Livebearing fish are my focus right now.  Aquarists sometimes think of them as not a challenge but I find them to be very interesting fish.  Lots of livebearing fish are native to North America and the Caribbean.  A good number of them are also either endangered or extinct in the wild.  I do my part in breeding and passing on these fish to make sure they do not become extinct from our planet.

Lots of fish nerds tend to keep African cichlids from the rift lakes due to their brillant colors.  I have kept a few species but I have mostly worked with those outside of the rift lakes.  The jewel cichlids from the rivers and streams are usually brightly colored and fun to work with.  Kribensis cichlids are another easy to keep fish that even seem to work well in community settings.

Invertebrates constitute a large number of aquatic life.  Shrimps, crayfish, snails, and clams are just a few that I happen to keep.  I started with snails (not pond snails!) and then obtained from red cherry shrimp from a friend.  Invertebrates are great for a smaller tank or a nano tank and are easy to keep.

The majority of members of the Atlanta Area Aquarium Society (the local fish club) breed and raise new world cichlids; particularly angelfish and apistogramma.  Most new world cichlids come from some tributary of the Amazon River in S. America.  I have kept some dwarf cichlids and may get back into it at some point.