Non-aggressive Fish With Character?

[chrismr]

Well, the continual posts on people looking for aggressive fish has prompted me to create this.

Most of the people who want the aggressive fish, say that it is because they have more character.

So, this thread is for people to talk about non-aggressive fish with loads of character, to dispel the myth that fish need to be aggressive to be interesting!

Examples form experience:
False flying fox
Apistogramma cacatuiodes, agassizi (ok, maybe a little territorial)
Keyhole cichlids
laetacara curviceps
checkboard cichlids
Clown loaches
dwarf chain loaches
zebra loaches
pearl gouramis
pelicachromis pulcher (krib)
sparkling pygmy gourami
American flag fish
bristlenose cats
corydoras (pretty much any)
whiptail catfish

Personally, I could not say tetras or livebearers...

 

[bogwood]

I'd agree about any Cory...

 

[morgan]

Hi, if you've got a big enough tank I would say a Common Pleco. They are said to be only aggressive with their own kind. They are very entertaining and I have read that they become quite tame as they get older. Mine isn't yet. Other plecos tend to hide more but I see mine a lot.

 

[juliehainsworth]

I'd say platies have a fair bit of character only problem is is that they breed like rabbits! Also my betta who is in my community tank also has a great personality esp to say he's in with fish that you guys say he shouldnt share a tank with! If he's not flaring at himself at the back of the tank he is prowling the front or even the gravel at feeding times looking for something to hunt down and eat! And finally of course I totally agree about corries having great personallities they are always out and about exploring every nook and crany in my tank and coming to the surface to feed on the freeze dried tubifex!

 

[Ami]

What an excellent idea Chris!

This will help a lot when choosing some more interesting fish for my tank.

To save my needing to investigate (at work and busy so can't ) could you advise if any of those would not be compatible with my FW planted tank of neons, honey gouramis, pygmy corys, cherry barbs and amano shrimp?

PS - stop being mean to tetras - mine are great!

 

[dwarfgourami]

It depends on how you define character. I would say that my guppies and platies certainly have several traits that would be considered character if found in a larger, more expensive fish:

they act as individuals with recognisably different approaches to new situations

they are noticeably curious about their surroundings

they take an interest in the outside world

they eat out of my hand (I often see this listed as a sign of intelligence and personality in oscars)

I do often wonder what makes us attribute character to one fish and not to another. Sometimes I feel (cynically) that with some fishkeepers it is mainly a matter of the fish's market price and the status it confers. I mean, when did you last hear somebody say: "I bought this fish from a specialist breeder, it cost 40 quid and it has no personality whatsoever."?

It seems an axiom of faith that all expensive fish must have a personality that stands in direct correspondence to their price tag. To put it bluntly, we want to get our money's worth.

This may of course be sour grapes on my part, having never owned anything more expensive than angels and kissing gouramis. I do not remember either as having had a vast amount of personality, but have a horrible suspicion that this is mainly because I lacked the knowledge or understanding to see what was actually going on in their behaviour.

But if I were to acquire one of the rarer farlowellas (said to seldom move and never interact with others), I am sure I would fall prey to the same illusion and start reading all sorts of personality traits into its recumbent form.

As it is, I would say that of the fish I have kept

(angels, kissing gouramis, swordtails, platies, guppies, mollies, CAE's, zebra danios, neon tetras, tiger barbs, khuulie loaches, corydoras, Siamese fighting fish and possibly a few other that I cannot now recollect),

it is the livebearers and the corys which I remember as individuals, with distinct personalitites.

And the khuulies had great entertainment value, though I was barely able to tell them apart.
Oh, the CAE's had personalities too, but possibly not the sort of personality you would want about the tank.

 

[CFC]

Personally i couldnt agree with any of the fish on your list as having character, i dont think any of them are likely to come to the front of the tank to see what your up to when near by or try and remove your hand at feeding time, and yes i have owned or still own most of them so i have personal experience of them.

Fish with character tend to be those over 6 inches long and non schooling, they dont nessasarily need to be aggressive but larger fish do tend to have more of an interest in what goes on outside the tank than smaller ones do.

 

[DoyouWantsum]

I dont know if you would consider it aggresive but i have found American flag fish to be finn nippers.

 

[chrismr]

I personally don't define character by the amount of interest given to what is going on outside of the tank, but merely by whether or not the fish has a personality.

But if that is how you want to see it.... my keyholes pay attention to what I am doing and get excited when they see me walk in with the fish food.

If I place my hand against the tank, my pearl gouramis come and feel the glass where my hand is. Is that paying enough attention to the outside world to warant having character?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Personally i couldnt agree with any of the fish on your list as having character, i dont think any of them are likely to come to the front of the tank to see what your up to when near by or try and remove your hand at feeding time, and yes i have owned or still own most of them so i have personal experience of them.

Fish with character tend to be those over 6 inches long and non schooling, they dont nessasarily need to be aggressive but larger fish do tend to have more of an interest in what goes on outside the tank than smaller ones do.

My livebearers always come up to the tank front when I'm nearby- though whether this counts as character or greed is, of course, debatable. They also eat out of my hand.
IME all guppies and platies behave like this, if you take the trouble to handfeed them.
But I am willing to concede that larger fish may have other character traits that display greater personality.
But I'm not sure why the same behaviour should count as a sign of intelligence or character or whatever in one species and not in another.

 

[jkrekord]

polka dot loaches flying fox and of course african dwarf frogs are all bursting with character

 

[chrismr]

I dont know if you would consider it aggresive but i have found American flag fish to be finn nippers.

Really? The pair we have in one of our tanks are really sweet. Personally, I don't find them particularly attractive and they were not my choice, but these 2 are just such an adorable couple. They are so close it is not funny (and panic when they can't see each other)