Aquatic Species with the Best Personality?

[Cinnebuns]

If looks were not a factor at all, what would you vote for aquatic species with the best personality and why?  FIGHT FOR YOUR FAVORITE!

 

Edit:  I mainly mean that can be adequately kept in an aquarium in a home but if the wind moves you to go further then I'm not gonna stop ya!

Edited December 24, 2021 by Cinnebuns

[Guppysnail]

I have so many I would feel disloyal to any I don’t choose. Each has its own uniqueness!  Mom n Dad BN pleco are so loving to one another and are puppies that beg for food in their food dishes. Guppies are just so fun and friendly. They swim in my hands while doing maintenance and peck at me and are totally fearless. My panda corydora are the class clowns that make me giggle like a little girl. My Pygmy corydora are so zoomie and my celestial pearl danios are a soap opera in a tank and always rush front and center at meals and their tiny mouths nom nomming each little bite. I would go to the mat to fight for each of them. My shrimp are tiny terrorists and can hold their own they don’t need me to fight for them 🤣….oh and my mystery snails hold a very special place in my heart they are so inquisitive and graceful 🥰

Edited December 24, 2021 by Guppysnail

[Cinnebuns]

@Guppysnail interesting 2 of what you listed are what I'm deciding between for my next stocking. Panda and pygmy cories. With not much personality info I went purely by looks with pygmy but now I'm considering changing that!  Although zoomie sounds kinda fun too. Hmm...

[Colu]

Oscars have a lot of personality I had one years ago he followed me every time I walked past the tank let me hand feed him he was very friendly use to beg for food like a puppy

[Guppysnail]

On 12/23/2021 at 10:48 PM, Cinnebuns said:

@Guppysnail interesting 2 of what you listed are what I'm deciding between for my next stocking. Panda and pygmy cories. With not much personality info I went purely by looks with pygmy but now I'm considering changing that!  Although zoomie sounds kinda fun too. Hmm...

Go with pandas if you go corydora. Pygmy are skittish and it’s a lot of work to get them to not hide. I changed light setup and they went nocturnal.  I never see them now so I’m working on reversing it but it’s very slow. Pandas are very hardy and so not shy or skittish. They steal food from my snails and eat shoving guppies out of the way. 

Check out @Beardedbillygoat1975 panda appreciation society thread. There is just nothing not to love about them 

[Chris]

Panda Corys are super nice. Probably my favorite of the common species.

My flowerhorn has quite the personality - he'll follow my hand around the glass and will jump and splash for food. He's also very easily startled - it's kind of funny to see a 5" chonker of a fish dart away at the slightest sound.

But my puffers probably have to win it, for the sheer variety of personalities between individuals. My current Green Spotted Puffer is a food machine. Not scared of anything, constantly hunting, and just generally bringing chaos to whatever part of the tank it chooses to float over to. Meanwhile, my Figure 8 Puffer is super timid and sweet - he's more likely to slowly approach food, study it, and take a small bite before thoughtfully considering the flavors and textures, before finally taking a second bite. My dwarf puffer is 1" of fury - I've never seen such an attitude.

[gardenman]

Of the fish I've kept, Oscars and Midas Cichlids would top my list. My old Midas Cichlid "Sunny" was a great fish. The tank he was in had a cover that left a couple of inches at either end of the tank uncovered and if you didn't give him attention as you walked by, he'd splash you. He'd watch for the cats and splash them as they went by. You could almost see him laughing as they'd take off running. Forget decorating the tank. He'd rearrange it how he wanted it. I'd put the plastic golf balls in for him to play with and he had weighted artificial plants that he'd shuffle around to suit his mood. He'd decide to move all the gravel to one side of the tank, then move it back to the other side for no real reason. He'd rub against your hand if it was in the tank. If you just put a finger in he'd give it a nibble. He'd wrestle you for the algae scraper. I had one with a sponge on the end and he'd grab the sponge part and get in a tug of war with you over it as you tried to clean the algae. He was a neat fish. 

[CalmedByFish]

I haven't had a puppy type of fish, as are often mentioned. But I love the bad attitude of my angel. He sucks snails off the tank walls, just to spit them out. If I put my face to the wall, he tries to bite me, repeatedly running his lips into the wall. If I'm holding the container of his favorite food, and he doesn't see more on the surface, he darts to come stare at the container. He chases platies like a missile, but never bothers to catch. He's very "get off my lawn," and in a fish, that's hilarious.

 

On 12/24/2021 at 7:48 AM, gardenman said:

 He'd watch for the cats and splash them as they went by. You could almost see him laughing as they'd take off running. 

I so want to see this! 🤣 That might be the best thing I hear all day.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

Wow.. this is a tough one! Okay.. here we go.. Panda's are my favorite of my cory gang.. zip around, playing with on another, and the babies play with the pygmy which are my # 2 choice. The pearl danio's are a total trip. They will go through intermittent zoomies, then huddle together.. and start all over again. I have even caught them mirroring the panda cory's swimming patterns.. hilarious. 

BUT.. my pea puffer Gazoo just can't be beat! I love his personality. up front and center all the time, curious and just down right CUTE! 

[StevesFishTanks]

Flowerhorn for me

[Lifeisgood]

I have to put a vote in for Panda Garras. They do synchronized glass cleaning maneuvers they are never mean and they are so chummy with each other and always make us laugh.  
They can be very fast—their suction and propulsion is strong enough to scoot out of the water going upstream so you have to block avenues of escape especially near where the water comes out of HOB filters.  (Sadly lost one this way.). But after having these guys, I hope to always be able to keep them in at least one of my tanks.

[CorydorasEthan]

Peppered Cories!

Need I say more?

[TheBlueBeetle]

I’m gonna nominate, what has become my favorite fish in my 125 planted, the keyhole cichlid. I love cichlid personality, but as we know, the family  as a whole has an iffy reputation when it comes to 1.community, and 2. Planted, tanks. I have two keyholes thriving in a planted community tank. Their tankmates are lots of different tetras, angels, kribs, corys, BN  pleco, and gouramis. The keyholes are completely peaceful, no chasing or fin nipping, no bothering plants, and they stay visible, they seem to only have the desirable cichlid traits. It was a fluke that my local big box had some this past spring. Wish I had more.

Edited December 31, 2021 by TheBlueBeetle

[LarryTAngler]

Ok, this is my first post in this forum. My vote is gonna be for Angel fish. Angels are probably one of the most cliché fish in the aquarium hobby and they happen to be my favorite. I have three angels. 1 Black Angel, 1 Koi Angel, and an Altum Angel. All of my Angels get along very well. What I like most about mine is they just know when im in the room. My Angels are always so excited to see me (even tho its probably just food drive lol) An Angels grace is unmatched IMO. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I describe friends like a toolbox, not every friend can be a hammer- some are rulers, some are nails- everyone has a purpose. 

This is kind of how I feel about my fish friends. My "favorites" change daily but really they are in constant rotation of each other. There is no way I could choose. And Iike so many of the fish others keep here- I love to live vicariously through those who keep fish I can't have. 🙂 

[Jennifer V]

I adore my pea puffers! I have four, each with his or her own personality. They're my first fish as an adult, so I could be biased, but I enjoy them more and more every day. 🐡

[Flumpweesel]

On 12/30/2021 at 2:09 PM, CorydorasEthan said:

Peppered Cories!

Need I say more?

Well I can, my big momma peppered cory begs for food and sits in the notice me corner if she feels I'm not being attentive enough.  The also seem to break up any random aggression outbreaks in the tank by "dropping in"  and take no guff from anyone.   

[Deku-Corydoras]

I'm of course a big fan of Cories, and I agree with others that Peppered Cories have especially delightful personalities. It seems like they're always doing something goofy!

I also have fallen a bit for Siamese Algae Eaters. I love how they lay on different surfaces to rest, and how they come up to the glass to beg for food when they know it's feeding time. Their little itty bitty whiskers and big brown eyes are endearing in the same sort of way Cories are. 

But if we're talking about the all-time winners of the water puppy competition, puffers are undoubtedly the champions. We all obviously know Murphy, and although I live across the country from the Co-Op, I do get to delight in my own local puffer. My LFS has a Fahaka Puffer named Sean, and I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible to visit the store and not say hello to him. His tank sits right next to the register so he gets to see all the people coming and going, and he's equally excited by each and every one. 

[ACW]

While I'm a huge fan of panda garras, my favorite has to be my yoyo loaches. Constantly inquisitive and afraid of nothing, right up until they all get startled at once and try to jam into the smallest space they can find. 

[Lifeisgood]

On 12/31/2021 at 11:59 AM, ACW said:

While I'm a huge fan of panda garras, my favorite has to be my yoyo loaches. Constantly inquisitive and afraid of nothing, right up until they all get startled at once and try to jam into the smallest space they can find. 

And obviously your cat agrees with you—but probably for different reasons!😂

[Tanked]

I haven't kept many different species so my choices are limited.  #2 on my list are Siamese Algae Eaters.  Like the Corydoras, they are just fun to watch.  #1 remains the Red Tail Tinfoil Barb.  In the right light it is easy to see how they got their name.  They are big enough to be able to watch and identify from two rooms away.  They will meet you when you enter the room and do everything as a very tight group. After feeding they will graze for scraps, swimming vertically,  tail up like sheep in a field.  The only downside that I see: they are ravenous plant eaters, and as I discovered recently, they don't want Silver Dollars in their aquarium.

[Guppy Guy]

I’m nominating my trio of angelfish. They’re always playfully fighting until I walk in the room. Then they get all nice. Also, they ignore anyone and everyone unless it is me, or someone has a yellow sera can in their hand. I swear they can tell the difference from a regular can and a food can!

Edited January 3, 2022 by Guppy Guy

[WhitecloudDynasty]

Goldfish have the best personality in my opinion 

[Cinnebuns]

On 1/3/2022 at 10:24 AM, WhitecloudDynasty said:

Goldfish have the best personality in my opinion 

You people need to stop tempting me to get goldfish!  Lol. They are such beautiful animals with great personalities but I can't have them now but I SO WANT THEM!!

[WhitecloudDynasty]

On 1/3/2022 at 2:56 PM, Cinnebuns said:

You people need to stop tempting me to get goldfish!  Lol. They are such beautiful animals with great personalities but I can't have them now but I SO WANT THEM!!

I'm trying to work with bristle shubunkin this year.