Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Water Type
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 303 species
Vaillantella maassi
This is one of those weird, awesome loaches with a long sail-like dorsal fin and a deeply forked tail that looks way too fast for a bottom fish. It comes from dark, tannin-stained blackwater streams and tends to be shy by day but more active once the lights are low. Keep the lid tight because they can be serious escape artists when they get the loach wanderlust.
Pseudomugil furcatus
Pseudomugil furcatus is one of those little fish that never sits still-in a good way. When you keep a proper group, the males do these harmless fin-flaring "showdowns" and the forked tail + blue eyes really pop, especially in a planted tank with some open swimming room. It's a peaceful, small schooling fish from Papua New Guinea rainforest streams, and it's an easy way to add constant movement to a tank.
Pterophyllum scalare
Pterophyllum scalare is that classic tall, triangle-shaped cichlid that just glides around like it owns the midwater. Give it some vertical space, plants/wood to weave through, and it'll reward you with tons of personality-especially once a pair forms and starts guarding a spawn site.
Wallago attu
Wallago attu is one of those true monster sheatfish - a long, compressed catfish with a ridiculously huge, deeply cleft mouth that makes it an absolute vacuum cleaner for anything it can catch. In the wild it hangs around deep, slower water over mud or silt and spends a lot of time tucked into holes and cover. In aquariums its main care requirement is simple but brutal: space (think indoor pond), because it gets enormous and anything smaller than it is food.
Gobio fushunensis
Gobio fushunensis is a little bottom-hugging gudgeon from China that spends its time nosing around the substrate for tiny foods. FishBase lists it topping out around 5.6 cm standard length, so think of it as a small, subtle stream fish rather than a flashy centerpiece.
Yunnanilus ganheensis
This is a tiny little stone loach from a single area in Yunnan, China (Ganhe, Xundian County). Its description mentions a neat pattern of square-ish dark spots along the sides, and like most small nemacheilid loaches it is basically a bottom-hugging, cover-loving micro-predator that will spend its time picking around the substrate and crevices.
Fundulopanchax gardneri
Gardneri are those little West African killies that look like someone painted neon speckles and flag-fins onto a 2-inch fish. The males will posture and flare at each other but its more drama than damage, and they will absolutely reward you with constant spawning if you give them mops or fine plants. Biggest things to know: keep a tight lid (they jump) and do not cook them warm - they do best in the low-to-mid 20s C.
Auchenoglanis occidentalis
This is the classic giraffe catfish - a big, chill African bottom-cruiser with that cool giraffe-like blotchy pattern. It spends a lot of time nosing around the substrate for food and gets way too large for most "monster fish" setups people try to cram it into. If you can actually give it the tank footprint and filtration it deserves, its a super fun, laid-back giant.
Labeobarbus girardi
Labeobarbus girardi is a medium-sized African river barb from Angola that tops out around 30 cm. Its natural home is the Lucalla River in the Cuanza (Kwanza) basin, so think oxygen-rich flowing water and lots of swimming room - its biggest issue in aquariums is that it simply gets too large and too active for most typical setups.
Yirrkala gjellerupi
This is a tiny little freshwater snake eel (worm eel family) that lives a pretty un-eel-like life, turning up in streams well away from the sea. It is one of those obscure oddballs you will mostly see in scientific papers rather than aquarium shops, and that rarity is honestly part of what makes it so interesting.
Kiunga ballochi
This is a tiny little PNG blue-eye with a mostly see-through body and subtle yellow-and-black fin markings that look really slick when a group is sparring and flashing. In the wild its range is extremely small (Upper Fly River system near Kiunga/Tabubil), so its basically a conservation fish as much as an aquarium fish. If you ever run into them, think calm, planted, clean-water setup and a decent-sized group so they feel secure.
Kryptopterus vitreolus
This is the truly transparent "glass" catfish from Thailand - you can literally see the spine and organs when its happy and settled in. The big trick is keeping them in a proper group and giving them calmer, dimmer conditions; once they feel secure, they cruise around together and look unreal in the water column.