What are you into?

[Krismo962]

For a year now,i've been into CA cichlids and flowerhorns.Kept 3 flowerhorns, convicts,midas,vieja synpilum and a few others,for a few weeks now i've been looking into snakeheads particularly -channa aurantimaculata(yes they are legal in my country).I thought it was just a phase and i'll move on ,a few moments ago i realized i wasn't into flowerhorns anymore,i don't feel like going into the hybrid cichlids forum now.I feel bad leaving all of this behind,what are your thoughts?have you ever transitioned from keeping a certain types of fish to another?

 

[Milingu]

Yes, I have. In 21 years years of fishkeeping I tried a lot. I started with betta, asian cyprinids, gouramis etc. and after some years I moved on to west african and south american cichlids, followed again by some asian fish.
For the last 7 or 8 years I have mainly kept African cichlids. Everything that thrives in high pH. I also had short phase trying central americans in between. Beautiful fish but not for me at th moment.
But I was never following one direction only. There were always some "side fish".

I learned one thing.
You should always reflect on which fish you really like and not allow yourself to be influenced too much from outside. At least for me Fish forums, social media, fish clubs etc. had a lot of influnece on what fish I kept or thought I like. Sometimes I try to reset my mind set, I just go through the LFS without a goal or a certain fish group in my head and just see what I like spontaneously. And sometimes it still surprises me.

So it is not bad to change. And change does not automatically mean "leaving everything behind". Taste changes, but you don't loose the experience and joy you had before.

 

[Krismo962]

Yes, I have. In 21 years years of fishkeeping I tried a lot. I started with betta, asian cyprinids, gouramis etc. and after some years I moved on to west african and south american cichlids, followed again by some asian fish.
For the last 7 or 8 years I have mainly kept African cichlids. Everything that thrives in high pH. I also had short phase trying central americans in between. Beautiful fish but not for me at th moment.
But I was never following one direction only. There were always some "side fish".

I learned one thing.
You should always reflect on which fish you really like and not allow yourself to be influenced too much from outside. At least for me Fish forums, social media, fish clubs etc. had a lot of influnece on what fish I kept or thought I like. Sometimes I try to reset my mind set, I just go through the LFS without a goal or a certain fish group in my head and just see what I like spontaneously. And sometimes it still surprises me.

So it is not bad to change. And change does not automatically mean "leaving everything behind". Taste changes, but you don't loose the experience and joy you had before.

Thanks,this helped alot and made me feel much better.

 

[tlindsey]

I was dwelling on Saltwater but unfortunately don't have the time or money so recently purchased a Electric Blue Jack Dempsey and a group of Congo Tetra. I'm trying hard now to only keep fish that are from the same ph range. I will always have Polypterus.

 

[tlindsey]

Thanks,this helped alot and made me feel much better.

I agree with keeping fish you like.

 

[Krismo962]

I was dwelling on Saltwater but unfortunately don't have the time or money so recently purchased a Electric Blue Jack Dempsey and a group of Congo Tetra. I'm trying hard now to only keep fish that are from the same ph range. I will always have Polypterus.

Love congo tetras!Can't get enough of their colours and their fins.

 

[Deadeye]

Currently I have a lot of cichlids, but my love will always be with piranhas and the other predatory characins.
And sharks of course.

 

[Kolton13]

Catfish..... absolutely love catfish. I have a gulper, jag, channel, syno decorus, corys, Bn pleco.

 

[jjohnwm]

I was into marines for about 15 years, and also went through the Big Predator and Monster Cichlid phase for probably 25 years. I have always been fascinated with keeping native fish and usually had at least a couple tanks devoted to them, and will probably keep them again but don't have any at the moment. A brief couple of years with African cichlids came and went, and I have owned and enjoyed arowanas, polys, Osphronemus gouramis, an electric eel (only fish that scared the crap out of me...), gars, big predatory catfish (Clarias, RTC, TSN, electric cat, etc.) and a bunch of others, with some of the individual fish staying in my care for 10 or more years. I was also into reptiles, particularly snakes, for decades.

Oddly enough, I have virtually no goldfish experience (a single smallish tank with 3 department-store cheapies, roughly 50 years ago!), and I don't recall ever keeping a Betta.

Nowadays, I mostly just enjoy smaller fish, low-tech planted tanks and puttering around my small outdoor ponds. I'm playing with some less-common livebearers (Heterandria and a couple of Goodeids) and thinking of getting one snake again, largely to make sure my granddaughters come to appreciate rather than fear them. I'm also currently toying with the idea of building just one more tank of roughly 200-250 gallons and keeping just one big fish in it for old times' sake...leaning heavily towards either an electric cat or a jelly cat. Still up in the air about this, because I don't want to fall into the trap of having too many tanks to maintain so that it becomes an onerous chore rather than a labour of love. We'll see...

I completely agree with Milingu above: nothing wrong with asking what others are "into", but you must decide for yourself what you like and want to keep. Don't be like Homer Simpson: "Oh, I don't know what I think until TV tells me!"

 

[duanes]

I prefer biotopes, doesn't matter what country as long as the species of fish and plants (to a point) are geographically correct.
If its a lake Barumbi Mbu tank, I keep only the fish from that lake in the tank.
If its a Panamanian river (my main current set up, the fish from that river area are used), meaning tetras, cichlids, gobies, even shrimp that live together in nature.
I've also had Madagascan, Indian, and Uruguayan biotopes. In this way the tanks inhabitants all agree on water parameters, temps, and flow rate, so compatibility (within reason) is often the result.

My Panamanian tank below
Panamanian Tank