Fish That Start With F - Page 2 of 2
Browse all aquarium fish species with common names beginning with "F". Each profile includes care requirements, water parameters, tank size recommendations, and compatibility information for freshwater, marine, and brackish species.
Foersch's killifish
Nothobranchius foerschi
Nothobranchius foerschi is an annual killifish from coastal Tanzania that lives in temporary pools, so it is basically built to grow up fast, spawn hard, and not hang around forever. The males are ridiculously colorful and do a lot of little sparring and display posturing, which is half the fun of keeping them in a species tank.
Forktail blue-eye (Forktail rainbowfish)
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.
Fork-tailed loach
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.
Fork-tailed Yunnan loach
Yunnanilus forkicaudalis
This is a tiny Chinese stone loach that sticks close to the bottom and cruises around like a little mouse, poking into sand and between small rocks. Its wild home is pretty localized in Yunnan, so its more of a "cool oddball" than something you will reliably see at every fish shop. Treat it like a small, peaceful stream/edge-of-lake loach and it will reward you with nonstop foraging behavior.
Four-Eyed Fish
Anableps anableps
This is that wild-looking surface cruiser with the "four eyes" - each eye is split so it can watch above and below the water at the same time. It's super active and always patrolling the top, and it really shines in a long tank with room to zoom. Just don't treat it like a regular freshwater fish; it's way happier in brackish water and needs open surface space.
Four-eyed sleeper
Bostrychus sinensis
This is one of those chunky "sit-and-watch" gobies that looks like it's always plotting something-big head, tough little body, and a real ambush-predator vibe. It'll perch on the bottom like a log and then suddenly lunge when food comes by, which is honestly super fun to watch. Just don't expect it to play nice with tiny tankmates-anything that fits in its mouth is basically on the menu.
Fowler's large-toothed conger
Bathyuroconger fowleri
Bathyuroconger fowleri is a deepwater conger eel, the kind of fish that spends its life down on the slope rather than cruising a reef. Think secretive, bottom-oriented, and very much not an aquarium species - it is more of a cool ID-only eel than something you would ever plan a home setup around.
Foxface Rabbitfish
Siganus vulpinus
Siganus vulpinus is that bright yellow "fox-masked" rabbitfish you see cruising around picking at algae all day. It's generally chill with other fish, but it can get a little bossy with similar-shaped grazers-and those dorsal spines are venomous, so nets and hands need to be treated with respect.
Freshwater angelfish
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.
Freshwater shark
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.
Fringe-gill toadfish
Torquigener tuberculiferus
This is a little marine puffer relative that lives down on the bottom in tropical waters. It is the kind of fish that does the classic puffer thing (cute until it decides it is had enough of tankmates), and it is much more of a niche species than a standard saltwater "beginner puffer".
Frogmouth sculpin
Icelinus oculatus
Frogmouth sculpin is a little coldwater, bottom-hugging marine sculpin from the Pacific coast. It spends its time sitting on the substrate and blending in like a living rock, then darts short distances when food shows up. Super cool fish, but it is absolutely not a warm reef tank animal - it really wants chilly, oxygen-rich water and a calm setup.
Fulvopelvis shrimpgoby
Vanderhorstia fulvopelvis
This is a tiny little shrimpgoby from Okinawa (Japan) that lives down on sand and rubble and does the classic prawn-goby thing - hanging at a burrow entrance and relying on a snapping/pistol shrimp roommate for the digging. Its name literally points at a shiny yellow mark on the male's pelvic fin, and the fish itself is patterned with yellow spotting and a clean stripey/barred look.
Fushun gudgeon
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.