Do you name your fish?

[HannahJ]

I'm just curious to see everyone's stance on fish naming. I know people who name every fish they have, right on down to the last danio, and people who swear naming a fish will kill it. Of course, there are those in between (myself included) who just name the big ones.

Where does everyone else stand?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Some fish, yes. Either my prize fish, or my centerpiece fish. But other fish like my tiger barbs, I just call them my Backstreet Boys. And my 2 fire eels, Flash (13 inches) and Flame (12 inches). Other than that, no other names. I used to have a Bala shark, his name was Rhapsody.

 

[hulkamaniac]

I inherited a Jack Dempsey who was already named Jack. I also purchased a betta for his own 5g tank who somehow wound up named Bob (not sure how that happened). Other than that, I don't name my fish.

 

[LittleNami]

Lol, if I could catch the sight of an individual neon tetra, I might consider naming them ^^ But I do have one Pakistani/ Yo Yo Loach that I like to call Sneak for his bad habit of slipping out of sight into the outgoing stream of my filter.

 

[JeffreyL]

naming

Well, uh, yeah. We name some of them. My girlfriend started it, and now it may have gotten a bit ....... cute. There I said it!! I suffer from occasional cutesness. There is Bruce The Exhibitionist, a male betta. He is housed with Bing, Bob & Dorothy, 3 peppered cories. The 3 pitbull plecos are as yet unnamed. Then there are Bodie, Jules, Bear and Little Bear. Respectively, an albino, a Julii, and two panda cories. Also Spot, a red tailed shark, and Princess Teacup ( I never did understand that one lol), a female blue ram; both sadly departed. But we have not even attempted to name the 10 neons and 10 black neons.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I name bettas...my current betta's name is Charlie. I also name centerpiece fish. My biggest angel is Abby. The two smaller ones are Darla and Sam. I had a female German ram named Sydney that just died.

My bristlenose is Bristle boy and my 3-spot gourami is Blue boy. Very unique, I know.

I basically just name fish I can tell apart. I don't name schooling fish because I wouldn't remember who was who.

 

[Dragonchild85]

I name all my bettas, because they are so personable. I currently have Samhain, whom is black, orange and white, and my puffers (Puffy and Amiyui), and I frequently name my plecos (past ones have included Freak, Turbo, and Godzilla).

Beyond that, I think naming them kills them. *Gryns* That's why I name my plecos!!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I basically just name fish I can tell apart. I don't name schooling fish because I wouldn't remember who was who.

I name my schooling fish after groups, like my tiger barbs are the Backstreet Boys.....

 

[Hovoc]

Ive only named 1 group of fish, they are "The Tetra 5" They are a group of 5 neons, that me and my gf have determined run the mob of my 20g. There used to be 6, but he got wacked.

 

[MattAquaBio]

My girlfriend names mine for me.
she named my rubber lip pleco (small) squiggle and my medium pleco mr. smiley.
The small fantail goldfish thats healing in my tank she named pug.
She calls the zebra danios "the polka dots"
She named the neon tetras "soldiers" becasue they are always side by side. And the sunburst platies are unnamed.
So yep, all mine are named.

 

[Ky'smommy]

i named my betta popeye. because that was what he got.
I named four of my discus, big red, blacky. greenie and the baby. lol.
and im trying to tell the others apart.

 

[SkullJug]

All my fish are named - Every last one. I named them all after 'Buffy the vampire Slayer' characters. This started with a female Betta (now deceased) who jumped out of her tank. She was on the carpet long enough to turn completely black. I put her in a glass of water just to see and when I walked back in the next morning I could see the faintes of movement. Her recovery took several weeks and she totally shed her skin. She lived on for another 6 months as 'Buffy'. (other fans out there will know why)

After that they all named after bufy characters. The only difference with the smaller fish is they have group names. The tetra's are called "The Scoobies" and the danios "The order of teraka". I have a pleco called clem. A tomiskas named Anya e.t.c

The only exeption to this rule are my cory's named for Futurama - Leila, Fry and Bender.

 

[joannde]

My bettas are named (Mr Piggy and Mr Fussy for their eating habits, Spot - he's white with red spots, America is white crowntail with blue then red fins - I have one other who's as yet is unnamed - my husband calls him "Red" but thats just too boring for me LOL)

The platies have names because I can tell them apart - the dwarf is "little one", the 2 sunrises are "sunny boys", the calico is "fat stuff" (he overeats !), and the other one is "pretty boy".

The pandas are nearly indistinguishable but as a group they're named "goofy little dudes"

I'll know I've gone over the edge when I start naming the mystery snails LOL

Interesting thread - and I love the "themed names" .... very creative

 

[HannahJ]

Yeah, this got a lot better of a response than I had thought. I guess I ought to chip in my names. I like to name fish by a weird set of rules. mostly involving my school classes at the time.

Here are some examples:

My first betta that got me back into fish keeping a few years back was a gift. We were studying Melville at school at the time, so he became Ishmael (mainly because Bartleby didn't seem to bode well). He was soon joined by a white Apple Snail named--of course--Moby Dick (joannde--does this mean I've gone over the edge?).

I had a female betta shortly thereafter who was named Lucrezia Borgia for my Euro History class (we were doing the Italian Renaissance). Other male bettas included Dr. Hademenos Jr., after my physics teacher, Mini-moose, after my percussion director, Michelangelo, also on the Italian Renaissance theme, and Laurence, who broke the school theme by being named after my boyfriend. Right now I also have Robert Frost, who has a blue blody with red fins (Fire and Ice, anyone?) and an as-of-yet unnamed betta that was rescued from a centerpiece at a school banquet (I think I called him Wolfgang for a while, but it just doesn't fit).

My black ghost knife's name is Neil DeGrasse Tyson, after this guy who is in videos on astronomy. I am also in semi-ownership of a pleco named Buddy (a fifth grade science class was responsible for that one).

Beyond my bettas and favourite fish, though, I don't really name them, or at least, name them seriously.

Thanks everyone for the great responses so far!

 

[GouramiFanatic]

But other fish like my tiger barbs, I just call them my Backstreet Boys/

That's hilarious! Maybe I'll call my YoYo Loaches N'Sync...

I only name the ones that I can tell apart from each other. My Sailfin Pleco was dubbed Count from a coworker because of the way he glides through the water like Dracula. I named one of my Danios Gimpy because his body looks kind of dented if that makes sense. I can tell him apart from the rest. I named my Pebbles and Bam Bam because Bam Bam sometimes has an attitude problem and will chase Pebbles around. Those are the only fish at work that I've named.

My 75 gallon I've only named one of my Dojo Loaches so far. I named him Spot because he's got a dark spot half way down his side. It's very noticeable which makes him easy to identify. I gotta get going and name the rest of them!!

 

[Jchillin]

I have too many fish to name them all but here goes:

Angels: There were originally four, which I immediately named the "Three Musketeer's" (Porthos, Athos, D'Artagnan and Aramis). Since then, due to nature taking over and me thinking two had paired up but both being identified as females, they are now Thelma and Louise.

Sailfin Pleco: Cliff, because when he first entered the tank, he would hang upside down from just about anything and it reminded me of Stallone in "Cliffhanger".

Then there's Gary, the Golden Apple snail.

 

[lovemybarbs]

I've recently started to name them. I asked my five-year old to name them, but he won't. He calls the pictus--pictus and the pleco--plecto.

I call the frog Princess and my new little goldie barb--Nemo. He's so little.

I have to name the shrimp that lived in the filter for a week something, but I haven't yet. Maybe Bear. Him and his new friend are so cute. I'll post pictures today if I have time.

 

[Puriti]

I name all my fish... I can even tell you all the names of fish I've had in the past too ...I even remember fish I named and they died like the day or two after I got them ^^;;

 

[Burks]

My biggest Opaline Gourmi is named Bubba, the smaller one Jimbo.

The three remaining Neon Tetras (Bubba killed two) are name Larry, Curly, and Moe.

 

[Puriti]

I've got...
Bettas: Carribean, Ghost, Congo, Jet, Breeze, Siam, Moon, Sunset, Candy, River, and Sky(she's at school) (T.T no more Kichi...)
Mollies: Jewel, Amber, Ruby, Cookie, Slider, and Tornado
Cories: Demon, Spot, Tiger, Emerald
Blue Gourami: Reef
Dwarf Puffer: Squeaker
Otos: Otto and Turbo
ADFs: ..erm...now it's just Iggy >.<
Danios (at school) Zig, Zag
Senegal Bichir (at school): Rose