# Odd and unusual fish you find in your local fish store



## castle (13 May 2021)

Idea of this thread is to share when we find odd and unusual fish in our local, or not so local LFS.

I’ll start, lovely looking fish labelled as Luciocephalus Aura:


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## BrysonZheng (13 May 2021)

L. aura is a fish from the acidic waters of Southeast Asia, most commonly found in blackwater. It’s a rather rare fish and really pretty! Great find! 


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## MirandaB (13 May 2021)

Lovely Peppermints there @castle...damn you I'm supposed to be cutting down on fish and I've been after these for a while 😂
Take it they're in MA Notcutts?


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## castle (13 May 2021)

MirandaB said:


> Lovely Peppermints there @castle...damn you I'm supposed to be cutting down on fish and I've been after these for a while 😂
> Take it they're in MA Notcutts?



These are in Maidenhead inside Scottsdale’s Cambridge, one near great shelford. Honestly, it’s very rare for me to seriously consider buying a fish that isn’t on my ‘list’ and I almost left with them. However, I felt like they were a little thin.


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## shangman (13 May 2021)

My LFS the aquatic design center had "Robocop otocinclus" - Nannoptopoma sp. Robocop in very recently. Very pretty, but £20 each


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## aec34 (13 May 2021)

shangman said:


> My LFS the aquatic design center had "Robocop otocinclus" - Nannoptopoma sp. Robocop in very recently. Very pretty, but £20 each


I don’t know anything about fish - but how does a fish get named Robocop?!?


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## BrysonZheng (13 May 2021)

aec34 said:


> I don’t know anything about fish - but how does a fish get named Robocop?!?



It’s just a trade name, probably labeled because someone thought it resembled robocop. 


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## castle (15 May 2021)

Spotted some nice fish today in Taverham Garden Centre, been wanting to try these for a while. Though, as they get huge I’m not quite ready to try them. 

Young (labelled as) Uaru amphiacanthoides amongst others.


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## MirandaB (15 May 2021)

I popped into Taverham yesterday as I was working round there....seriously not impressed with that place!
£14.99 each for the GBR'S in that tank is outrageous even accounting for covid/Brexit etc


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## castle (15 May 2021)

Yes, I have some reservations but they have a lot of stock and fish looked quite healthy. Very dimly lit tanks which I don’t love. I’d say they’re worth looking in, but very pricy. I am told they’re not buying fish from locals anymore? I can’t confirm that though. Either way, had some nice gourami too 👍


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## mort (15 May 2021)

castle said:


> I am told they’re not buying fish from locals anymore? I can’t confirm that though.



They aren't. I was told it's because they need traceability of stock for their pet shop licence so can only get stock from proper suppliers. If that's correct then notcutts should be in the same predicament.

I've not been to any shop for 18 months plus but 14.99 for a ram is very shocking.


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## dw1305 (15 May 2021)

Hi all, 


castle said:


> These are in Maidenhead inside Scottsdale’s Cambridge, one near great shelford. Honestly, it’s very rare for me to seriously consider buying a fish that isn’t on my ‘list’ and I almost left with them. However, I felt like they were a little thin.


Newport Aquatics have some of these as well, and they are feeding. 

cheers Darrel


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## castle (15 May 2021)

mort said:


> They aren't. I was told it's because they need traceability of stock for their pet shop licence so can only get stock from proper suppliers. If that's correct then notcutts should be in the same predicament.
> 
> I've not been to any shop for 18 months plus but 14.99 for a ram is very shocking.



Unless I’m mistaken I think this is a Broadland council pet trading requirement. As it closed down the little fish selection in Fidos in Dixon’s. Maidenhead still take fish (from me) but it’s for store credit and has to be why they’re after (SA l numbers, etc)

 I did notice that everything seemed to be a little more than what was normal.

They had these gourami, I felt sorry for them and almost brought them home but I’d spent a fortune on a tree fern 😅


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## Tim Harrison (16 May 2021)

Do these Celebes Halfbeak, _Nomorhamphus liemi, _qualify?
Maidenhead Aquatics today.


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## castle (16 May 2021)

They certainly do, I love a half beak and don’t see them that often round my way.

Another entry from me, as I was on a hunt for pond plants I visisted Amwell aquatics, I’d say they’re not quite worth going out of your way for but they did have some nice looking fish, especially this guy.




Pao baileyi, 149.99£. The first time I’ve seen one of these.

Edit, better photo:


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## louis_last (20 May 2021)

There used to be a shop in Edinburgh, it's closed down now, that for whatever reason would sometimes have incredibly rare fish without really knowing what they were or how rare they were. I didn't fully appreciate it at the time but they used to get a lot of rare Hisonotus somehow. I would literally crawl through broken glass and take bath in vinegar to get ahold of Hisonotus aky these days.


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## castle (21 Feb 2022)

Nearly bought one, as I’ve got the space for one, decided against it though. Very young fish, must be wild caught too.

Auriglobus Silus, haven’t seen one of these in 15 years!


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## MirandaB (21 Feb 2022)

castle said:


> Auriglobus Silus, haven’t seen one of these in 15 years!


Lovely fish but couldn't justify another tank just for one and they're one of the species most prone to requiring dentistry.
Where was that you saw it?


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## castle (21 Feb 2022)

This was in Taverham (whenever I visit folks, I visit here!)  as far as I’m aware they have to be fed clams, for the rest of their life? 

My gut feeling was I’d have liked them all, and of course they have a deal where it’s 3 for 30£? (Ish) however everything I have read about these tells me to keep them alone.

They (Taverham) didn’t have much else worth looking at tho, IMO. Oh they do have a lot of very healthy looking pea puffs. Tiny tho.


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## MirandaB (21 Feb 2022)

castle said:


> My gut feeling was I’d have liked them all, and of course they have a deal where it’s 3 for 30£? (Ish) however everything I have read about these tells me to keep them alone.


Hopefully whoever decides to buy them will have done their research first and decide not to take them up on their deal offer as they really don't play well with others,even their own kind.....I would say that's the cause of the fin damage in the one in the photos.


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## Greengeek (28 Feb 2022)

castle said:


> They certainly do, I love a half beak and don’t see them that often round my way.
> 
> Another entry from me, as I was on a hunt for pond plants I visisted Amwell aquatics, I’d say they’re not quite worth going out of your way for but they did have some nice looking fish, especially this guy.
> 
> ...


I love my Hairy Puffers they have brilliant characters.


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## Conort2 (28 Feb 2022)

Greengeek said:


> I love my Hairy Puffers they have brilliant characters.


They look great! Didn’t know you could keep them in pairs. 

Any breeding behaviour yet?


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## castle (28 Feb 2022)

From what I researched, they're fairly tolerant of one another in a big enough tank. They're on my list to get.


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## hypnogogia (28 Feb 2022)

Greengeek said:


> I love my Hairy Puffers they have brilliant characters.


The have real faces…like little piggies.


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## Garuf (28 Feb 2022)

castle said:


> From what I researched, they're fairly tolerant of one another in a big enough tank. They're on my list to get.
> 
> View attachment 183776


I genuinely for a second thought that was a photo of billy the bass as I was skimming. Don’t worry. Be happy.


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## castle (4 Sep 2022)

Got two more contenders, really nearly bought them.

homaloptera orthogoniata, what a very pretty fish this is.






And barbucca diabolica, again nearly bought them. 




This was from riverside aquaria Livingston. A really nice selection of unusual fish, lots of ”rare” corydora, mostly soft water South America/Asia fish.


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## MirandaB (5 Sep 2022)

castle said:


> Got two more contenders, really nearly bought them.
> 
> homaloptera orthogoniata, what a very pretty fish this is.
> 
> ...


Those Barbucca don't look in very good condition at all,probably a good thing you didn't buy any 😔


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## castle (6 Sep 2022)

I bought a couple of rough looking, one with an open wound, female Dario “Myanmar” from another store that day. Else I’d have probably gone for them.

I can’t help but want to give some runts a chance 😅


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## MirandaB (6 Sep 2022)

castle said:


> I bought a couple of rough looking, one with an open wound, female Dario “Myanmar” from another store that day. Else I’d have probably gone for them.
> 
> I can’t help but want to give some runts a chance 😅


I'm all for giving fish a chance but those are almost at the point of no return poor things.
Probably got a hefty burden of spironucleus and worms.
Surprised they've got them on sale in that condition to be honest.


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## Tim Harrison (13 Sep 2022)

What about this species, does it qualify as odd and/or unusual?


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## Conort2 (13 Sep 2022)

Tim Harrison said:


> What about this species, does it qualify as odd and/or unusual?
> 
> View attachment 194469


Strawberry leporinus, say goodbye to your plants and your other fishes fins. Very nice looking fish though!


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## Mattant1984 (24 Sep 2022)

castle said:


> They certainly do, I love a half beak and don’t see them that often round my way.
> 
> Another entry from me, as I was on a hunt for pond plants I visisted Amwell aquatics, I’d say they’re not quite worth going out of your way for but they did have some nice looking fish, especially this guy.
> 
> ...


I used to have one of these, common name is the hairy puffer.
Brilliant little fish but can be pretty aggressive so best as a species only
(Mine was about £30 15 years ago lol)


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## John q (29 Sep 2022)

Had these at Pier aquatics in Wigan when i went last week, obviously I bought 6 of them.

Parotocinclus haroldi.

One of the girls in the shop took this picture.


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## MichaelJ (29 Sep 2022)

John q said:


> Had these at Pier aquatics in Wigan when i went last week, obviously I bought 6 of them.


Nice find @John q . Sort of rare - stays small ~4 cm.

Cheers,
Michael


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## John q (29 Sep 2022)

@MichaelJ  I don't think the catchment area of these fish get visited very often, hence they seldom seem to appear in the shops over in the UK, which is a shame because they're incredibly active and make a refreshing change to the standard otocinclus sp.


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## MichaelJ (29 Sep 2022)

John q said:


> @MichaelJ  I don't think the catchment area of these fish get visited very often, hence they seldom seem to appear in the shops over in the UK,


Yes, that make sense.



John q said:


> which is a shame because they're incredibly active and make a refreshing change to the standard otocinclus sp.


Yeah, I wish I could get some from my favorite online reseller.  They recently had these but I didn't act fast enough.

Cheers,
Michael


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## Conort2 (29 Sep 2022)

John q said:


> Had these at Pier aquatics in Wigan when i went last week, obviously I bought 6 of them.
> 
> Parotocinclus haroldi.
> 
> ...


Funny enough I just had six arrive in the post from pier this afternoon.

What are your lot feeding on currently @John q ?


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## Conort2 (29 Sep 2022)

John q said:


> don't think the catchment area of these fish get visited very often, hence they seldom seem to appear in the shops over in the UK,


I think H&K discus in Brazil are breeding these now, I don’t believe the fish coming into the trade are wild caught. They seem to be breeding a lot of unheard Brazilian species from difficult to reach places. I think pier also got in some other new plecs that haven’t been seen in the trade before with these. 

Cheers


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## John q (29 Sep 2022)

Conort2 said:


> I think pier also got in some other new plecs that haven’t been seen in the trade before


Pseudancistrus genisetiger also came in with this shipment, which I was tempted by but didn't end up getting. 
You could be on the money with hk breeding them as they weren't advertised as wild caught. 

I suppose if someone has managed to breed these in high numbers it should bode well on a conservation level and benefit the aquatic community to boot.


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## Conort2 (29 Sep 2022)

John q said:


> suppose if someone has managed to breed these in high numbers it should bode well on a conservation level and benefit the aquatic community to boot.


Definitely, looks like they were breeding a ‘new’ hypostomus too as pier had them at a very small size. I was tempted for the big tank but they end up a large messy fish. 

Those psuedancistrus looked very nice, fingers crossed they get bred too.


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