How have your tastes in fish changed?

[Mebbid]

I was thinking today over my tank stocking and that brought to mind of just how much my tastes in fish have changed since I started keeping fish.

I used to vehemently believe that both Goruamis and Rainbows were absolutely hideous fish. Well the last 2 additions to my tank were a school of 9 Praecox rainbows as well as a powder blue dwarf gourami.

I also used to absolutely love guppies. Well after having a nice tranquil school of harlequin rasboras for quite a while and seeing their schooling behavior in comparison to the guppies relentless attempts to breed... The guppies now annoy me to no end.

How has everyone elses tastes in fish changed since you entered the hobby?

 

[Jev12]

I used to like those glow fish and zebra danios....now I can't stand them they are just not that neat I guess...and I have always not been a big fan of guppies and mollies and platys they just have never interested me...and I used to not like cichlids because I thought they were to aggressive for my liking now I really want a cichlid tank lolol I think they are just so pretty and fun to watch

 

[Mebbid]

Hah I used to think the same thing about cichlids until I realized that's just how they are and it's perfectly natural for them; not to mention that they are sturdy fish that are made to put up with that kind of abuse. Now I just love to watch my mbunas duke it out on the rare occasion that they do

 

[bettaowner]

I used to like oddball fish like eels and loaches but after seeing some neat cichlids I got interested in them.

 

[aquandrew]

i use to love balloon mollies but after having several die, while everything else in the tank thrived, i wont keep them anymore. i use to really like guppies but now they are boring to me. i guess i just liked common fish and now im really into cichlids and fish that have personality

 

[GodFan]

I started out obsessed with guppiee and endlers. After awhile my taste changed based on the filthyness of guppies, a obsession with natural tanks, and a love of inverts (I had the evil crazy murderer guppies). And now I am into nanos and oddballs (scarlet badis and african leaf fish)

 

[Rokuzachi]

In the 90's I was very into cichlids. Oscars, geos, pikes, GTs, Jags, and africans along with Polypterids. Left the hobby for about 10 years due to where I ended up moving.

When I came back I suddenly was all about catfish, and to a lesser extent fancy goldfish and fish like the spotted climbing perch. I've also taken a liking to the non-aggressive US native category. I think my tastes changed because when I thought back on my earlier tanks, I remembered how often I stressed out over aggression in them. Now I enjoy a nice peaceful planted tank. Watching my catfish play in the vals and dwarf sagg is infinitely more relaxing than watching a big cichlid uproot all my aquascaping and beat its tankmates up.

 

[Zimmanski]

Granted I've only been doing this for about a year, my taste in fish is still the same but the stocking levels and whole idea of it has changed. I've actually really enjoyed under stocking my tanks, and have gone from have a fish tank, to having aquariums if that makes sense. I still love my angels and clown loaches, which is what I started with and got me interested in the hobby but now my tanks are planted and go with a more natural theme rather than brightly colored gravel and cramming a bunch of fish in a tank. My girlfriend won a 65 gallon tank and made an African cichlid tank, which I've always liked because of the activity and colors, but even having them in our home hasn't taken me any farther away from "Dart" my first angel or "rocket" my first clown loach

 

[calfishguy]

I used to like tetras. But after watching them mindlessly dart around and finally getting rainbows I really am not a huge fan of them anymore. That and livebearers in general it just seems that everybody has them.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

and I have always not been a big fan of guppies and mollies and platys they just have never interested me

How can you say that!?!?!?! (LOL Just kidding! )

 

[plantedtankman]

I love Tetras! I used to like Barbs, but their fin nipping annoys me. I also used to be very fond of African Cichlids, but after they breeded a ton and overpopulated my tank I got bored of them. One day when I get a large tank (like 100 gallons) I would like to try Discus. I would also like to try a saltwater tank one day as well.

 

[Platiesareawesome]

I used to like tetras. But after watching them mindlessly dart around and finally getting rainbows I really am not a huge fan of them anymore. That and livebearers in general it just seems that everybody has them.

I have to agree with you on the tetras. I don't really like that weird motion they make! They still are very cool looking though

 

[plantedtankman]

In the 90's I was very into cichlids. Oscars, geos, pikes, GTs, Jags, and africans along with Polypterids. Left the hobby for about 10 years due to where I ended up moving.

When I came back I suddenly was all about catfish, and to a lesser extent fancy goldfish and fish like the spotted climbing perch. I've also taken a liking to the non-aggressive US native category. I think my tastes changed because when I thought back on my earlier tanks, I remembered how often I stressed out over aggression in them. Now I enjoy a nice peaceful planted tank. Watching my catfish play in the vals and dwarf sagg is infinitely more relaxing than watching a big cichlid uproot all my aquascaping and beat its tankmates up.

I agree with you 100%. I had an African tank for about 6 years and the colors of the fish were great! But I've grown not to like aggressive fish anymore. Although, I do like more peaceful cichlids like Rams, Angelfish, and Discus.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

I used to like the guppies and mollies and bright pink fake plants. My tastes have changed, and I am finding I like less active fish with more personality (and sadly, a larger pricetag), and fish that are more of a challenge to care for. I have also gone the way of the natural look with only live plants and aquascapes. As a pp stated, I too have gone from having fish tanks to keeping aquariums.

 

[Oohitsae]

Oh god, yes!!!

I used to despise livebearers and albinos because I thought they were hideous. Mollies and albino BNP's were at the top of that list. Now I have 4 mollies, which I'm still not a fan of, but I also have 7 platies, 15-20 swordtails, 2 tanks of guppies, and a few endler crosses. I also have a pair of albino BN plecos and used to have juvies too.

I absolutely loveddd bettas when I started, they were my biggest obsession for a long time. I think I had around 40 adults at one point, in fact, besides a small group of peppered cories, everything I had was bettas for the longest time. Now I've cut back to around 10-15 and keep a lot of other stuff too.

I used to hate cichlids, they just seemed too complicated, but now I've got GBR's, Bolivian Rams, and Apisto Trifasciatas. Started with the GBR's and after seeing that they really weren't as complicated as people made them out to be I decided to try wild types and after my GBR's kept having the males die I moved to bolivians. Now I am hoping to get a pair of Golds and Kribs eventually too.

Oh, and I used to hate plecos because of how dirty and common they are and I also thought they looked creepy. But now I've got about 20 of those too. I still won't touch the brown/black variations, and thought I'd never have albinos either, but after getting calico's, green dragons, reds, and super reds, I figured I'd try albinos and even liked those!

My tastes are basically all over the place and I'm sure will always continue to change.

 

[jefferzbooboo]

I used to be into puffers, I've got 6 peruvians in a 75 and a red eye red tail in a 29g, but now they're kind of a hassle to feed and very messy animals. Plus I lose a 29g and a 10g just to breed food. I doubt after these pass I'll get another puffer.
I was into high tech planted tanks with Co2 and dosing, I started getting bored of it after awhile and put it back to low tech. I'm liking being able to only feed every other day and once weekly water changes, instead of having to dose everyday.
Even my SW tank I used to SPS but got rid of the SPS so I don't have to dose calcium, etc.
I don't know if I've gotten lazier or what, I still really enjoy my tanks, but don't want to spend 2+ hours a day fiddling with things.

 

[Mebbid]

I would like to add that my dream fish to have has always been a black ghost knife well... for fresh water anyways