Does Colour Influence You On Buying A Fish.

[WILDER]

Like do you pick a fish as you love the colour or the fish, both for me sometimes.

 

[Durbkat]

Hi for bettas I go for what color I think looks best but for any other fish like black tetras I go for the biggest and most healthyiest looking ones they have.

 

[Fish_Mike]

For larger Fish, the fish itself, but for smaller, tetras, colour.

 

[bunjiweb]

Rarely does colour play a part in the fish i buy. Its more contrast and pattern, because i am colour-blind (blue/purple/pink, green/red/orange/brown, green/orange/yellow), what the colour is does not bother me, its how the colours contrast or what patterns they have.

Ben

 

[kimbowee]

It all depends for me. For the livebearer tank I picked colorful Guppies and Dalmation Sailfin Mollies.

My other tank is quite bland colorwise. With 5 silver hatchetfish, 3 upside down catfish, 3 Aspidoras poecilus which are also light brown, and the only colorful fish are the 2 Dwarf Gouramies.

When I set up the 55 gal though I did want to go for some cichlids because of their coloring.

 

[houndour]

interesting, I think I go for a mix of character and colour.

I chose cories because they are fun to watch and male guppies for some colour. I got botia striata purely for eating snails, however they have become my favourite fish now, absolutely love the patterns. I used to have dwarf gouramis because I liked the colour, mainly the blue/red contrast. And now I have cardinals purely because they look fantastic in planted tanks.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If the fish i want comes in alternative colors that aern't dyed or whatever, i like to have a variety of color in my fish, particualy livebearers. I love natural colors too, some of them are gorgeous like on sailfin and common plecs with their grey/brown patterning, but i wouldn't want to have a tank of fish that were say all grey or all grown or silver or whatever.

 

[Ethos]

I buld my af. cichlid tank around colors.
I like seeing in the corner of my eye a bunch of moving colors (although it can be very distracting).
I also think the shapes of some fish are fun to look at, while their carechtor is really fun to study..

 

[MAM]

I'm with bunji on this, its all about the patterns. I love fish with stripes particularly. But really any sort of interesting pattern, stripes, reticulated, spots, blotches, is what I look for. I also look for interesting finnage. I like fish that have unusual shaped fins, fins that are spiked or are long, that sort of thing. The finnage is why I got into killifish, they're just a little "different" than your average fish. If you looked into my community tank, you would't find much color but plenty of patterns and fun fins (Marbled hatchetfish, Threadfin Rainbows, one marbled molly, botia striata, panda cories, emerald cories (the only "color" in the tank), a spotted cory).

 

[RandomWiktor]

Oddly enough, I purchase fish (providing they are healthy and work in my tank) based on thier facial features. I know someone is going to say "but all fish faces look the same," but when I worked at the zoo, I started learning how to tell extremely subtle differences between the faces of many different species, from reptiles to exotic deer. As a result, the faces of animals are the easiest for me to differentiate between, so if I see a face that catches my eye, I feel prompted to buy it.
I will say that often times colors attracted me intially, but I've turned down a few very beautifully colored bettas because thier faces were unappealing to me.

 

[Lynden]

I pick out fishes because of their character, and although I do enjoy a blaze of colour in a tank, I will normally turn it down if the character isnt appealing. I enjoy cichlids, eels, triggerfish, angelfish, puffers, damselfish, ect. because they are so intelligent. I will often buy fish becuase they have taken a liking to me in the LFS's tank, or if they have a peculiar personality, habits, or intelligence level. If the animal is colourful,
well thats just a bonus.

 

[Inchworm]

It's been a good while since I've bought any fish that weren't corys. There are so many different colors, patterns, and nose and body shapes, not to mention different sizes of them that I want them all. Of course, this is impossible, so if I have to make a choice between which to buy, I go for the more colorful one.

 

[CatLover]

That's really kool, Randomwiktor! I totally understand what you mean

I buy fish for several different reasons. With bettas, it's who has the most spectacular colors/patterns. I cannot stand blue or red or green bettas because that's all I had ever seen in my area my entire life. Just within the past year have they started getting whites, cambodians, marbles, crowntails, and oranges. Also, they now have bettas here that have light orange fins with dark orange spots on them. I LOVE those because they are so different and colorful.

For large fish, its color and pattern and personality. For small fish, it's mostly color and pattern. If the fish lacks color, but can make up for it in a really unique pattern, I will get it. I love common plecos because of the leopard-like design on their belly. I love penguin tetras because of the thick black stripe on their side. I love tiger barbs because I have yet to meet a fish that has half as much character as them. I love khuli loaches because of their color, and they look exactly like tiny eels. It varies so much.

 

[kris-b-]

I choose mine on how healthy they are, then if they are compatible with the rest of my fish, then the colour.

 

[jarcher1390]

i go for size and colour but some times shapes e.g giant whiptails