which species dwells in the nicest tanks?

[cichla81]

This isn't necessarily true either. You can have plenty of filtration and dump thousands into your tank, but that isn't a sign of whether or not you know what your doing. It is just a sign of how much you are will to throw at the hobby. Some of the cheapest and simplest setups are backed by the most knowledge and experience. Not saying that a lot of the cichla owners don't know what they are doing, there are a lot of very knowledgeable cichla keepers, just not sure if I would make that broad of a statement.

I think that there is a correlation of nice tanks to the "flavor of the month" as well.

i didnt mean that those who have "pricier" fish know what they are doing but that those who have more expensive fish, will more than likely have the cash flow for the nicer setup. as for cichla keepers, i meant that those who know what they are doing will have sufficient setups for the fish. i see alot of tanks on youtube where cichla are kept in 30 or 40 gallons of water and they have no plans of upgrading. i havent seen a tank on mfk where cichla were kept in a crappy tank.

 

[jworth]

i disagree on the aro comment. i know this is true of all species but it seems that more so in aros you see a TON of 2 ft aros dropped in a 55 gallon tank. It might be wrong but it seems to me that aros are the most popular fish all over the world so we see more not cared for.

 

[cichla81]

i disagree on the aro comment. i know this is true of all species but it seems that more so in aros you see a TON of 2 ft aros dropped in a 55 gallon tank. It might be wrong but it seems to me that aros are the most popular fish all over the world so we see more not cared for.

 

[NatashaAliza]

Discus, a lot of work goes into those babies.

 

[noctame]

I think Discus comes to the forefront of my mind due to everything I've seen online and in fish stores. The species are sensitive to water conditions - most intolerant of any hard water so a lot of Discus keepers have an RO system and mixing setup. There's some cash there. A lot of Discus ARE kept in tanks that are planted, which normally calls for a crap ton of planning and investment into a lighting system. Discus themselves can be scary expensive if you are looking for a bloodline that is wild or bred to a specific pattern of colours. Many people use their brains when they've been the hobby for awhile and buy a tank they can keep their longlived fishies in longterm, and if they want to emulate their natural habitat this often means a gaggle of different sexes living in a biotopic setup....

After all this thought I think the 'nicest tanks' are the ones that cater to the fish themselves, and I stand by my initial assessment that many people want to see the natural behaviours and habitat of 'the king of the cichlids' so they go that extra mile for Discus. But it does rely on that key motivation. If a hobbyist is getting Discus to CATER to their Discus (which we all wish was true of every keeper!) I think they end up being the most expensive to care for, or 'cater to' compared to other similarly sized fishies. I don't think its fair to compare Discus to Rays (to a degree) due to the size that many uncommon monster fish can grow to. But for their size, I think Discus win for budget sinkers

 

[PufferFace]

most cichlas rays and aro tanks i see here in asia are bare bottom tanks (including mine) and i don't see any beauty in it. the fishes themselves are absolute beauties but the tanks are kept bare bottom for maintenance purposes.

2nd that.. I don't see anything nice about a barebottom tank.

 

[keepinfish]

BLACK RAYS & PBASS IMO!

MY FAVORITE RAYS AND ARMATUS!!

 

[cichla81]

I think Discus comes to the forefront of my mind due to everything I've seen online and in fish stores. The species are sensitive to water conditions - most intolerant of any hard water so a lot of Discus keepers have an RO system and mixing setup. There's some cash there. A lot of Discus ARE kept in tanks that are planted, which normally calls for a crap ton of planning and investment into a lighting system. Discus themselves can be scary expensive if you are looking for a bloodline that is wild or bred to a specific pattern of colours. Many people use their brains when they've been the hobby for awhile and buy a tank they can keep their longlived fishies in longterm, and if they want to emulate their natural habitat this often means a gaggle of different sexes living in a biotopic setup....

After all this thought I think the 'nicest tanks' are the ones that cater to the fish themselves, and I stand by my initial assessment that many people want to see the natural behaviours and habitat of 'the king of the cichlids' so they go that extra mile for Discus. But it does rely on that key motivation. If a hobbyist is getting Discus to CATER to their Discus (which we all wish was true of every keeper!) I think they end up being the most expensive to care for, or 'cater to' compared to other similarly sized fishies. I don't think its fair to compare Discus to Rays (to a degree) due to the size that many uncommon monster fish can grow to. But for their size, I think Discus win for budget sinkers

Interesting, so its not really the look of the tank but how the tank is setup for that species? we see alot of tanks where caves are setup for fish that dont like caves. we see ray tanks that dont have a good footprint or are cluttered with wood and rocks. ive seen aro tanks where there is a huge amount of floating plants that block its swimming. all these tanks might be asthetically pleasing to the eye but are not ideal for the species.

 

[noctame]

Its like putting a dozen silver dollars in a tank without a lot of plant matter for them to binge on....They love to eat plants! They are a planted tank's worst nightmare! But they are extremely happy when they can graze. So do you kick the planning and collection of ridiculous amounts of fast growing lowlight plants just because it costs more? No. The monsters have a veggie tooth and if that makes them happy, a hobbyist should (if they care about keeping the damn things happy) at least make an effort. A lot of people don't. And I'm not directing this comment at anybody, but I know someone (who I haven't spoken to since I saw their 100 gallon) who simply likes having monster fish for the sake of having monster fish. And frankly, the cheap piece of poo hasn't spent a fraction of the money he should've on his aro but quite frankly doesn't care. He's not invested into the hobby that way, and will find it difficult to keep any fish that comes into his care alive due to that.

 

[LowCel]

IMO Cichla, Rays and Aro's

I'll agree with those but I am also going to throw in umbie's and dovii. Primarily because the people that purchase them "usually" know their requirements. They are generally housed by themselves as well, maybe not intentionally but it usually works out that way in the end.