Rare fish

[cinciboy]

Is there some fishes considered rare fishes. Can somebody list them. I am interested in knowing how rare they are..

[rubysoho]

are you talking about rare in the wild or just a rare find in the fish store (the two can be paired together for some fish like the zebra pleco)?

I think there is a huge list of rare fish, maybe you could narrow it down to a type of fish?

[cinciboy]

I am talking in terms of rare fish means expensive and difficult to find in store.. and also why are they rare... like difficult to find.. hardy to keep.. need special water quality ?????

[rubysoho]

well, most people in the hobby aren't looking for expensive fish (or just can't afford them). I think people come to freshwater a lot of times because they can't afford saltwater, though I am not saying freshwater isn't cool. Because there isn't the demand, fishstores don't order the fish except some specialty stores or for special orders from a trusted client. Another reason is that people looking for those rare fish might be more likely to just go straight to the breeder instead of going through a fish store.

Some fish like the zebra pleco are not widely available because they are rarely found in the wild (at least that is what I read) and are hard to breed in captivity, but if you go to aquabid.com, you'll find a few breeders who have been successful.

I'm sure someone else can come along and give you an actual list of rare fish.

[tetrin]

send a pm to toirtis and you are sure to get a list ...

[Fishyfanatic]

Zebra's are hard to find in the states because they are no longer being exported from Brazil. Therefore the supply in the states is from breeders.

[Blazeherd2306]

They are very expensive too...$250 on live aquaria!

[cinciboy]

What about arowana ??. I know people here are not looking for expensive fish. But it is just for discussion and also to learn about some expensive FW fishes..

[megladonsharky]

arowana here are available at Petco so I wouldnt say rare or expensive thou I do know some of them fetch a pretty penny... I recently aquired some rarer fish for 1.50 a peice it can just be luck of in my case a small mistake..

[Fishyfanatic]

You can find some really nice fish that are pretty rare for cheap prices if you know what you're looking for. I know I've told this before, but I went to Wal-Mart in STL one weekend and I always wonder by the fish dept. I found a Zebra Pleco for $3.99. I didn't get it because I thought, hmm....I don't need another pleco. Plus, it would be 2 days before I could get it into my tank and I don't think he'd survive in the bag that long. So I just passed it by but thought, that's a cool looking pleco. After getting home and realizing that it was a Zebra Pleco (Labled Common Pleco), I wanted to DIE. I would have bought a small 5 gal tank just go temporarily house the guy if I would have known what he sells for. This has been about a year ago or so. Ever since then I look at every fish tank at Petco, Petsmart, and Wal-Mart beacuse you never know what you'll find in the big places that have no clue what they are stocking.

[Jchillin]

Hmmm...just for the record, there are weaker strains of zebra's out there, which can explain the fish that you saw in Wallyworld Fishy. Under close observation, the stripes are a lot more wavy than the true zebra.

There are a lot of species that LFS either won't or will not carry (lack of sales would be one reason). I cannot find Keyhole cichlids (and a vast majority of other African or SA cichlids). That makes them rare for me.

[Toirtis]

Lots of fish that could be considered 'rare'...for instance, Polypterus ansorgii is known from a single preserved specimen collected 90+ years ago, so thats pretty rare...

As well, there are a lot of fish in the hobby that are now rare finds, such as Brochis britskii, true Corydoras julii, zebra plecos, etc.

[Fishyfanatic]

JC- It looked just like the zebra pleco on liveaquaria.com I went back the next day but it was gone. Someone probably snatched it up.

I agree, it really depends on where you live. South American Cichlids are VERY rare around here unless it's a Convict. Those are in surplus, but I can't find Gold Rams or German Blue Rams unless I drive to STL, and even there I can only find 1 store that stocks the blues. I've never found a Gold Ram.

[jersysman]

FF our local fish store up here in Galesburg has Gold Rams. If you ever need any, let me know.

[wabyrd]

The Elephantnose is sort of rare and a little pricey. I've only seen it at this one high dollar fish store near me. If you know Houston, it's over near Rice University. They are also fairly difficult fish to keep from what I've read. Pretty funny looking too.

[Tiger_Oscar]

My Original Blithering -

This is a Hawaiian Masked Angelfish. Some in an Hawaii aquarium bred and had baby fishies. Fishlings. What ever the hell you call them. I'm happy for the fish, I am. However I'd like to focus not on the fact that these fish breed quite well as a matter of course out IN THE OCEAN where they live, or the fact this made news because they bred in an AQUARIUM, like we had SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT (ok, I'm yelling...I apologize) (I'm calm now. I am) was the fact that people pay up to $5,000 for one of these.
(3,477.82 GBP ......5,656.26 EUR)
Please read this slowly:
F I V E (5)
T H O U S A N D (5000)
D O L L A R S ($$$$$$$)
A M E R I C A N

[Fishyfanatic]

That's a pretty cool looking fish.

Jersey- I could use mapquest, but where is Galesburg in relation to Carbondale?

[ace1uno_00]

Fahaka Puffer is rare.
They are about 125 online and 32 at my local LFS.

[jersysman]

I really don't know where CArbondale is FF. But, Galesburg is about 35 WNW of Peoria.

[RoK]

I got a pleco from a petland months ago that I never saw before. I brought 11 jewel cichlids so I could get some store credit so I could get the fish for less, it was $25 but I got $10 off since I brought the jewels. So I got a pleco that's pretty hard to come by around here for $15+tax. I'm so glad I got it, I've never found another like it since. It's black with spots that are usually white but the fish can add a greenish-blueish tint to them according to mood (I think), it's awesome. There was no scientific name written, it just said "Emerald pleco" and the price. I don't have a digital camera yet either to show you guys and gals.