most underrated fish in your opinion

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esoxlucius said:
I think this is the case throughout the hobby. Where ever you're from I bet there's a good number of natives right in your back yard that are totally overlooked. But people seem to want what's on the other side of the world rather than set up a native tank.

Here in the uk, and being a fisherman, I know exactly what's on offer, from the humble stickleback to the monster pike, and they're all coldwater fish, no messing around with heaters and all the potential aggro that can come with them.

I have a plan one day to set up a European perch tank. It's probably a long way down the line but yeah, a native set up is certainly on my bucket list.
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The stickleback is an amazing fish!!
 
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Magnus_Bane said:
Ik there's atleast one person on here that keeps a pet warmouth. I forget what their username is otherwise I'd mention them. Honestly tho I think that US native fish in general are all underrated. Most would make for great pets just like mainly other fish that are common in the hobby. A warmouth would be a great substitute for a Oscar imo.
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This is what i think anyways. The only downside for native fish is that all the cool fish are size regulated or have some kind of other regulations. But when they do get regulation size you need a humongous tank! Im not saying you should raise a tiny largemouth bass, walleye or pike in small aquariums. I just dont think most of us can house fish of that size and to do it right, especially in some states bass are 18 inch minimum, walleye not being too far off. So that just leaves us with crappie and sunfish basically. And im sure they're great sunfish and crappie tanks out there, but lets be real, most of us want the good stuff. Would love to have a native tank base on the predators of the northern region! But just imagine how big that aquarium has to be.
 
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OMGidkWTFimDOING said:
This is what i think anyways. The only downside for native fish is that all the cool fish are size regulated or have some kind of other regulations. But when they do get regulation size you need a humongous tank! Im not saying you should raise a tiny largemouth bass, walleye or pike in small aquariums. I just dont think most of us can house fish of that size and to do it right, especially in some states bass are 18 inch minimum, walleye not being too far off. So that just leaves us with crappie and sunfish basically. And im sure they're great sunfish and crappie tanks out there, but lets be real, most of us want the good stuff. Would love to have a native tank base on the predators of the northern region! But just imagine how big that aquarium has to be.
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there is a 2000 gallon native tank somewhere in new England. They have allllll The good stuff.
 
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Actually, once we get into the aquarium sub-culture of keeping native coldwater fish, I think that sunfish, perch, madtoms, crappies, etc. are some of the most underrated fish out there...and by extension, the gamefish species are overrated, at least as far as their suitability as aquarium fish. Why are large bass, pike, walleyes and other monsters considered the "good" stuff? The smaller versions are just as interesting, more colourful and better suited to typical MFK-style tanks.

Are fish only "good" when they are too big to properly house and maintain?
 
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jjohnwm said:
Actually, once we get into the aquarium sub-culture of keeping native coldwater fish, I think that sunfish, perch, madtoms, crappies, etc. are some of the most underrated fish out there...and by extension, the gamefish species are overrated, at least as far as their suitability as aquarium fish. Why are large bass, pike, walleyes and other monsters considered the "good" stuff? The smaller versions are just as interesting, more colourful and better suited to typical MFK-style tanks.

Are fish only "good" when they are too big to properly house and maintain?
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Yes!
 
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