FinMates

🐟 FinMates — Little swimmers for your desktop.

Welcome a few aquatic companions into your workspace. FinMates brings fish, shrimp and snails to your Windows desktop, with 27 species and up to 12 companions at a time.

Choose your favorites, give them a name, and let them move around your desktop. You can welcome several of the same species, too.

📌 Windows Versions: 1.4.0 and 1.3.2

Both versions remain available so you can choose the sizing style you prefer.

Version 1.4.0 — Species-based proportions and individual species size controls

Version 1.4.0 introduces relative sizes based on representative adult lengths. Larger fish now look noticeably larger than smaller fish.

Depending on your chosen companions and screen, some fish—especially larger species—may need adjustment. Open Care and display → Size by species to change each species continuously. The center position, 100%, restores its reference size. Companions of the same species change together.

These proportions use representative adult sizes, not exact statistical averages. Sex, variety and the species represented by a general trade name can affect the reference.

Version 1.3.2 — The previous compact sizing

If you are comfortable with the earlier sizes and do not need species-based proportions, you can continue using 1.3.2.

Both versions include the Congo Tetra, Albino Corydoras and photographic-style artwork. The main difference is the sizing system.

Future development will continue from the 1.4.0 sizing system. Version 1.3.2 remains available as an alternative for people who prefer the previous display sizes.

💻 A Little Life Around Your Work

FinMates is designed to stay behind your work windows and let clicks and typing pass through.

Use the fish icon in the Windows notification area to feed your companions, pause them, hide or show them, change species and counts, and adjust the display.

During feeding, companions briefly come forward and head toward a shared feeding spot, then return to their usual display layer.

🐠 Meet Your Companions

Choose medaka, goldfish, tetras, guppies, bettas, corydoras, otocinclus, shrimp, snails and more—including the Congo Tetra and Albino Corydoras.

• Photographic-style artwork: All 27 companions use lightweight, transparent 2D images with more natural colors, textures and silhouettes.
• Species-specific movement: Aquarium-inspired cruising, bursts and glides, bottom searching, surface grazing and slow crawling.
• Image previews: See each species before choosing.
• Change your companions: Reopen the selection screen from the fish icon to change species and counts.

FinMates focuses on desktop companionship. It does not simulate tank management, water quality or a complete aquatic ecosystem. The artwork and animation are 2D.

✨ Features

• 27 species of fish, shrimp and snails.
• Up to 12 companions, including multiple individuals of the same species.
• Feeding, pause/resume and hide/show controls.
• Adjustable display size and swim speed.
• Continuous species-specific size adjustment in 1.4.0.
• Seven languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Thai, plus automatic language selection.
• Local settings and save backups.

📥 Downloads

Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit

Choose 1.4.0 for species-based proportions and the latest size controls, or 1.3.2 for the previous sizing.

• Installer: Download the Setup file for your chosen version, run it, and start FinMates from its shortcut.
• USB / Portable: Extract the ZIP and run TropicalFishPet.exe. The displayed product name is FinMates. Keep portable.flag and the Data folder together with the app. Exit FinMates from the fish icon before removing your USB drive.

The required .NET runtime is included; a separate .NET installation is not needed.

macOS

Download the disk image matching your Mac—Apple Silicon or Intel—mount it, and drag FinMates into Applications.

The Windows version comparison and update policy above apply to the Windows downloads.

💾 Updating and Trying Both Windows Versions

Version 1.4.0 can read existing settings from 1.3.2. However, after settings are saved by 1.4.0, that save cannot be opened by 1.3.2.

Back up your settings before upgrading. For the portable edition, close FinMates and back up the entire Data folder.

To try both versions, use the portable editions in separate folders, each with its own portable.flag and Data folder. Keep an untouched copy of your 1.3.2 save.

No online account is required. Settings stay on your PC or with the portable folder.

📝 Notes

• Early release: Please report issues with your app version, Windows version, display scaling, selected species and steps to reproduce.
• Feeding: Very slow companions, especially snails, may take longer to approach the feeding spot.
• Unsigned builds: Windows may show an unknown-publisher warning. Please use the downloads supplied on this project page.
• Development: FinMates was developed with AI assistance, including code and photographic-style artwork. It does not call an AI service while running.