Aquarium Fish Owners ???

[Grandpa Frank]

Do you notice if your fish seem to have personalities?
I felt sorry for a Simese Fighting fish in a stupid little
cup of dirty water at the pet store. I bought him home
and gave him a 12 Gal. home to himself.I put a mirror on the back of the tank and it struts it's stuff in front of the mirror several hours a day.Every morning for at least 10 minutes, it plays hide & seek with my cat. When I hold a magnifying glass up to the aquarium to examine him, he zooms in close to look back. I never thought of a fish having a personality, but this one seems to?
Any of you have a fish that seems "DIFFERENT" ??

Frank

 

[thereisnospoon]

I have 3 tanks, the largest one is 6ft. Some of the fish are definately more friendly in that they will take food from my hand, whereas others are very shy and will only come out when all the lights are off.

 

[lexico]

Fish, crustaceans, and moluscs

I've had fish several times in my life. Tropical freshwater, tropical saltwater, plain goldfish, shrimp, abalone, and snails. Right now I have one goldfish and about 30 water snails. They ALL seem to have personalities. It's strange I don't remember noticing any personality in fish when I was young. But then again, I didn't have one either. Had no reference, so to speak. The other goldfish I used to have was a real fine and honorable one. He had true character; very admirable. He would not pick on the smaller ones, and was very gentle and wise in every way. I saw true leadership in this one that we lovingly we called "Boss."

Anyway, after spending some time with these water creatures, I almost feel that we are communicating in some way. I think they like me as much as I do them. So I absolutely agree with you in your observation. Fish, crustaceans, and moluscs are intelligent beings, far more than one would normally think.

 

[earthangel]

So therefore they most likely want to live just like us and don't want the smallest suffering. A good reason to be vegan I'd say! It's only our denial that an animal has feelings that makes us able to kill or eat them without a second thought.

If you could imagine that you were every living thing - which is an interesting Buddhist view called Samadhi - you would not be able to kill even an insect, or if you did by accident you would feel that beings' pain as if it were yours.

Thanks for sharing, Frank.

 

[janimagee]

oh yeah, fish are cool. My son has an aquarium with a betta. He sits and watches and keeps tabs on his fish. I always felt that fish were unique. Especially after Nemo which did such a fine job representing fish and their lives...great observation Frank!!!

 

[RockLee]

We have a moonfish, and the little fella always follows my face when I put my mug in front of the tank, maybe he likes me ?

 

[hideway]

Most species have personality, not just fish.
We are just too used to think animals as instinct machines to notice it.

 

[Sarapva]

I have a fish, named Crusty, who's a plecostamus (pleco) - an algae eating, ground dwelling suckermouth catfish. I've had him for 6 years now, and he has as much personality as any human. He loves music, likes to be petted, and watches me at the computer. He's smart - fish like to have routines and be fed at the same times every day. Crusty has observed me cleaning the tank and the aquarium filters, and sometimes he anticipates my next move, going to the part of the tank where I normally do the next thing (sometimes reminding me what I need to do next!).

I feed him a vegetable mix food every evening, made with agar agar - he loves this. Sometimes while he's eating it, it starts to slip underneath him so he has to back up to keep eating it. He's learned to lift himself up slightly while backing up so he doesn't drag it further back with his body!

Crusty is the only fish I've known this well, but if he represents all the fish population, fish are definitely smart beings with their own personalities.

 

[Goldiegirl]

I have 3 betta fish because I too felt sorry for them. They all have their own personality (fishnality?!). One is really friendly and he likes it when you stick your finger in the water. The other two fish are more timid and hide, even when I feed them. The friendly one (Mr.Fish is his name) comes to the top of his aquarium and will take food off your finger. Mr. Fish also has a buddy with him, an aquatic frog. We tried moving the frog into one of the other fish's aquarium and I swear he became depressed. We moved the frog back and everyone is happy. ( I think!)

 

[happy gaijin]

Hello, I know this post is very late because the main topic is from 2004. However, mirrors are not good to put in with bettas for the fact that they will become stressed from flaring alot. ^^; Just thought i'd post this.