I had a betta several years ago that used to come up to the surface to take pellets from my fingers. He would watch me come up to his tank and as soon as I picked up the container of food, he would move to the top of his tank. When my fingers would come over the top of the water his little mouth would be up and out of the water waiting for his meal. I had that betta for almost 5 yrs. I really missed him when he died.
Evelyn, I hope that is not the Betta that Caleb ate when he was younger ? I remember how horrified and disappointed you were when you fond out that your beloved fish was dead, and even worse, had been eaten by your grandson.
I always have loved bettas, too, but I don't think that mine ever came right up for food like yours did. that is really a friendly fish !
Years ago, when I was growing up, my mom had aquariums, and we loved watching the fish move around, especially at night when all the lights were off except the ones in the top of the aquarium.
She had a Clown Loach that was my favorite fish to watch. he would hide out most of the day, and at night he came out and often raced around the tank. His face looked like a tiny catfish, with those whiskers, and his body was long like and eel, and was whitish with dark spots.
You couldn't call him friendly, for sure, but he did have a lot of personality, and was one of my favorite fish to watch when he was out.
The only fish I ever saw with personality was a puffer fish some friends had in their big tank. It would come up and look at you from different angles and swim away and come back. It definitely seemed to have some level of expression on its face, though I don't really feel I had any good understanding of what it was thinking. It was a pretty entertaining fish though.
Several years ago I had a betta that would come to the surface of his bowl and roll onto his side everytime I came near. I think he was trying to get my attention so I would give him a food pellet. If I got the container out and held a pellett near the surface of the water, he would come up and take it from my fingers.
Really, I suppose you can only think of the personality of a fish in retrospect. Most people assume that fish are mechanical creatures that don't have feelings and emotions? Actually, they have a personality. When I peer into the fish pond, I have observed the tilapia appear to retreat on sighting my gaze. Have you watched how fish behave during meal times? They appear on the surface with expectant faces . If you look intently, you are likely to see carefully calculated caution and they fast into retreat into the safety of the pond bottom when you make a movement only to briefly resurface to ascertain whether you have brought them something edible. And there is this aspect of bearing. In you briefly remove a fish from the water, it will try to wiggle its way in the direction of the some showing an awareness of self and sorroundings. This is a virgin area waiting to be researched on by ethologists to uncover more exciting aspects of their personalities.