Ms.Bubbles said:
Mine totally ignores the mirror ... after making sure it's not a brightly colored bloodworm or other food item
How to amuse your solitary fish
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Mine totally ignores the mirror ... after making sure it's not a brightly colored bloodworm or other food item
I just rearrange the furniture (decorations). Sometimes less, sometimes more... I feel like it lets them feel like they're not stuck in the same place forever. Also it forces them to re-assert dominance over a certain place, and that should provide some stimulation as long as it is not stressful and does not force a confrontation.
Ok how do people feel about rearranging the aquarium. I heard that done too often it can stress the fish out. Should aquariums setups be rearranged frequently or should we set them and let them be? I have a planted tank so its always changing in minor ways but the hars structure i.e. driftwood and filter parts stays the same.
Kissofthegorami said:
Obviously the writer has not kept Oscars or others of the large, inquisitive Cichlids, or any puffers or he would have noticed differently. Boredom is definitely an issue with both of those groups of fish. Both are also trainable and need a great deal more than four bare glass walls and a filter. A neurotic (read as bored for too long) Oscar or GSP is no less neurotic than any parrot or dog similarly confined without stimulus.
Does anyone else know what clicker training is? I would highly recommend clicker training any fish. There used to be a great book (or so I've heard) out called "Dolphin Training Your Goldfish", but I've never been able to get ahold of a copy.
Fish Enrichment through Clicker Training!
Some ideas:
* train the fish to swim through a hoop on cue
* teach it to play "basketball" with a ping pong ball and the plastic ring from a pop bottle
* train left and right spins
* Reinforce touching a target (such as the tip of a drinking straw or your finger on the other side of the glass). Move the fish around the tank with your target.
Karen Pryor used a finger splash as the conditioned reinforcer ("click"), but I prefer a flashlight blinking on and off or a tap on the side of the tank with another glass object (makes a different sound than a tap by your finger).
Fish Enrichment through Clicker Training!
Some ideas:
* train the fish to swim through a hoop on cue
* teach it to play "basketball" with a ping pong ball and the plastic ring from a pop bottle
* train left and right spins
* Reinforce touching a target (such as the tip of a drinking straw or your finger on the other side of the glass). Move the fish around the tank with your target.
Karen Pryor used a finger splash as the conditioned reinforcer ("click"), but I prefer a flashlight blinking on and off or a tap on the side of the tank with another glass object (makes a different sound than a tap by your finger).
i was thinking of oscars that i had, i had a total of three, two i rescued from an ignored, overcrowded tank, the other one i had in my community tank. all three recognized me and my (then) wife as "the feeders" the two aggressive ones were in a 30 gallon across two rooms but saw the food container i had under the 130 and would react. i tried an experiment with them and had my neighbor get the food. none of my Oscars reacted. also Oscars will show emotion by a color or hue change, depending on the color variety determines how noticiable it can be. my tame Oscar was trained to be hand fed so that even my 18 month old dauhgter could give him sticks right from her itty bitty fingers and he did it gently. My S A ghost knife needs stimulated, i found him in a brightly lit tank at the LFS, no hiding spot, no plants. i brought him home and had to show him a cave by placing some tubifex in the cave. now i have 4 caves in his 55 gal and he goes from cave o cave, but he needed the time. he used to do just like he did at the LFS, set in a corner on his tail.
some fish don't need much stimulation and others do. just like some birds,a finch does need the same stimulation a Macaw does and the same can be said about fish.
My bettas will not tolerate being ignored
some fish don't need much stimulation and others do. just like some birds,a finch does need the same stimulation a Macaw does and the same can be said about fish.
My bettas will not tolerate being ignored
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Indeed, well said.HYPERASHEL said:
It does depend on the species.
Fish like guppys will swim back and worth, and appear very hard to entertain, simply because they do not appreciate or need the entertainment. Unlike with a paradise fish or puffer etc, they really do appreciate and need the attention.
As i said, it is not a matter of stimulating the fish to keep it alive, it will survive with out it. But it is a matter of giving your fish the best possible existence so it thrives as well.
It should not be a matter of 'well my fish does not need that, it can survive regardless'.
Fish have more than the 3 second memory, they recognise their owners, they notice changes in their environment, they explore, it is what animals do. And no matter what species they are, they can not get enough of all that behind four glass walls. And that is where all these suggestions come into play!
HaHa the best thing about this post is that it shows that people in this forum really care about their fish. We all put so much time and money into their well being so thats a given but if someone from 'the outside" were to read this post, they'd be like "!@#$ing crazy fish people". I love it.
And no I have not raised Oscars or similar fish. I hear that pacu are very intelligent too. My goldfish only respond to me when I aproach the pond. If anyone else stand over it they dive. I really think they can tell the difference between people. Which could be more of a basic survival instinct than intelligence. But yea. Smart fish but still not convinced how much mental stimulation they need.
And no I have not raised Oscars or similar fish. I hear that pacu are very intelligent too. My goldfish only respond to me when I aproach the pond. If anyone else stand over it they dive. I really think they can tell the difference between people. Which could be more of a basic survival instinct than intelligence. But yea. Smart fish but still not convinced how much mental stimulation they need.
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Kissofthegorami said:Maybe I have a different philosophy here than everyone elose but these are fish. We are not talking about a dog or cat or our pet monkeys... fish.
Actually if the TV is near a tank so they can hear it you would be suprised
My Dad kept Oscars in the early 80's and his favorite show was "Dallas" of all things, whenever that Theme began to play those Oscars got super excited and would spit gravel at the glass of the tank, and the strange thing was like they had a internal clock, they knew if it was not on and would move around like they were extremely lazy or "moping" like a child would do if his best friend didn't come over when promised.
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Maybe I should rent the movie "Jaws" for my betta. It might give His Majesty something to think about before flaring at me...
