Debate: how can you tell your fish are happy?

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Alot of people will tell you that here as well.. imho it's not a question IF animals are capable of being "Happy" but if we can understand they do not think as we do.. so being "happy" is a subjective observation. Sticking to fish, my predetory fish in particular exhibit behavior of enjoyment or happyness. They play, and otherwise show similar behaviors I've seen in other animals that would suggest happyness. so do I think tehy are Happy? Yep. will someones telling me that they can't be happy change my mind? Nope. Am I personificating them? I don't think so since I don't directly corelate their behavior towards Human, but base it off what I understand of the animal kingdom in general. imho it's only a matter of time before science catches up.
 
My Pike is always moving around, swimming through his PVC and driftwood piles, tearing up plants, and he always comes to the glass when I approach, hoping for some brine shrimp or pellets or a nice crunchy cricket... If fish can be happy, he's a happy fish :grinno:
 
I know my fish is happy when i give him a trio of females and he starts breeding with all them. :D

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fish n chips said:
do you think i should move my tv around so my fish can watch it too :banher: joking aside i see some eally good replys and its early yet,
Click to expand...

Actually, i have fiah that will watch tv with me intently. I have a corner tank near the tv and a few come and will watch it for even a few hours straight. I think they enjoy it

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All my fish follow me around! It is so cute!!! If I walk in the kitchen they follow me to the closest wall in the aquarium and wait. When I come around the corner there is a wall of fish waiting hahaha


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Since fish were made to be food, I doubt that nature gave any thought to their happiness :ROFL: There are some pseudo scientists that will say otherwise, but pseudo science is not science.
 
Down south they have a fishing anecdote about Mullet, which will jump clear out of the water, from when they are juvies a few inches long to when they are adults over 2 feet in length. When they are being chased by a large predator, or just when startled, they will make a series of short, tight jumps, but sometimes they just launch themselves straight up out of the water, seemingly just because they can. It's an age old question... why do Mullet jump? They dont eat insects... they prefer algae... so they arent jumping to hunt... they dont get unusual amounts of parasites, so they arent trying to clean themselves... so if you ask most southerners who live on the water why Mullet jump, they'll all give you the same answer... Mullet jump 'cause they're happy :grinno: me and my dad always find ourselves shouting "happy Mullet!" after them, because they just look so damn happy when they jump... it's like they're showing off, almost begging us land-bound creatures to join them. Or maybe they're teasing us because they know we cant. :ROFL:

I, for one, choose to believe that Mullet are happy. :D
 
I have monster goldfish. Betty Bass, the largest, is always happy to see me come down the stairs in the morning. She's at the glass wagging her tail, which wags her whole body basically, sometimes splashes water. At the very least, she's excited, which I equate with happy. She so looks forward to eating. If she was a puppy, I think she'd greet me at the door and lick my face.
 
anyone who has a familiarity with fish and doesn't have an elitist human vs animal mindset can see they have enjoyment of certain activities and situations.
does this equate to what most humans consider happiness when most humans don't even meet that definition? who knows?

I've watched fish play-alone and in groups-with a floating piece of plant, wiggle around in streams of bubbles, and swim to the ends of water flows from filters to swim against it over and over like kids on a waterslide in reverse. I consider that happy.
 
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