yes, I like unique individual fish...

[Magnum Man]

they seem to catch my eye, and I find myself looking for them... most of my tanks are "over crowded", so there are plenty of fish to see, and lots of pretty ones available, my panda loach ( Yaoshania pachychilus ) was out again this morning, as well as a large cherry shrimp ( my morning regular ) I find myself looking for them each morning... there are other cherrys in that thank, but one seems to hang in the roots right next to the front glass every morning... the panda loach, a baby one,, that was ordered in a group of three, but was a solo, by the time it was shipped, I didn't expect to survive by itself , so it's a blessing to see it daily.... schools of fish are cool, but I have ended up with several individuals over time, that I seem to find more interesting to see daily... I think something in us wants to identify, with critters we care for, so even on a schooling fish, we look for individual traits, that help us identify one, from the rest of the pack... they don't have to be small, though the ones mentioned above are, my Tiger Silver Dollar is adult and solo, and I really like seeing him, as a solo... I had a Pacu 30 years ago, that I built a custom large aquarium for, as he got so big, he was like a dog, when I came home, he would get so excited to see me... well, at least that's what I told myself... he probably just was happy to see me, as the "food truck"... thoughts??? you have a fish you have identified from the school, that you specifically look for daily???

 

[GaryE]

We all approach that differently, but I think a lot of us like the idea of what we can see. I have a lot of smaller aquariums to let me do that. You fill large aquariums for the same goal.
I'm lucky I like small fish, so I can have rows of small tanks. My neck muscles are ripped from swiveling my head as I walk up what I have to admit is an aisle. Sometimes I just saunter along grinning - so many delightful things to see and fiddle with.
How it works is how it works. It is possible we're crazy - crazy is like stupid or dead - obvious to those around us but not to ourselves. But if so, gardeners, birdwatchers, hunters, fishers or cat and dog people are also nuts.

In the midst of all the terrible things happening in the world, I was as happy as a kid before Christmas yesterday. I had taken a shot at asking a European breeder about a fish I like, but can't get in North America. It's a great fish (Aphyosemion elberti) for diverse colours within a species. The ones from northern Cameroon are beautiful blue and red fish with long fins, but as you go south, yellow begins to appear in shorter fins. In some regions, red predominates and in some blue. I would have been happy with any one of them, and was hoping to snag one colour type/geographic location. The guy turned out to be a serious looker at fish,and breeder, and offered me eggs from four types, all different. That made my day.

Why? Pretty fish to look at that will be a challenge to breed. I've done it before (for more than 10 years with one of them), but take nothing for granted. Clearly, in spite of keeping them before, I'm not done looking at them.

You like larger, more robust fish. So you can fit them into your large tanks. I like small ones that allow me to understock in small tanks. You know I'll never follow your stocking philosophy, but you're making it work well.

I tend to look at species and local populations more than individual fish. I was looking at an Aphyosemion zygaima male yesterday, as I've looked at many of them over the 33 years I've bred them. He's a really good looking one, full of energy and with a perfect shape and colour, and I'll not only enjoy looking at him for the 2 years or so he'll be around, but hopefully will be admiring his grandsons in the same way. I like that process and flow of life, which is why I like breeding as many of my weird fish as much as I like seeing them.

 

[gwand]

I also like small fish. Of the 12 species I husband, the largest are Anomalochromis thomasi and golden sailfin mollies. I have four offspring from Mohawk Man (RIP), orange morph Apistogramma cacatuoides. I always look for the dominant male. He will approach the front glass and stare right back at me. This is not conditioned behavior for food. If I offer food he generally ignores it. But the staring contest continues.