Favorite "Big-ish" Wet Pets

[Brandy]

1 minute ago, Fonske said:

I half-own a blood parrot and she definitely fits that description. Always inquisitive and happy to see humans, very un-fussy, very happy alone (in fact, she insists on that), and very pretty. 

I also have a big fancy goldfish and although it is beautiful and solitary, it is also dumb as a brick and pays zero attention to humans.  I prefer the parrot, even when she tries to taste my hands 🙂 

Thank you, that is the main question I had. I have seen personable Koi... But I kinda want the brains and the beauty. 

[Brandy]

5 hours ago, H.K.Luterman said:

I've never kept these, but your topic reminded me of Primetime Aquatics recent video on their favorite "personality" fish, and mentioned Midas Cichlids being like water dogs. Here's the video, started at that part.

Nice one! I think you have a pretty fabulous wet pet in Pooka. If I got a really big tank I could have a pooka (feather fin squeaker) and a cichlid. 

[Fonske]

5 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Thank you, that is the main question I had. I have seen personable Koi... But I kinda want the brains and the beauty. 

I'm sure there is a spectrum of behaviors, there must be some goldfish that are smart and friendly. My comet, before it went completely blind, was quite interactive and showy. But I would guess cichlids are a better bet for a wet puppy. 

[H.K.Luterman]

4 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Nice one! I think you have a pretty fabulous wet pet in Pooka. If I got a really big tank I could have a pooka (feather fin squeaker) and a cichlid. 

I'm all about the Featherfins. If you keep them on lighter substrate they'll be a bit more contrasty with their spots than Pooka is. Not colorful, but very cool looking in my opinion. 

[Streetwise]

My most personable aquatic pet was a marine puffer that I adopted in college. I could pet it, hand-feed it, and get it to squirt water to knock freeze-dried shrimp out of my fingertips.

[FrozenFins]

3 minutes ago, Streetwise said:

My most personable aquatic pet was a marine puffer that I adopted in college. I could pet it, hand-feed it, and get it to squirt water to knock freeze-dried shrimp out of my fingertips.

what kind of puffer?

[Streetwise]

I think it was a Porcupine Puffer. They look spiky, but they are very soft. This was my first aquatic dog.

[Rana Loca]

My suggestions would be something along the lines of a fancy goldfish or a turtle. If you go the turtle route be sure to do your research though as its not just an aquarium you are keeping at that point. My turtle swims up to the glass everytime he sees me.

[HenryC]

I would suggest either an Oscar or a Green Terror. I got both, and you described them perfectly with your first post. They're always looking at me when I enter the room. Seems they can even hear me unlocking the door lol! By the time I'm inside, they're like big puppies wanting food/interaction.

An albino oscar looks really nice, and the green terror is also extremely colorful and pretty!

For the oscar I would suggest an 80-100g tank, and for the green terror 55-100g, both are perfectly fine alone, the terror even more as they can be very aggressive/territorial. I'm lucky mine loves his little jewel cichlid buddy lol.

My water puppies:

 

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by HenryC

[Brandy]

I was also looking at the green terror--especially since they grow a little slower and stay a little smaller than the Oscar.

[Fish Folk]

Green Terror is a great option. A large tank will be appreciated. Awesome video above from HenryC. Our LFS has a tank with a  Green Terror. It's so personable, they refuse to sell him! 

[HenryC]

20 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

Green Terror is a great option. A large tank will be appreciated. Awesome video above from HenryC. Our LFS has a tank with a  Green Terror. It's so personable, they refuse to sell him! 

For real! I would go ahead and say (with my limited fish knowledge that is) that american cichlids are as close as you can get to a water dog. They're so intelligent and charismatic. It seems to me that my Green Terror even knows the concept of a face/recognizes faces, as soon as I turn to see him he does the same. Can't get more interactive with your fish than that!
 

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by HenryC

[Lemon]

green terrors seem fun 🙂

[GoYankees10]

I love my Red Oscar

[Eddie Maldo]

Oscars are nice but I also had a Jack Dempsey and he had a lot of personality as well.  The cool thing about big fish, especially the cichlids, is once they get big you can feed them all types of foods.  I fed them mealworms, superworms, and even live insects: flies, crickets, etc.  Of course, store-bought because you wouldn't want to give them any old insect you see flying around-lol!

[AdamTill]

I’m a fancy goldfish nut so it’s hard not to recommend them.

Full disclosure - some are about as intelligent as a half opened bag of potato chips.

Others, however, are so much fun that they’re every bit the wet pets you want.

My wife’s favs are side view ranchu. If you get a big show quality (but not exaggerated) fish, they’ll follow you around, beg for food every minute, and hover ominously over your shoulder watching Tv with you (our tank was beside the sofa.

Mine are blue egg phoenix’s. OLD school Chinese breed, very rare in the hobby, but the elegance of a comet with the body size of a fancy, and an epic blue coloration that is very rare to see. Always on the move, and mine spit water at me like an archer when I came to feed them 🙂

We had to destroy all of ours due to a TB infection and it just about broke my heart to do.

[gardenman]

I'd recommend a Midas Cichlid as being big, colorful, and full of personality. My old guy Sunny would watch people and our cats and if anyone (or a cat) walked by the tank and ignored him, he'd splash them. There were openings on either side of the tank cover I was using back then (2004-2012) and he'd watch out for a target. If you were watching him and gave him a finger to chase along the glass, he'd let you pass without a splash, but if you ignored him and walked past, you'd get splashed. He had some plastic golf balls and a few weighted artificial plants to play with as toys. He was constantly redecorating his tank by moving the plants and gravel around to wherever it suited him at the time. The drawback for your criteria is the bump on the head. Oscars are similar in personality, but more prone to sulking. Change something in an Oscar's tank and they may lie on their side and play dead for a while. Sunny never sulked. He was just a very large and personable fish. Here's a photo of him. He lived eight years and was about 14" long when he died. If you can get over the bump on the head, a Midas cichlid would be a good choice. Oscars are right up there also though, just be aware that they're moodier and will sulk on you sometimes.

[JRP3]

Oscar's are absolutely amazing.  I had one for years and he was fine with just a common pleco as his tank mate. He acted more like a dog than a fish. He would eat out of my hand (in fact he was so spoiled that's the only way he would eat), he knew me from other people, and he was tough! He survived early life with me in a college dorm and moved with me several times after graduation. I would definitely go with an Oscar. 

[MAC]

It's by no means a show stopper, but I have an approx 4 inch male convict cichlid in his own 29gallon as a "wet pet." He's always right there at the glass and is alot of fun to interact with in the living room. Really a pretty fish for something as common as it is.  

[dasaltemelosguy]

Oscars, most definitely. I bought mine as a neophyte, not realizing that cute, extremely friendly little 1" fish with huge eyes at Petco would become a FOOT long inside of a year! He's now larger than my chihuahua!

Oscars I find to be bizarrely intelligent for a fish. They watch you and clearly vie for your attention.

Mine gets so excited as I approach the tank, he tries to jump to me and uses his tail to splash water at me if I don't give him attention (the tank is well covered yet he manages to throw some water over the top nonetheless). I often can hear him banging into the lid when he sees me in the room, trying to reach me. He's a huge, black tiger Oscar with bright orange patterns and long, flowing fins. Yet, if you ignore him completely while nearby, he'll turn grey and sink to the bottom and sulk until you play with him. (The first time I witnessed this obvious emotional and intellectual expression, far greater than I thought a fish capable of, I thought he was sick). Tapping on the glass near him, he gets all animated and his color instantly returns and splashes water at you with his tail and follows you around the room as best he can again. He's been this way since he was 3" long. 

He will play with ping pong balls floating on top. Chasing them like a puppy. And clearly enjoys to be fed by hand. He also takes issue with where I place plants or ornaments and I often find them relocated the following day. One weird incident that repeated itself until I finally gave in, He had uprooted a planted anubias 3X and he not only removes it, but places it in an exact spot on the opposite side of the tank. I finally relented and planted it where "he wants it" and it's been fine ever since. I suppose I'd do the same if someone kept moving my furniture! 

Perhaps his most startling display of cognition is he seems to know when it's time to eat vs time to play. If it's near feeding time, he is not playful but does the most remarkable thing. He splashes at me and when I approach, instead of playfully and excitedly approaching, he aligns himself vertically, nose pointing directly UP, almost still. Basically saying; "Hey, where's breakfast!"  

Some cichlids seem to have more personality and intelligence than others. A big Oscar is a very impressive looking fish but a few minutes with them and you realize they are so interactive, so intelligent and so very personable, they become "pets".

And as someone else here said, they DO recognize individuals and sow definite preferences towards some people vs other viewers.

As a display fish, Oscars NEVER hide unless threatened. Others may suggest something different but if you're seeking a huge fish that never hides and is weirdly friendly towards people (not so towards other fish though!), I can think of none more apt than an Oscar. Mine stays out and active all day. 

Oscars swim everywhere but largely occupy the center of the tank whereas arowanas are top dwellers.

Arowanas are striking but you must plan on a huge tank as they can grow to 2' or so. And their aggression can be problematic.

A huge pleco is endearing but not much of a showman!

Discus are slow and dumb and unbelievably gorgeous. But IMO, you must have at least 4 discus or they'll be too shy.

A big Pacu or Uaru also make great, giant display fishes but they won't have the intelligence nor personality of an Oscar. A Pacu is a huge, docile fish that is not that ornate but impresses with sheer size. 

My last endorsement for the Oscar would be that they don't seem to mind being alone at all. Many fish are shy or even hide when alone in a tank-basically an open water danger instinct. An Oscar will ALWAYS be out. I've only seen mine hide when he was smaller than the tankmates. But Oscars grow FAST and he outgrew them in less than 2 months.   

I imagine my experiences with these fishes are not without exception. But I suspect you're likely to get "Oscar" as the most common suggestion for your needs.  

[Brandy]

48 gallon tank acquired (random find on craigslist)!! Exactly fits the space! I am SO excited!

Current plan is black sand and gravel, Val, possibly a red lotus in a easy planter, pile of rocks with Anubias/java fern, 2 sponge filters, and either a green terror, electric blue acara, or similar, depending on what becomes available locally. Debating on buried grid to help keep val in the gravel, and whether there would be enough room for a Synodontis eupterus... Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

Edited December 20, 2020 by Brandy

[Streetwise]

If it will live on the floor, here is an idea: two or three breeder boxes in the tank for more terrestrial plants to live with roots and soil in the tank.

I could also see you doing cool things with hanging lights to cover the plants and the tank.

[Brandy]

It will live there. I plan to at least trail pothos etc in the back, but given the window, I don't want to hang a light as it would block the beloved view of the parking garage.

[MickS77]

I recently saw Electric Blue Acara at my LFS and have been wanting them since. I think that would be a great choice.