Pet fish (aka "wet pet")!!!

[Miles]

Get yourself a Buttikoferi! They are the BEST single specimen fish for tanks 55-90g IMO!! (No ugly nachul humps, beautiful colors, aggressive, territorial, personality driven, hardier and less ugly..)

I am also a fan of Green Terrors and Jaguar Cichlids for single specimens.

 

[jppchongo]

Im pretty sure that a midas will be fine

 

[_erik_]

OK, thanks for all the answers! What is the most intelligent cichlid? Has anybody kept a red terror as a petfish?

 

[DeLgAdO]

OK, thanks for all the answers! What is the most intelligent cichlid? Has anybody kept a red terror as a petfish?

id say the oscar takes the cake on that

 

[DeLgAdO]

A pair?!?!

lol , cool that you think that would work If you would write that in an swedish forum, the members would cut you into teeny weeny pieces and feed to their fish!
But swedish cichlid keepers are really fixated at tank sizes...

LOL!!!!!

 

[DanDanUK]

What cichlid could I keep in a 58 gallon (44x18x18 inches) tank? I just want to keep a single specimen as a pet. What do you think is OK to keep in my tank without being mean to the fish? Is a midas to big? lets hear your opinions!

You could keep an adult Oscar fish ! there great fish too like dog's ! they will eat out of your hand and let you pet them !

 

[rust9000]

^
l I agree with dandanUk go with an oscar for a pet, or even a GT, your choice.
l GT, GT, GT
l
l

 

[shekes]

Oscars are relatively dumb fish. They will bite your finger when yoou feed them. What they are really good at, is pretending. They will play dead until smaller fish approach and eat them. That is difficult to observe in captivity though. People who say that Oscars are most intelligent just never kept any smarter fish.
My pike (Crenicichla Semifasciata) will let me pet his head but if he does not know you, you better keep your hands out of the tank. He does not chase fish around the tank, but if anybody bothers him, he will teach them a lesson, myself included. I put a 10" Oscar in his tank once. The pike showed no interest. But when the Oscar attacked him, the pike instantly bit Oscar's pectoral fin off at the root. I had to safe the poor pale Oscar. Oscars are whimps., dumb and slow.
Guppy's pike used a rock to break the tank.
You seen Oscar using tools?

 

[_erik_]

WOW! cool! well, then I guess I'm getting me a pike! Which species is the smartest?

 

[shekes]

I don't know. Intelligence is a term very difficult to define. Some are better at math but others are more perceptive emotionally. Perhaps plecos are the wisest actually just sucking on their lettuce in peace and quiet.
Guppy said he saw a carp playing poker at his LFS. Considering that they live to 300 years it does not seem that odd. I mean: they need to kill some time.

I have two Crenicichla Semifasciata aka Batarachops Semifasciatus, from the frog-pike family, and a Cabeza Amarga, which, I think is a C. Vittata.

The Semifasciata male is my favorite fish (from over 40 species in 13 tanks). There are pics of them in my personal gallery and somewhere on the pike forum but they don't really show what these fish are like. The male is actually blue and has this most amazing shape, kinda like a puffer but with protruding, independently moving eyes like a chameleon. He is less than 10" but can almost fit my fist in his mouth.

The Vittata is an excellent hunter. She swallows any convict within seconds after the guy is transfered on death row.

The most beautiful pike cichlid is the C. Regani IMHO.

There is a thread with links to pike-info on the pike forum and if you have questions, ask PeanutPower. This guy is a pike fanatic and will be happy to make you a believer.