What is a good wet pet?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Lyonsi is like Trimac lite, all the beauty half the aggression. They are great fish you don't see every day.
 
I know you said you don't like Oscars or Midevils, but I would maybe try to find one/a variety you like. Check out Crassipinnis Oscars, I love mine! Gold are also very cool, but certain tiger ones can be sweet as well. I am also partial to the wild caught O pattern. I don't like how most Midevils look either, but I was able to find a specific one I really liked how he looked, and now he is one of my favorite fish. Also, not a wet pet, but a group of Uaru would be cool. They are very owner responsive. Those are my top choices for cichlids. (I do also have a jag, Pearsei, hogaboomorum, vieja, Carpintus, Polleni etc. which all are nice in their own way, but the three I listed are my faves.)

If you are not totally set on a cichlid, my silver datnoid rivals my cichlids in personality, as do my Rock bass and Green sunfish.
 
I love Vieja the most of all fish, but for a Wet Pet, hands down, the thing to get is an Umbee, or an Amphilophus. Vieja are cool, they get big and mean, and they are somewhat responsive, but nothing like an Amph. But if you're good with a 225, or a 300 gallon tank.....dude....just get an Umbee. Seriously, go look at some videos on youtube of umbee's, look at Guapote Mel's videos of his. search for gorillus black umbee. Or you could do a 125 or 225 and a breeding pair of Chancho's. Amph or Umbee is what you want for a Wet Pet.
 
You have had some really good suggestions here for wet pets. you could easily set up a 75g - 125g and have an amph, flowerhorn, parachromis or nandopsis species.
or you could set up a huge aquarium and get a big beast of an umbee or dovii.

do you want a giant aquarium with a huge fish? or are you content with a foot long aggressive interactive pet?
Mayan cichlids don`t get nearly enough love. I have kept true red terror ( a big male) and a mayan. hands down the mayan was more interactive and had really nice subtle coloring. Still more attractive looking than a barred midas. I know there are devoted people out there who love the barred look on midas, but to me they are just big grey convicts. I would prefer the colored version but thats just my preference.

What do you prefer? because you have a lot of really good suggestions here. I recommend you go to youtube and see how the fish behave in an aquarium setting.
 
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