Have you seen fish with personality?

(08-18-2014 01:11 PM)Thor Wrote:  They got used to feeding routine, which is being fed most of the time when someone goes near their tank. As a result, they expect food when you walk by their tank. It is the reason why they follow you.

This would make sense if they clustered toward the top of the tank when I was feeding, but they seem to playfully follow me. Even after they have just been fed, so while the feeding might have something to do with (perhaps even a large part!) I think it may have gone a little bit beyond that. Maybe I am being a bit optimistic, though. Perhaps they have developed a feeding response and the associate me and the stimuli of me moving around the tank with food. I know clownfish (and most fish) are opportunistic feeders in nature, and perhaps this is just a (cute) side effect.

On a slightly random note...

I have read recently that some cichlids are aggressive and will move quickly back and forth in front of their territory. My friends even bump up against the tank if you get close enough, though they usually relax once they realize food is coming.

I guess my ultimate question would be--do you see this as personality or instinct? Are the ways clown fish and cichlids respond to food/people stimuli just part of nature or is it a mix of nature and personality (which might explain why some cichlids are very aggressive and some are relaxed compared to others).

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.