Most Interactive Fish for a 55 Gallon Tank

[Carter020108]

Avocado puffers, can be kept in groups very interactive and intelligent great feedings and are aggressive.
Or the South American puffer is mostly peaceful and most of the time you can keep them in community’s with other peaceful fish

Or if you want a replacement for your parrots get a red crystal parrot

 

[Kolton13]

why not a small group of exodons? they have decent personality(but arent know for it) but the feeding is AWESOME

 

[Backfromthedead]

Blue acara is a very interactive, personable medium sized cichlid that will live in a 55 for life. There are many options for tankmates with blue acaras, and you could even keep a pair or a harem comfortably.

For the central americans, any type of convict will grow to be an impressive, personable fish for a 55 gallon. Some are really pretty, Sajica are one of my favorite varieties.

I believe a salvini cichlid would work out well too, though they can be very aggro and are not good with tankmates.

Almost any cichlid that doesnt get over 7-8" could potentially be a good choice. As far as how personable and interactive they are, It seems to depend on the individual fish. But i find cichlids to generally have more personality than most other kinds of fish.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

I’ll second the puffer. If you want try natives, I have a Warmouth and he’s very personable and has an appetite that puts Oscars to shame. Here’s a vid of mine. I’ve kept other sunfish and they were all very interactive. If you decide to go that route, I can tell you where to get cb natives

Btw it might just be me seeing it wrong, but does your warmouth here have a deformed top jaw? If so he is doing pretty well despite it. Also where did ya get it? I never seem to find any in SD here and have never seen anybody catch one for as far as I know either. Personally I'm looking to get some orange spotted sunfish but I can't find them for sale anywhere online.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Blue acara is a very interactive, personable medium sized cichlid that will live in a 55 for life. There are many options for tankmates with blue acaras, and you could even keep a pair or a harem comfortably.

For the central americans, any type of convict will grow to be an impressive, personable fish for a 55 gallon. Some are really pretty, Sajica are one of my favorite varieties.
I believe a salvini cichlid would work out well too, though they can be very aggro and are not good with tankmates.

Almost any cichlid that doesnt get over 7-8" could potentially be a good choice. As far as how personable and interactive they are, It seems to depend on the individual fish. But i find cichlids to generally have more personality than most other kinds of fish.

I would agree with the blue acaras being perfect for a 55. Just be careful of what tank mates ya put in, they can be aggressive towards other bottom dwelling fish such as catfish and plecos, especially during breeding. Usually nothing more then just chasing said fish off of their turf and letting them know who is boss.

 

[Gourami Swami]

If you want the "glass banging" big cichlid attitude, get a short body flowerhorn. There are plenty of other smaller cichlids which have been mentioned which are cool as well and will have some personality. But most probably won't be as outgoing as the shortbody FH.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Funny coincidence, I added a 2.5” bala to my tank with 3.5” warmouth a few hrs ago just to grow the bala out a little and here was the result . ?

View attachment 1404346

View attachment 1404347

Lol just remember the rule of thumb for fishing. A fish will eat something upto 2/3rds it own length. Lol I had the same thing happen with my green sunfish I used to have. He was only 3 inches and would eat 2 inch balas. Didn't know why the balas kept disappearing untill I found the sunfish one day with a tail sticking out of his mouth.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Btw it might just be me seeing it wrong, but does your warmouth here have a deformed top jaw? If so he is doing pretty well despite it. Also where did ya get it? I never seem to find any in SD here and have never seen anybody catch one for as far as I know either. Personally I'm looking to get some orange spotted sunfish but I can't find them for sale anywhere online.

I was wondering that too, I’ve always thought his mouth looks kinda weird, but this is the first warmouth I’ve kept. If it’s a deformity, it hasn’t slowed him down, he’s a glutton.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Btw it might just be me seeing it wrong, but does your warmouth here have a deformed top jaw? If so he is doing pretty well despite it. Also where did ya get it? I never seem to find any in SD here and have never seen anybody catch one for as far as I know either. Personally I'm looking to get some orange spotted sunfish but I can't find them for sale anywhere online.

I bought this guy from sachs aquaculture, you can also try Jonahs aquarium, I’ve seen some on eBay and try Zimmermans natives

 

[Magnus_Bane]

I bought this guy from sachs aquaculture, you can also try Jonahs aquarium, I’ve seen some on eBay and try Zimmermans natives

I'll have to take a look on there then. Thanks for the info. And yeah as far as I can see he does have a slight deformity, nothing major. And atleast he doesn't show any signs of it getting in his way which is good. He looks nice, happy and healthy from what I can see.