Ok, let’s be honest. Who out there hasn’t wanted a better relationship with their fish? I can remember days when my fish would swim into my open palms and even accept food straight from my fingers. It’s a wonderful feeling that most of strive for, and it makes aquarium keeping so much more fulfilling. For one pond owning hobbyist (in the video above), that dream is a reality, as he can be seen here not just holding his pet flowerhorn, but actually playing and interacting with it. In this heartwarming moment, he splashes a little water toward the fish, who in turn swims over to open hands and just begs to be held. The pond owner grabs the fish and picks him up out of the water before gently placing him back and repeating. It truly is fun to watch, and from what we hear, this is not an unusual behavior for this type of fish. Translating that over to saltwater aquariums, there are tons of good fish buddy candidates out there. My personal favorite was an orange-back fairy wrasse, but they can range from cleaner shrimp to grouper. You can make a friend with just about any of your fish, assuming they have the right personality and aren’t in a situation in which they are forced to be aggressive (e.g. overstocked tanks).
The friendliness does have a downside, so be warned. Constantly handling your fish can lead to undue stress, and obviously fish can’t breath out of water so there is that.
Pingback: The AquaNerd Weekly Recap | AquaNerd()