What fish has the best personality?
- Thread starter jordanhunt
- Start date
Not a fish but the most personable "wet pet" I have owned was a soft shell turtle. I had it in a tank with pbass, gar, aros and such.
My 12" A. Xiloaensis was pretty personable too.
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My 12" A. Xiloaensis was pretty personable too.
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I'd say probably a triggerfish, but I did have a very interactive oscar as well.
Generally speaking this question favors reef fishes. They are, for the most part, more behaviorally-intelligent* than most freshwater fishes. Cichlids come close, but when compared to things like snappers, groupers, triggers, puffers, etc...it makes them look like they ride the short bus.
*I'm defining this by how much of their brain power is concentrated in the telencephalon and/or cerebellum. That's not to say that other fishes' brains are bad, they're just wired differently. Some mormyrids have a greater brain/body-weight ratio than humans! But the majority is devoted to electroreception and production of electric fields. The human "telencephalon" (referred to as the cerebrum) is comparatively huge, and that's one of the reasons why we're smart and awesome.
Generally speaking this question favors reef fishes. They are, for the most part, more behaviorally-intelligent* than most freshwater fishes. Cichlids come close, but when compared to things like snappers, groupers, triggers, puffers, etc...it makes them look like they ride the short bus.
*I'm defining this by how much of their brain power is concentrated in the telencephalon and/or cerebellum. That's not to say that other fishes' brains are bad, they're just wired differently. Some mormyrids have a greater brain/body-weight ratio than humans! But the majority is devoted to electroreception and production of electric fields. The human "telencephalon" (referred to as the cerebrum) is comparatively huge, and that's one of the reasons why we're smart and awesome.
My vote is for mudskippers. They make great pets if you are willing to set up a tank for their needs. I wouldn't trade mine for anything! He comes out to get misted when I spray the tank down for some extra humidity and will follow the bottle around when I go to other parts of the tank! They can also be trained to take food from your hand and even jump into your hand to get food.
If you really like the dolphin mormyrid though, you could look into smaller species from the same family. Elephantnose fish (Gnathonemus petersii) would still need a decent sized tank, but stay smaller than the species you are referring to if I remember correctly. I can't imagine they wouldn't be just as personable. That whole family of fish are known for their intelligence and interesting behaviors.
If you really like the dolphin mormyrid though, you could look into smaller species from the same family. Elephantnose fish (Gnathonemus petersii) would still need a decent sized tank, but stay smaller than the species you are referring to if I remember correctly. I can't imagine they wouldn't be just as personable. That whole family of fish are known for their intelligence and interesting behaviors.
If I had a huge saltwater tank I'd get a wolf eel, on tv I saw something about the giant pacific octopus and a wild wolf eel swam up and started playing with the diver just like an exited dog :3
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you put a worm up in the air and they will jump up to get it like a puppy. lmb are the true underwater dogs.
I'd say oscars for obvious reasons, giant gourami more so but similar let's me touch him, giant snakeheads will stare at you tryin to work you out , red tail catfish are like puppys. My Midas comes up to the glass to see me in a friendly way. Also I have a texas x flowerhorn that eats out my hand and jumps for prawns!-) I've not kept marine but my friends do inc triggers an I see them a bit souless (sorry, gonna start a marine v fresh debate) such as guppys and neons, but I would really like a leopard grouper!-)
