• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Which fish species is the most underrated in your opinion?

Sarpijk

Sarpijk

Member
Joined
11 Jan 2015
Messages
683
Hi, last night I was watching my Zebra Danios( wild form of course) and I really admired the deep blueish colour of their backs and the yellow gold stripes , the males are in mating costume!

I got the zebra Danios as a last option because I was hoping to get the more "exotic" Danio Kyathit or Danio Tinwini.

I realise that this is a species I only rarely see used in aquariums in general while when I happen to see them they are the genetically modified dyed morphs- there are even people that think that the glowing colours are natutal!

I also have been keeping White cloud minnows. Not as striking but they also look great sparing in the mating colours.
 
White Cloud Mountain minnow.

Cheap as chips and common but super hardy and beautiful once settled in. Called the poor mans neon but neons are so inbred and diseased these days I’d choose the minnows other then every time. Also their close relative tanichthys micagemmae is a stunner if you can find them.

cheers

conor
 
Conort2 said:
White Cloud Mountain minnow.

Cheap as chips and common but super hardy and beautiful once settled in. Called the poor mans neon but neons are so inbred and diseased these days I’d choose the minnows other then every time. Also their close relative tanichthys micagemmae is a stunner if you can find them.

cheers

conor
Click to expand...
Yes, thanks for pointing out the price factor especially when it gets you a hardy species . I think the fact that at the store they almost always look drab and uninteresting compared to more colourful species doesn't help.
 
The Goldfish!... Potentially able to reach 30 years of age... And worldwide billions per year go over the counter and down the drain again.

Thus not only most underrated but also most abused... :(
 
zozo said:
The Goldfish!... Potentially able to reach 30 years of age... And worldwide billions per year go over the counter and down the drain again.

Thus not only most underrated but also most abused... :(
Click to expand...
I'd rather have goldfish stay underrated that keep seeing them in glass bowls or crammed in " tiny" 10 litre aquariums.
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,
<"Black-neon Tetra"> (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)? Cheap to buy, easy to keep and colour up really nicely in a planted tank.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

Lovely fish, but for me too fast - every other fish in the tank got the scraps. Also, I never observed any kind of 'character' in them.
 
A couple:

Kryptopterus bicirrhis - a default in shops, seen as a common fish but I don't think many people have seen a dozen of them in a tank where they're the biggest fish, with plenty of floating plants and infinite bugs in the substrate. They shoal, have individual characters, live for a long time comparatively speaking. I would keep them again, but life is too short and I want to try other fish. They're also fish that learn to recognise you, come to the glass just to 'look' at you.

Badis Badis - Outrightly my favourite fish I have ever kept, when I can get my 'dream' aquarium, these fish will be in it. They have real character, social structure, good days and bad. They change colour based on their mood, and it's lovely from the deepest black, through blue to the bloodiest fo red. They're fussy eaters, they're unfussy eaters. They don't get big, but they need a big place. If you ever wanted to keep say 6 of these (2M4F) then, really you'd need a 180cm length tank. They will swim together one day, and chase each other around the world the next. They're very territorial, which I guess is a shame.
 
Definetly White cloud Minnows.

Also Kribensis, had them many years ago, found them really interesting and they breed easily. Great to watch how they are with there fry and they have alot!.
 
I would say small gouramis and pentazona barbs.

Small gouramis as they are generally colourful and add a whole new dynamic to the tank. But have known problems and breeding isn't great so they are hit and miss sometimes.

The pentazona barbs colouration is amazing and they have unique behaviour compared to other barbs. Also they do best in dark planted aquariums or blackwater which is probably why they get overlooked?
 
Last edited:
Hemigrammus erythrozonus (Glowlight Tetra), massively overlooked and underrated. They always look really washed out in shop tanks but get them home and in a densely planted or blackwater aquarium and they usually colour up beautifully, and improve markedly as they age. And they're very cheap.

Paracheirodon axelrodi (Cardinal Tetra), a popular aquarium fish for good reason, but it seems not too popular with scapers and accordingly often overlooked. Probably thought of as being too common and something of a cliche. Same with Paracheirodon innesi (Neon Tetra). I find a lot of other tropical fish pale and uninteresting in comparison.
 
I think labyrinth fish as a group is the least appreciated in the hobby. There are specialty fish keepers in cichlid, live bearers, Killy fish, tetra, fancy angel, discus and gold fish, but no labyrinth fish. There are many labyrinth fish in the wild yet to be introduced to the hobby, and just betta alone are in the dozens species. Many are colorful, have interesting breeding and parental behavior from bubble nesting to mouth brooding, all plant friendly and small enough for aquarium.
 
I'm a big fan of kribensis. There are so many variations and their behaviour is really interesting.

I've never kept cherry barbs Puntius titteya but the males get a solid red that rival cardinal tetras, without being as delicate.
 
I think that the underrated species could potentially include all the species we add to accompany our main attraction, or act as dither fish. The humble tetras, rasbora or barbs are all beautiful in their own right and I've personally changed my stocking plans in the past simply because they become the stars of the show.

The tank next to my chair has simply had a colony of beckfords pencilfish in it for about 8 years now. My plans were for a pair of something bigger with the pencils and some cories as interesting side notes but the pencils really interact and have kept my enthusiasm all this time. They spar, breed and bask in the sunlight so nicely as a group that I haven't found anything I really want to add to them. On the plus side they love a jungle type tank and don't seem to predate on my cherry shrimp so it's a tank I don't see changing in a while.
 
tiger15 said:
There are specialty fish keepers in cichlid, live bearers, Killy fish, tetra, fancy angel, discus and gold fish, but no labyrinth fish.
Click to expand...
There is a Labyrinth society in the UK, my friend kept Parasphromenos and even collected a couple of new species.

I think most Killifish are under rated in planted tanks. Too many myths about being hard to keep. If there's enough hiding places they perform well.

Cheers
John
 
jolt100 said:
There is a Labyrinth society in the UK, my friend kept Parasphromenos and even collected a couple of new species.

I think most Killifish are under rated in planted tanks. Too many myths about being hard to keep. If there's enough hiding places they perform well.

Cheers
John
Click to expand...

It's the breeding that puts me off, just feels like a little bit too much work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top