What's the weirdest/most unique fish you've ever kept?

[BullTerrierChild27 11]

I want to learn about new fish, specifically catfish and cichlids, but add anything here!
My weirdest fish species I've kept is Ageneiosus Magoi. They are awesome but seem to have some genetic problem where they all lose weight.

 

[GaryE8 6]

There are some weird ones. I had Kryptolebias marmoratus, the Mangrove killie. It was a very ugly little self cloning species - one fish could give you a bunch.
Anablepsoides atratus was a tiny killie I found in an lFS. As they bred, I got a huge number of them, but they were rarely in the tank. The water was good and the tank was well set up, but they liked to cling to the silicone above the water. I chased 50 of them back into the tank one day.
Any parental care mouthbrooding Cichlid is fun to watch.
Splash tetras are mean little (*&*^ , but they do lay eggs out of the water and splash them.


Then there are the really unique ones... then again, maybe not. Most of the really weird things appear more than once.

 

[BullTerrierChild27 11]

There are some weird ones. I had Kryptolebias marmoratus, the Mangrove killie. It was a very ugly little self cloning species - one fish could give you a bunch.
Anablepsoides atratus was a tiny killie I found in an lFS. As they bred, I got a huge number of them, but they were rarely in the tank. The water was good and the tank was well set up, but they liked to cling to the silicone above the water. I chased 50 of them back into the tank one day.
Any parental care mouthbrooding Cichlid is fun to watch.
Splash tetras are mean little (*&*^ , but they do lay eggs out of the water and splash them.


Then there are the really unique ones... then again, maybe not. Most of the really weird things appear more than once.

Wow, I never knew that there was such a tetra, thank you!

 

[CassCats21 3]

Banjo catfish!

They're shaped weird, they live buried under the sand with just their face or even just their eyes and nose above the surface, and they shed their skin like a lizard as they grow!
I've got a couple and they are super underrated weird fish. Some stay small, but a few get large and they can be tricky to tell which exact species it is... they're usually just sold under one name, so you sometimes will not know what you get. I have two, one is Bunocephalus minerim and will stay barely over 2 inches. The other is Bunocephalus knerii and will reach about 4 inches. They're really fun fish, I recommend if you enjoy the weird ones.

 

[Magnum Man48 163]

Sid was a strange dude…

why I don't like to name my fish

my Giant Oto, Sid died today... no good reason... maybe of old age??? when he was bought, he was already larger, than they are supposed to get, so I assume he was an adult... I'm disappointed , but I get it, "circle of life" he was special, or I wouldn't have named him... the other giants are...

www.fishforums.net

Giant Oto… strange eye placement..

I will get a clearer picture, but when they are stuck on the glass, they remind me of the character Sid, from the movie Ice Age… & as these guys can roll their eyes around, I bet these guys could watch the food going into their own mouths….

www.fishforums.net

and I’ve had lots of unique stuff 30 years ago, like electric cat fish… I had many specimen tanks, back then, with single fish in them…

 

[BullTerrierChild27 11]

Banjo catfish!

They're shaped weird, they live buried under the sand with just their face or even just their eyes and nose above the surface, and they shed their skin like a lizard as they grow!
I've got a couple and they are super underrated weird fish. Some stay small, but a few get large and they can be tricky to tell which exact species it is... they're usually just sold under one name, so you sometimes will not know what you get. I have two, one is Bunocephalus minerim and will stay barely over 2 inches. The other is Bunocephalus knerii and will reach about 4 inches. They're really fun fish, I recommend if you enjoy the weird ones.
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Thanks for the recommendations! I didn't know that the banjos shed!
I'd love to get my hands on a longtail one someday...

 

[BullTerrierChild27 11]

Sid was a strange dude…

why I don't like to name my fish

my Giant Oto, Sid died today... no good reason... maybe of old age??? when he was bought, he was already larger, than they are supposed to get, so I assume he was an adult... I'm disappointed , but I get it, "circle of life" he was special, or I wouldn't have named him... the other giants are...

www.fishforums.net

Giant Oto… strange eye placement..

I will get a clearer picture, but when they are stuck on the glass, they remind me of the character Sid, from the movie Ice Age… & as these guys can roll their eyes around, I bet these guys could watch the food going into their own mouths….

www.fishforums.net

and I’ve had lots of unique stuff 30 years ago, like electric cat fish… I had many specimen tanks, back then, with single fish in them…

Giant otos have been a type of fish that I've wanted for a while! Thanks!

 

[Back in the fold4 1]

The most unique fish I ever had was an African cichlid . Neolamprologus brichardi . A beautiful little cichlid that has a very interesting spawning and family habit . The young help the parents raise the fry of new broods . I saw a picture on the interwebby ( That’s a ColinT - ism ) of a guy that had a 200 gallon aquarium that was swarming with these fish . A marvelous sight .

 

[GaryE8 6]

If you stop and think about how their bodies work - guppies, platys and swordtails are beyond weird.

The eggs hatch internally and roll out. The female keeps packets of sperm alive and releases enough to fertilize her next brood, on her own, for many broods. One fertilization can work for life. The males have hooks on their organs so they often don't fit other species to fertilize them and create hybrids. Some swords go through phases where females are attracted to males with genetic cancers, until the cancers become common at which point they look for unaffected males. Males can develop in 2 waves, with early handsome ones dying young while older ones are often mistaken for females for up to a year. There are also occasional sex changes.

Fish don't have to be uncommon in our tanks to be mind boggling beasts.

 

[BullTerrierChild27 11]

If you stop and think about how their bodies work - guppies, platys and swordtails are beyond weird.

The eggs hatch internally and roll out. The female keeps packets of sperm alive and releases enough to fertilize her next brood, on her own, for many broods. One fertilization can work for life. The males have hooks on their organs so they often don't fit other species to fertilize them and create hybrids. Some swords go through phases where females are attracted to males with genetic cancers, until the cancers become common at which point they look for unaffected males. Males can develop in 2 waves, with early handsome ones dying young while older ones are often mistaken for females for up to a year. There are also occasional sex changes.

Fish don't have to be uncommon in our tanks to be mind boggling beasts.

I didn't know! Thank you for the info, you're right! My swordtails always die on me...

 

[MattW48 164]

Not very unique, but my Giraffe loaches are a great fish to observe in a hillstream environment

 

[BullTerrierChild27 11]

Not very unique, but my Giraffe loaches are a great fish to observe in a hillstream environment

Those are awesome! Thanks!

 

[Back in the fold4 1]

If you stop and think about how their bodies work - guppies, platys and swordtails are beyond weird.

The eggs hatch internally and roll out. The female keeps packets of sperm alive and releases enough to fertilize her next brood, on her own, for many broods. One fertilization can work for life. The males have hooks on their organs so they often don't fit other species to fertilize them and create hybrids. Some swords go through phases where females are attracted to males with genetic cancers, until the cancers become common at which point they look for unaffected males. Males can develop in 2 waves, with early handsome ones dying young while older ones are often mistaken for females for up to a year. There are also occasional sex changes.

Fish don't have to be uncommon in our tanks to be mind boggling beasts.

I never thought of that until you mentioned it just now . That is pretty unique and weird . Maybe our most unusual fish are right under our noses .