Unique oddball fish?

[Zeaqua]

Hey all! 

I currently have a 20 gallon with a breeding colony of Endlers', but I plan on selling them soon, and am looking for something to put in the tank. I LOVE oddball fish, so i'm looking for something to replace the horde. I don't care too much if it's a top dweller, bottom dweller, if it's a centerpiece fish, I'm just looking for something unusual!

[nabokovfan87]

I kind of want to give you a list of a bunch of fun things, but I swear my definition of "oddball" isn't the same as others! 😂

I think a 20L might do well with some darters or goby species.  I think the "walking fish" are really interesting to watch and study and I like the intimate style setting and being able to get up close on a 20L.

I would say go to town and find a nice wild betta pair too.  Something from the coccina complex is pretty unique and needs a bit more specialized care.

Edited November 12, 2023 by nabokovfan87
removed wordy words.

[Fish Folk]

Some of these may prove difficult to find wherever you’re at, but here are some interesting oddball fish that could work in a 20-gal. I haven’t kept most of these, but other aquarists have. Here’s my “top 5 countdown” with videos of each in aquariums: 

5. Apistogramma hongsloi. These are not impossible to find, but very rarely discussed. Absolutely gorgeous Gemstones!

4. Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) Here is one species I do keep. They are very easy to buy (check here) but very rarely kept. You need absolutely cold water, lots of flow, and tons of air. The water needs to be kept clean. They need live or frozen foods. 

3. Argentine Pearl Killifish (Austrolebias nigripinnis) Hard to find. Live foods are crucial. You want to be a good breeder to get these. They’re not long-lived, but very special.

2. Hummingbird Tetras (Trochilocharax ornatus) In perfect LED lighting, these are beauty beyond compare. A nice school in a beautifully planted tank could virtually make time stand still.

1. Red-tailed Goby (Sicyopterus lagocephalus) Pacific Islands. Needs lots of flow and oxygen. Large stones with photoperiods conducive for green algae growth is appreciated. 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Fish Folk

[Lennie]

I will list a few but not in a way they are meant to be all kept together. Just to recommend so maybe you like any of them and build a tank around.

1) Hillstream Loach/Borneo sucker

2) Threadfin rainbowfish

3) Asian Stone Catfish

 

4) Pea Puffer

5) Neon Loach

6) Indostomus crocodilus/paradoxus

7) Glass catfish

😎And last......... Whiptails!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Lennie

[Zeaqua]

Thank you all for the ideas! There are definitely quite a few fun ones here. 

Right now I'm mostly considering the Red tailed goby (btw @Fish Folk, they're one of the goofiest fish I've seen and I think I'm obsessed),

a pair of some wild betta, a decent sized school of hummingbird tetras, a colony of hillstream loaches, or a few whiptails.

Also, @nabokovfan87, If you want to talk about your oddball list you mentioned, I'd love to see it! I don't mind if it's outside my definition, a cool fish is a cool fish 👍.

[Fish Folk]

I do miss my Betta imbellis. Not to crazy-oddball, but very attractive…

Just a hot rod little swamp-fish!

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/12/2023 at 6:26 PM, Zeaqua said:

Also, @nabokovfan87, If you want to talk about your oddball list you mentioned, I'd love to see it! I don't mind if it's outside my definition, a cool fish is a cool fish 👍.

A few have been mentioned.  Essentially I think of oddball as something where it's not usually fit for a simple community tank.  It might be something that works best as a species only tank or something where the fish itself has care requirements that dictate a bit of extra work.  Unique characteristics all play a role in that definition for me. 

One of my go-to fish would be a goby species, something that crawls on the substrate.  Darters and mudskippers also going into that realm.

Fan feeder shrimp is a fun oddball type of thing and they might actually really do well in a tank setup just for them.  A wild betta tank needs almost a biotope just for them, and it's one I mentioned earlier, but I don't have any experience as far as care with them to really understand what they truly need long term.

Exodons are a fun little species only setup and honestly tiger barbs can be treated the same way.  They aren't like a lot of other fish when they have a massive horde and it's feeding time.  I can only imagine what it would be like to feed exodons, but species only, big schools of barbs are a blast for me. 

African butterfly fish seem really cool to me, but I don't really know if I've ever seen on in a tank that is happy and doing well.  Trapdoor mouth fish can be interesting and enjoyable.  Archerfish also have the same sort of specialized tank needs. 

Pipefish is about as classic of an oddball for me as it gets.  They just need specialized care and don't look like something most people keep.

There are some interesting freshwater eels as well. Lungfish. elephant nose fish.

Loaches, hillstream species, and that almost river style tank is fun, but it's not for everyone.  I think seeing a hillstream loach suck in some food is just a goofy and interesting thing to watch. 

Pea puffers is the other big category.  I really dig a dragon / hairy puffer. 

Crabs can be another avenue, same thing with crayfish, but I think shrimp give you a similar type of experience.  If you're wanting something to eat and use claws, that's a whole different thing, but in terms of interest, I prefer shrimp and would lean towards unique and rare shrimp.

Wolf fish, bicher, and then you have the big pond size catfish have their own appeal just because of how fun it can be to feed them.  I personally think some of those species shouldn't be available to hobbyist.

There's a lot of interesting catfish, plecos, and they might not be your traditional oddballs, but they do need some special care requirements that can be appealing for someone looking for "unique" fish.

.....................

So, given all of those items on the mind and the tank in question.  I would really lean towards "looking into" a puffer, goby, darter, hillstream tank, biotope setup, or some unique catfish like the upside down cats.   If I was set on something unique, interesting, and I had all the knowledge to do it properly....  I would go for an african butterfly fish.  You have the view from above and can keep the water a little lower.  It opens up a lot of creative opportunities for you!
 

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

My first are Giant Otocinclus catfish - great coloration, they’ve been visible unlike some loricariads you’ll actually see them, and as omnivores they’re a great cleanup crew. Of course the “giant” Here is not that big, <3”. 

Loaches, I love them. The more exposure I have to them the more I’ve fallen in love with this group of fishes. The diversity and personality are amazing. 

Dwarf chain loaches, best small fish and if you have a snail problem they’ll single handedly solve it. 

Panda loaches 🐼 are incredible. Love them, very social amongst their group, and although the stark black and white becomes a little more of a muddy charcoal grey the patterns are still sensational. 
 

Have fun! 

[Odd Duck]

On 11/12/2023 at 8:26 PM, Zeaqua said:

a decent sized school of hummingbird tetras

Be prepared to be extremely frustrated because they have not shipped well in my experience.  I tried for well over a year to get a colony established and finally gave up.  I spent well over $500.00 buying from various vendors, trying to get a higher survival rate.  I was ordering 10-20 at a time only to have as much as half or more dead by the time they got to me and more died in quarantine with more of the males dying than females.  They almost all came in with some of them having spots of fin rot that needed treatment.  With only about 10 tiny fish at a time in a 10 gallon that has massive biofiltration (that same quarantine tank is currently supporting about 30 young bristlenose fry, about 10 otocinclus, and 2 subadult Rio Paraguay plecos) but has no excessive current, fairly dim lighting with frogbit for cover - should have been an ideal quarantine tank but still had substantial losses during QT.  I never got more than 15 at a time into the display tank and they would slowly pass, always the males first.  It was very hard to find any in between orders.  I would get as many as I could afford as soon as anybody had them in stock (they’re pricy when you can find them), then couldn’t get more for weeks to months at a time.

Someone (I don’t remember who) posted that they got in a bunch when they worked at an LFS and they did well, but I could never get anybody local to order them for me except the guy that handed me a bag of dying fish.  They were literally going sideways in the bag over the course of 3-4 minutes as we spoke about what to do about them.  He didn’t charge me for them, none survived past an hour.

I would LOVE to see if you can get a group established as I had zero good luck with them and believe me, I tried very hard!  If you have good luck and yours do well, PLEASE post up your water parameters and how you did it.