# Corner stones of the FW aquarium?



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

What do you guys think are some of the must-haves of the fish world?

What I mean is, are there types of fish you would recommend to someone to keep at one time or another and why?

I personally really love Tetra and Odessa barbs at the moment. Most of the time when people pass by the tanks in the shops they don't feel that these two types of fish are appealing in anyway. 

Mostly because they are too small atm to really show their true colours or they are simply stressed. I couldn't believe the wonderful colour that odessa barbs show off when they really get comfy. I think it was Ozi who mentioned to me about the red in them and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Gourami are a new fantastic thing for me too... I really like how most of them seem to over come their shyness eventually with good care and their feeler things are hilarious! 

So.. What types of fish would you say everyone should give shot at least once?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Corydoras and plecos. Definitely addicitve and hilarious to watch (when they come out).


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## ynot (Jan 30, 2010)

Ghost Catfish and African Dwarf Frogs


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Arapaima 
Giant Gourami


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

gouramis are striking
although bettas are popular, in a larger tank they are beautiful fish with very flowing fins. 

and harlequin rasboras.. they are a great schooling fish.


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## whenfishfly? (Feb 13, 2009)

I think Green Fire tetras are great, they're my favourite tetra. When you've got 3 or more males with at least an equal number of females they hardly every stop displaying and posturing fun to watch. Problem is that they are always very underfed and stressed at lfs, therefore very drab, so you never see what they're really like.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Those -are- very pretty! I've never seen them before :3


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

AquariAM said:


> Arapaima
> Giant Gourami


LOL, too funny.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Neolamprologus multifasciatus must be kept in species only tank they are one of the smallest cichlids in the world males reaching 1.5 inches. They are the bulldozers of the cichlid world. You have to keep them in sand to truly enjoy them. They hide and breed in shells and breed easily and you can keep many generations in the same tank the colony will protect the young. they excavate the sand substrate by picking up mouth fulls of sand and moving it out of their territory. If a snail gets in their way they will pick it up and move it to the other side of the tank.

Here is a link: http://theaquariumwiki.com/Neolamprologus_multifasciatus


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

AquariAM said:


> Arapaima
> Giant Gourami


What about a Goonch or a wells catfish?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

A goonch? Isn't that slang for a purse snatcher or something?


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

AquariAM said:


> A goonch? Isn't that slang for a purse snatcher or something?


No it's a real fish, saw it on river monsters before.

http://animal.discovery.com/fish/river-monsters/goonch-catfish/


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

Four must-have fish for any aquarist:

1. A loach species. Especially the Clown Loach, which is one of the most winning smart, funny, little creatures on the planet.

2. A live-bearing species. My favorite live-bearer is the humble Platie. To observe a dozen generations and 500+ fish spring forth from your original five or six, is a thing of beauty. All your friends can have free fish. Etc. 

3. Plecos. My huge common pleco is one of my favorite fish. The old thing of "he's just there to clean algae" and the decades of unhappy ignored plecos is becoming a distant memory as generations of aquarists feed and keep their plecos carefully, and are rewarded by striking, beautiful fish. When mine raises his sail-fin up, while nomming on his zuke slices, he's a thing of perfection.

4. Small brackish or freshwater puffers (Green Spotted or F8). There's nothing happier-looking than a happy puffer. I feel happy after I spend time with mine. I feed them a snail, they eat, and their full bellies pop out. They are about as happy and smiley looking as it gets. And something about that just cheers me up. Also they look hilarious as they swim around in their odd little "scoot" arrangement. That the tail is used to steer instead of to drive them forward, is a unique arrangement in all of fish evolution, I think. 



W


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

oh my gosh that's a huge fish LOL

OOhh i totally forgot about loaches and Puffers... And I have a pea puffer.. Shame on me! D:

Martin really got me into those river loaches... My gosh they are awesome.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

trailblazer295 said:


> No it's a real fish, saw it on river monsters before.
> 
> http://animal.discovery.com/fish/river-monsters/goonch-catfish/


That is a beautiful fish! It has very emotional looking eyes and a beautiful shape to it's head and body. I wish I had a 15,000 gal tank when I see stuff like that . Thank you for the picture.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Freshwater Seahorse!


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

There is such a thing as a freshwater seahorse? From what I understood of the evolutionary chain, they must be a Euryhaline (salinity tolerant) if they are freshwater, since their original ancestors were from a marine environment right?

In fact, life as we know it begins in the sea, right? I remember reading in an ancient aquarium book (from the 1960s) that it was thought at one time that freshwater fish blood salinity matched the primordial ocean's salinity levels, and that at some time, species were unable to maintain a blood-salinity level different than their surrounding environment. That has since turned out not to be the case. And all freshwater fish, even the non-euryhaline ones (ones who die quite rapidly when the salt levels change at all), have a blood salt level higher than the marine salinity. Am I right here?

Update: It turns out that some seahorse species might survive longer than others in water approaching freshwater salinity, but there are no freshwater seahorses. Does anyone know if aquarists tried "aquarium salt and freshwater" with seahorses? It sounds inhumane to me.

W


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

There is a myth (or, maybe, possibility) that a freshwater seahorse does exist. In 1943 an explorer discovered one in Lake Titicaca. The specimin exists today, as Hyppocampus titicacaensis. As of yet, nobody has been able to find another - although many still search!


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/river-monsters-catching-goonch-catfish.html

Goonch vid


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## freddymp (Jan 15, 2010)

Freshwater pipefish
Electric catfish and eels, and their cousins that uses electric field for navigation and hunting


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## 1nvad3r (Jan 12, 2010)

Wild Discus in biotope tank or domestic strain in a heavy planted tank


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