training archer fish

[ferco]

Just stop feeding them bar the crickets; drop one or two in the water so they get a taste for them- I didn't train mine they know instinctively how to spit- then create something like this:

Closer:

Or you could go for a more natural effect lol- like a stick or something.

 

[BIGgourami]

why rope? why not a stick?

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Cool setup....the rope reminds me of a snake!!! I like it...

 

[bartier]

My archer has a small branch hanging over it's tank where I put crickets for it too spit off. The only problem is that they eat crickets so quick and they end up costing me heaps. So I am now adding a pellet to their diet which I first tried tonight. It actually spat it out of my hand

 

[King Edward]

There was an article in Britians crappy fish keeping mag last month on training archers to spit. Its like the earlier post said. Take food they like and stick it to the glass at the watermark, then every couple of feeds raise it, they'll get use to jumping, then when its too high for them to jump, they'll start to spit.

 

[crooksy]

I just got an archer fish 2 days ago and was wondering. Would it work if you got them used to eating out of your hand, (similar to how my old cichlids used to), then lift your hand slightly higher each time. Would they then jump and eventually shoot water at the food in your hand?

 

[Burto]

In my experience, yes.
My archer will jump to take crickets from my fingers, and if I hold them out of his jumping range he'll spit at them. He'll spit at pellets in my fingers too, and recently he's started spitting at my hands and food containers any time he sees them.
All just a matter of associating something with food and he'll spit at it.