify, with critters we care for, so even on a schooling fish, we look for individual traits, that help us identify one, from the rest of the pack... they don't have to be small, though the ones mentioned above are, my Tiger Silver Dollar is adult and solo, and I really like seeing him, as a solo... I had a Pacu 30 years ago, that I built a custom large aquarium for, as he got so big, he was like a dog, when I came home, he would get so excited to see me... well, at least that's what I told myself... he probably just was happy to see me, as the "food truck"... thoughts??? you have a fish you have identified from the school, that you specifically look for daily???

 

[GaryE]

We all approach that differently, but I think a lot of us like the idea of what we can see. I have a lot of smaller aquariums to let me do that. You fill large aquariums for the same goal.
I'm lucky I like small fish, so I can have rows of small tanks. My neck muscles are ripped from swiveling my head as I walk up what I have to admit is an aisle. Sometimes I just saunter along grinning - so many delightful things to see and fiddle with.
How it works is how it works. It is possible we're crazy - crazy is like stupid or dead - obvious to those around us but not to ourselves. But if so, gardeners, birdwatchers, hunters, fishers or cat and dog people are also nuts.

In the midst of all the terrible things happening in the world, I was as happy as a kid before Christmas yesterday. I had taken a shot at asking a European breeder about a fish I like, but can't get in North America. It's a great fish (Aphyosemion elberti) for diverse colours within a species. The ones from northern Cameroon are beautiful blue and red fish with long fins, but as you go south, yellow begins to appear in shorter fins. In some regions, red predominates and in some blue. I would have been happy with any one of them, and was hoping to snag one colour type/geographic location. The guy turned out to be a serious looker at fish,and breeder, and offered me eggs from four types, all different. That made my day.

Why? Pretty fish to look at that will be a challenge to breed. I've done it before (for more than 10 years with one of them), but take nothing for granted. Clearly, in spite of keeping them before, I'm not done looking at them.

You like larger, more robust fish. So you can fit them into your large tanks. I like small ones that allow me to understock in small tanks. You know I'll never follow your stocking philosophy, but you're making it work well.

I tend to look at species and local populations more than individual fish. I was looking at an Aphyosemion zygaima male yesterday, as I've looked at many of them over the 33 years I've bred them. He's a really good looking one, full of energy and with a perfect shape and colour, and I'll not only enjoy looking at him for the 2 years or so he'll be around, but hopefully will be admiring his grandsons in the same way. I like that process and flow of life, which is why I like breeding as many of my weird fish as much as I like seeing them.

 

[gwand]

I also like small fish. Of the 12 species I husband, the largest are Anomalochromis thomasi and golden sailfin mollies. I have four offspring from Mohawk Man (RIP), orange morph Apistogramma cacatuoides. I always look for the dominant male. He will approach the front glass and stare right back at me. This is not conditioned behavior for food. If I offer food he generally ignores it. But the staring contest continues.

 

[anewbie]

I mostly prefer small fishes; i do have some larger geo and chcoloate cichild as well as discus but in my other 180+ aquariums the largest fish i have is 4 1/2 inches. My biggest problem is temperature compatibiliity as some fishes i like come from warm areas of sa and others cooler areas...

 

[Magnum Man]

it's funny how the critters I started this thread, are so tiny, yet the pacu seems to have been the fish everyone focused on... ( that was 30 years ago ) I don't really do large fish anymore, with the biggest fish I have "nowadays" being angel fish, or silver dollars... I guess I do still have a few tin foil barbs... but the point of this thread was on the tiny fish... with so many fish to see in the morning, I find myself looking for that tiny panda loach, and the couple bright red cherry shrimp... they were both out and about this morning, prompting me to refresh this thread... there is a lot of activity in that particular tank, with the panda garras and denison barbs, and 20 or so hillstream's, but I always seem to find my eye catches the brightly colored panda loach, and cherry shrimp...

I loved having the cardinals, in my South American tetra tank, because of their bright color... ( the angel fish, actively hunted them ) as soon as I can move the angel fish out of that tank, a fresh school of cardinals will follow

 

[Velvetgun]

sorry for my bad English...
Very interesting post.
I've been studying for a long time to understand more about aquariums and before starting my tank.
In addition, I'm on hold because there should be some work at home with redoing floors and so I'm afraid of having to move the tank.
Over time I realized that I love "single" fish. I love being able to recognize that single fish, I don't like schools where I only see a set of elements and not individuals.
I love recognizing each fish by different colors, different structure, different species.
Also having interactive fish, that are also interested in what happens outside the tank.

 

[Magnum Man]

I got to see my little panda loach, and the cherry shrimp this morning at 1st light again... so my morning is off to a good start...

I have lots of interesting other fish to look at, between my African river tank, and my South American Tetra tanks, but because one is dark water, and the other highly shaded... this was done for the fish, not to increase viewing quality...

in the Hillstream tank, the bulk of the inhabitants eat algae and bio film, so that tank is bright as a ray of sunshine, which increases viewing quality... the handful of Denison barbs, are I think the only non primary bio film eaters, the highly lit tank, definitely makes it easier to view the fish, from my perch 7-8 feet away, while the other 2 tanks require saddling up to the front of the tank to best view

ah.... a bonus, the little panda loach, and 2 cherry shrimp, within 6 inches of each other

 

[Fishkeeper123]

sorry for my bad English...
Very interesting post.
I've been studying for a long time to understand more about aquariums and before starting my tank.
In addition, I'm on hold because there should be some work at home with redoing floors and so I'm afraid of having to move the tank.
Over time I realized that I love "single" fish. I love being able to recognize that single fish, I don't like schools where I only see a set of elements and not individuals.
I love recognizing each fish by different colors, different structure, different species.
Also having interactive fish, that are also interested in what happens outside the tank.

I second that, I love my single fish. I feel you need both individual and shoaling fish for a nice fish tank. For example, every day I look for the bristlenose pleco, even if he’s not there I was try and make sure he’s okay as well as my trio of cichlids. Whereas, for shoaling fish I don’t ever try to desperately find one because I know I’ll find them tomorrow and have no connection to them, whereas a single fish you can work out what makes it different and can identify it.

 

[Magnum Man]

of course the concept is easily applied to any multi colored fish, that has individual characteristics / coloration, or personality... those easily identified fish, often get applied some sort of name, that only perpetuates their individuality...
et al... there's lil guy, big blue, mr. whiskers, or tiger ( in my case tiger is a silver dollar )

also, in my case, very few get a proper name... the little panda loach, is just "lil guy", as it was supposed to be part of a group, but came solo, and just beyond yolk sack... eventually a couple more coming, and if they are also tiny, and this one has been growing, he may have to become "big guy" the tank already has a "Mr. Big", as Mrs. has named one of the panda garras, that, which she can tell apart, from the others ( thinking that name came from the TV show, Sex in the City) ???

 

[Velvetgun]

I second that, I love my single fish. I feel you need both individual and shoaling fish for a nice fish tank. For example, every day I look for the bristlenose pleco, even if he’s not there I was try and make sure he’s okay as well as my trio of cichlids. Whereas, for shoaling fish I don’t ever try to desperately find one because I know I’ll find them tomorrow and have no connection to them, whereas a single fish you can work out what makes it different and can identify it.

Can I ask how many gallons is your tank and what fish do you have?

 

[Fishkeeper123]

Can I ask how many gallons is your tank and what fish do you have?

My tank is on the tank of the month contest. It’s 180l (48 gallons) with a Bristlenose pleco, keyhole cichlid, Electric blue acara, Bolivian ram, sterbai corys(5), yellow rainbowfish(6), long finned leopard danios(7). It’s not a perfect stocking and I have some problems but it’s a nice tank. None will be able to go in a tank your size though.(Bolivian ram maybe at a push but wouldn’t recommend unless it’s a breeding pair).

of course the concept is easily applied to any multi colored fish, that has individual characteristics / coloration, or personality... those easily identified fish, often get applied some sort of name, that only perpetuates their individuality...
et al... there's lil guy, big blue, mr. whiskers, or tiger ( in my case tiger is a silver dollar )

also, in my case, very few get a proper name... the little panda loach, is just "lil guy", as it was supposed to be part of a group, but came solo, and just beyond yolk sack... eventually a couple more coming, and if they are also tiny, and this one has been growing, he may have to become "big guy" the tank already has a "Mr. Big", as Mrs. has named one of the panda garras, that, which she can tell apart, from the others ( thinking that name came from the TV show, Sex in the City) ???

Yeah my family have habits of having favourite fish, they seem to like really like the acara and they like the corys with their little whiskers.

 

[Velvetgun]

. None will be able to go in a tank your size though.(Bolivian ram maybe at a push but wouldn’t recommend unless it’s a breeding pair).

My idea as soon as the floor issue is sorted out at home (I should have the Court ruling in October and then, fingers crossed, the work) would be to have a tank of 200 max 300 liters to have fun with the species I'm studying.
The fish I love in addition to anabantidae are American or South American cichlids and barbus

 

[Back in the fold]

I like small fish . The biggest I like get to four inches and that seems huge to me . I also like very plain silvery minnow like fish . Color isn’t as important to me as behavior . I like to watch my fish and how they interact with each other . I’ve been keeping Aplocheilus lineatus Golden Wonder Killifish for five years now , all from the same original pair I got in December 2019 . The thing I like about them is how they eat . They are as ravenous as trout in a fish farm and when I feed them live wingless fruit flies they hunt them mercilessly . I have to be careful that a stray fly doesn’t get on the outside glass because these fish will brain themselves trying to get it .