Picking fish

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Seahorse8383

Members
I am wondering how you all decided on the type of fish you want to keep. I can never decide and stick with a type of fish to keep. Im not sure if it is my ADD kicking in or what, but whenever I stock my tank I am only satisfied for a little while before I start to feel like I am not happy with the type of fish I am keeping. I know I love cichlids and I like the look of community tanks but I can never stick with whatever stock I have at the time. I like big fish, I like colorful fish, I like them to have a good personality and I like them to be active. Maybe I have yet to own the type of fish that can keep me interested. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone have any advice on a type of stocking plan that I may love long term? Or am I just nuts????

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jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
You aren't nuts. You just need more tanks.

I had similar issues when I first got back in the hobby 5-6 years ago. I started with a 75 and cycled through fish like it was my job. Since then, I've set up 15 more tanks to help keep more different types of fish. I'm still prone to switch things around from time to time, but really have settled on keeping stuff that I like and stuff that isn't overly aggressive.
 
zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
From October of 2010 to January of 2014 I did this EVERY MONTH. I was putting up tanks, taking down tanks, and every month give or take a week I sold or gave away all of my fish and got new ones. Then I went to the January CCA meeting and listened to Doug Gosnell's talk on Angelfish. He brought some for the auction and I took 3 adults home and two paired off a few weeks later in early February. I now own 7 tanks full of 5 pairs of angelfish and their kids. Beautiful fish, they have personality, and the genetics are fun to mess around with. I am setting up a fishroom with 90-95% focus on keeping as many types as I can and making two specific crosses that I'm not going to mention until I have them perfected and breeding true. But you're not crazy, I agree with Jon. More tanks are the answer!


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Seahorse8383

Members
That makes me feel much better. About every 2-4 months I get bored with my stock so I sell or trade them all and start all over. I would love to keep a single stock for more then a few months. I feel like I am wasting so much money, but once again I am ready to ditch all my current fish and dive back into aggressive cichlids. I think it is more exciting to have to redo things so often to keep the aggression down. So now Im thinking about moving all the fish from my 125 to my 60. Then I would put my jack dempsey pair in the 125 and add about 2-3 more cichlids

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Localzoo

Localzoo

Board of Directors
Reply yep more tanks more tanks that's why I built a fish rack. The shelves aren't stocked yet but it's there for when I decide to get more fish


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olzkool

Members
There's something wrong with all of us when our only logical solution for the op is telling them to get more tanks. That's probably not the best answer. Having said that, I think the best solution to your problem is to GET MORE TANKS! Lol
 
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olzkool

Members
On a serious note, one thing that definitely helped me was to get an all male tank. I have one for mbuna and one for peacocks and haps. Every time I fell in love with a new species I just added one male specimen instead of adding a whole other breeding group and another tank. This allowed me to see what I really liked and wanted to focus on. It kept me from starting a new group then changing my mind after a month. Plus you get to enjoy all those different fish and add to them whenever you want. The mbuna tank has about 40 different individual species in it.
 
neut

neut

Members
As a kid I went through a phase of trying to breed everything I could get my hands on-- still the metal frame tank era, lot of livebearers, angelfish, a few other cichlids and catfish. Then I didn't do fish for a while. Started up again in the late 80s and went through a phase of cycling through every SA cichlid or oddball I could get my hands on, though certain species were staples for me, like discus. Then went through a phase (15 years) of avidly breeding various haps and peacocks (and occasional mbuna and Vics). Then got more seriously into Cyphotilapia keeping. For the first several years of this I still had the Malawis. But through all of it I always had a smattering of new worlds-- whether sevs, EBJD, green terrors, geos-- and maybe 5-6 years ago I decided I'd been there done that with Malawis and gradually converted back to SAs (and still have my Kapampa fronts).

Point is, over time most probably go through different phases if they stay in the hobby very long, both from what I've experienced and seen others do. I've settled down a lot, at least for now it's more about having tanks I enjoy than always having something new, but for me changing it up from time to time is what keeps the hobby interesting.

For me which fish I've kept has had its random aspects, but had a lot to do with what's available at the time, what's new to me or what kind of challenge I'm looking for at the time, and/or what have come to be some of my long standing favorites.
 
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festaedan

festaedan

potamotrygon fan
Dont worry, it happens to just about everyone. I have 6 tanks at the moment (an 5 in the basement waiting to be set up) ranging anywere from bettas, to plecos, to stingrays. This gives me a little bit of everything so I never get bored. Eventually im going to switch to dwarf cichlids because they have always been very fun, colorful, and not too demanding for space, unlike the larger, more aggressive ca cichlids. Even though I'll never get rid of my oscars or lyonsi pair I've decided to focus on dwarf cichlids and pleco species. One day you'll find something you never want to get rid of. For me that was my siquia pair that got me focussed on the little guys and now I'm hooked on dwarf -or just small- cichlids but like I already said, the oscars are never leaving :)
 
thedavidzoo

thedavidzoo

Members
I seem to be at the other end of the spectrum. I have had basically the same fish (breeding groups) since I started. I've added a few things trying to get more CARES species, but never got rid of my original groups. They are my family now.
 
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ccp2007

Members
I'm ADD and if I run out of DIY or tank makeover ideas, I get bored with my fish and want to start over. I finally took a good 6 months to really figure out what I wanted. I like having 1 prize fish and a clean up fish or 2. I have finally got my Festae and don't plan on switching, not to mention, I paid a pretty penny for her and my hubby would probably freak out if I decided I didn't want her. A lot of people like several fish in a tank. I on the other hand like just 1 biggin to spoil...plus, cleaning up after only 1 is a lot easier :D

Happily married Mommy of 3 babies, 2 fur babies and 15 gilled babies
 
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