What is your favorite species to keep?
- Thread starter lloyd378
- Start date
My favorite all time species to keep is the rio magdalena caquetaia umbriferum. Aka the rio mag umbee. The reason I love them them is that they go from a streamlined little grayish brown fish to a massive blue speckled APEX predator. The last time I kept one was a little over a year ago. My only problem with them is that I grow them up to 17-18” inches and they basically outgrow my 220g tank and then I have to sell them to people with massive tanks. If they would just stop growing at or near 15”, they could stay with me for life….. oh well.
here are some pics of some of my previous umbee.
here are some pics of some of my previous umbee.
John58Ford
Well-Known Member
My favorite fish to keep so far was the harlequin rasbora. Not for spectacular colors or good schooling, to my surprise (and this sounds strange to say), they are amazing to watch during the breeding process. The pair up and swim acrobatically upside down and sideways through the plants, laying and spraying as they go. It's like a fish version of the blue angels, but with no sound. I only managed to hatch a few, and those got eaten, so the fry raising isn't fun like many cichlids are, but the act was pretty cool.
I wish I had figured out how to take better pictures when I was into them. I kept the purple morph, I haven't kept them in numbers in almost 2 years, the water needed to get them to go is way too acidic to keep balanced. Maybe one day I'll build an RO drip system and try then again, but as a basic schooler in neutral water they're a little boring.
I wish I had figured out how to take better pictures when I was into them. I kept the purple morph, I haven't kept them in numbers in almost 2 years, the water needed to get them to go is way too acidic to keep balanced. Maybe one day I'll build an RO drip system and try then again, but as a basic schooler in neutral water they're a little boring.
That's an impossible question to answer for me, because it's a moving target. Consider- when I was 16, my favourite girlfriend was Gail; at 17, Joanne; at 18, Joyce; well, you get the idea (those of you with wives will be excused from this exercise). Right now I'm really enjoying the sand-dwellers from Tanganyika; tomorrow, who knows? 
I have a special fondness in my heart for amphilophus, especially midas/red devil complex because these fish were my first real big fish as a teen and later getting me back into the hobby. However my all time favorite has to be Cincelichthys Pearsei. These are gentle giants with big appetites and just friendly with a very knowing look about them as they watch you and interact.
My old girl Porkchop passed at about 10 years old.
They just have a inquisitive look about them
It took me a few years of getting over the loss to the pearsei (midas and red devils kept me going, lol) but when another large one became available, I decided to try it again. No regrets with the new fish, this one named Kirby
Need to update pics. Kirby has put on a bit more size now. Probably about 12"+ at the moment but hopefully will get the size of old Porkchop who was 16" at her passing. Maybe Kirby can even get a bit bigger!
This has always been an inspiration pic for me... that is one large pearsei!
My old girl Porkchop passed at about 10 years old.
They just have a inquisitive look about them
It took me a few years of getting over the loss to the pearsei (midas and red devils kept me going, lol) but when another large one became available, I decided to try it again. No regrets with the new fish, this one named Kirby
Need to update pics. Kirby has put on a bit more size now. Probably about 12"+ at the moment but hopefully will get the size of old Porkchop who was 16" at her passing. Maybe Kirby can even get a bit bigger!
This has always been an inspiration pic for me... that is one large pearsei!