Most Intelligent fish - your opinons

[jimw13uk]

Not sure - I have a RTBS in with my cichlids and he is no problem at all with them and i have Bricchardi and Calvus (theyre only tiny at the mo).
I have only heard good things about RTBS and as soon as I got rid of my other RTBS mine main one was fine (An lfs advised me to have a pair - what a flippin mistake that was - nightmare together)
I would post the question in the cichlid forum as someone may have a better answer for you as I can only asy i've never had problems with mine in with cichlids

 

[Ferris]

Hi leongreenway,

Ferris mate,

how does your Red Tailed Black shark get on in the 20 GAL.

I really want one but have varied views on tank size./

Ideally I want 2 firemouths or Calvus and a RTBs

He does fine with current tankmates, 20 gal is the min for a fish this size but that said, I also have a full grown gourami and 3 full grown hoplo catfish in there. I do regular water changes and have never had a problem.

A firemouth will not work with the RTBS though, believe me I tried it. Put in a medium sized firemouth and him and the RTBS just went at it non stop. Had to take the FM back.

RTBS are always a risk due to their aggression, mine chases the tetra's occasionally but nothing drastic. No good with any other shark species or anything shaped similar to them either and definately no more than 1 per tank.

Hope this helps

EDIT: By the way, my RTBS is full grown

 

[jimw13uk]

See each person has differing experiences and views - I have had a RTBS in with my firemouth for a year now and they never even bother with each other - not once have I ever seen a problem.

Fish keeping is a funny old hobby cos what works for one person doesnt for another.

 

[Ferris]

Not sure - I have a RTBS in with my cichlids and he is no problem at all with them and i have Bricchardi and Calvus (theyre only tiny at the mo).

jimw13uk - i started reading the above and immediately thought Mbuna when you mentioned Cichlids, i nearly fell out of my chair Can't imagine my RTBS in with my Mbuna, that would be a sight

 

[Ferris]

jimw13uk - just seen your next post and I'm jealous re the RTBS with the FM, I had a nightmare. I really want to keep FM's so i'm going to have to squeeze another tank in the lounge.

 

[leongreenway]

Cheers guys, I am gonna get a Red tail Black shark now. I am in another fish forum and they got right snotty when i suggested A RTBS in a 20 Gal

 

[Ferris]

People do, if your prepared to keep up the water changes, you'll be fine.

Besides 20 gal is not a small tank. Its always worth stating that its 20 gal UK as 20 gal US is a fair bit smaller.

 

[leongreenway]

Ah,

maybe thats it, its the USA that seem to have a problem with this.

How many water changes do ya recommend?

 

[ingo_1978]

I think puffer fish are very intelligent, they definatley seem to regonise you at the front of the glass and have a lot of character.

 

[Ferris]

25-30% once a week, nothing more than that. You need to keep them up though although you'll be ok leaving it for a fortnight once in a while if you're on hols etc.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Most intelligent fish I have had are angels, and a red devil cichlid. Both can tell the difference between me and someone they've never seen before. I could also feed both from my hand by holding a little piece of food on the surface.
The dumbest fish I have ever had are iredecsent sharks. They are so dumb words cannot even describe how dumb they are. Even the slightest movement near the tank sends them into catatonic shock. They swim around so frantically that you can hear them bouncing of the glass and they get little lumps on thier poor lil noses from it. Even if one of them acidentally swims into another one they freak out.

 

[silvershark]

Well I have the same Angel behaviour - very wierd.
My Firemouth is pretty intelligent - he comes to the front of the tank when i drop the food in but as soon as the free for all starts at the front he swims to the one corner and collects all the food that is swept there by the flow from the filter outlet - he's on his own eating as much as he wants.

since using daphnia and bloodworm thats what my bala shark does!!

 

[bobwumba]

speaking of intelligent, yesterday i fed my crayfish a shrimp pellet and i have a few larger tinfoil barbs in the tank. He spat out the shrimp pellet into little pieces knowing that the barbs would come over and try to eat it and then he attacked them. Crayfish setting traps. has anything like this happened to you?

 

[a1wonder]

I think puffer fish are very intelligent, they definatley seem to regonise you at the front of the glass and have a lot of character.

I also agree my puffer would most likely do better than the average public school taught adult on an iq test. Thanks god they are limited to water or you just might see one running for office someday.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Im going to say the most intellegent fish ive ever owened is the blackshark. They to me seem very intellgent because they get what ever food they want, when they want it. They pick a territory and protect all the time knowing that they will get most if not all food there. They can leave the territory when they please and go back when they please. They seem to do so all the time. They know exactly what fish they can bully and which ones not too. They know how to dominate a tank easily. Everything they do seems more intelligent then my others. For example oscars seem pretty dumb other than memory, everytime they see food they eat it hungry or not. Is that intelligent? I dont think so.

However the dumbest fish i hav ever owned is deffinately the bala shark. When it comes to food they get what they can but it goes unnotiuced most of the time. They just kind of remind me of a human in a constant day dream. And when something moves they suddenly snap back to reality and just bug out and go crazy hitting the glass and hood of the tank. I think their just plain stupid lol.