What makes your fish "smart"?

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Slippery K

Piranha
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2011
2,491
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81
Ontario, Canada
Do you have a fish that does something out of the norm? Do they interact with you more than other fish? Do they do tricks?

Each time I go to feed my morays, they don't seem to realize what's happening until I put their food container up to the glass and they each go nuts. They know exactly what it is and what's about to happen. If I switch to a different food container, they don't care for food at all. Like they only trust food from one source.

Also my old RCK used to sit in the spot I poured water into the tank during waterchanges, he seemed to enjoy the feeling of the water pouring on him. Once the syphon came out, he was waiting in the same spot every time.

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I had a datnoid and a dempsey that shook their heads back and forth on command. Whenever I use the universal sign language word for 'food' everybody goes nuts! They've learned that whenever I use that sign food is coming. I also have a different sign for bloodworms, pellets, and flakes. They totally understand.
 
The fish in my 100 gallon go nuts when I grab the bag of food and they see it in my hand. The little firemouth in there goes nuts and does circles


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When I put food in the tank ALL of my fish eat! Wow!:headbang2
 
My giant gourami plays with my hand from across the glass like trying to bite it. He has different reactions for different kinds of food. When I show him grapes or shrimp, it's usually "meh". When it's strawberry or mealworms, he positions himself to his personal feeding spot and behave, waiting in a calm manner. My golden Oscar, a pbass and my GT knows when I am about to feed shrimp. They know the shape of scissors. My silver arowana will only eat food that I give. I have a gar that positions himself when he recognizes he's next to be fed (mealworms). He eats only from the side of his jaws.

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I dont know if I would say "smart" but when a fish watches you as you enter a room and as you leave it kind of makes you wonder..... I do have to say it is pretty cool when they watch what you are doing.
 
I find that fish purchased at Pet"smart" are all pretty intelligent. (kidding!)

I don't know honestly. Both my Plecos shimmy down the wall as I turn on lights in the morning which always cracks me up. It's a game.. I turn the dimmer back down and they move back up.

Uhh, smart though? I'm going to get some razzing for this but I have a three year old fair goldfish in one of my kids tanks that we named chuck norris. He's a good 4" guy who WILL NOT DIE. He recognizes and reacts to me exclusively since I'm the one who feeds him. He also swims to my hand and will eat flakes or NLS pellets that I hold between fingers. He also sometimes slaps the surface of the water with his tail when he knows he's about to get fed. Just excitement I am guessing.

He will not die despite the fact that I used to barely pay attention to that tank because it was just a few free goldfish that my kids liked. "Chuck" was on the carpet one day when my wife came home. The dog had left him alone, but he was totally still, looked utterly dead and was dry, but started wiggling when she picked him up. I have no idea how long he was there but there were no drops on the carpet and both it and the fish were bone dry.. regardless, he is still the healthiest, strongest fish I've seen to this day.

Hence the name: Chuck Norris. Won in a dixie cup in the sun all day while kids threw ping pong balls at him.. ain't nothin' for chuck norris.
 
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I used to have a fancy goldfish that loved to ride the bubbles up from my bubble wand. My wife (gf at the time) named him Bubbles. He would swim to the back of the tank, ride the bubbles up to the top and then swim back down to do it again. He would do it ongoing almost all day long.

Fun to watch, but wasn't a huge fan overall.
 
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