Fish memory

S

salgas

New member
Aren't fish supposed to have like 5second memory span??
I have a scopas tang and he was a very calm.and easygoing fish, not at all bordered by my presence or my hands in the tank.
Four months ago I moved to another house and my tank with me.
Since then the tang sends to be frightened all.the time in a constant state of alert.
At first I thought it was normal he was scared because of the move but that it would pass.
Sadly no....
Any sudden move in the aquarium or close to it and he bolts like a maniac to Hyde!!
This situation gets me.worried because he barely eats in this panic state, to afraid.to come out and get the food...
Is it possible he still remembers me snatching him.into a bag???
:-P Lolol
Opinions are appreciated ;-)
 
Fish do learn (e.g. who is feeding them which is a repetitive event) and they also know if their environment is unfriendly (e.g. a fish that protects their territory, again a repetitive event) but I doubt that the fish associates you with moving. People tend towards anthropomorphizing fish behavior but that is definitely not the case.
 
That 5 second time imo is bs. My fish always hang out on the middle and right side of my dt. So when i feed them i put the food on the left side of the tank. Now whenever i walk into the room with my tank, they all come to the top left to ge fed. I guess i have povlows fish :).
 
I only have the tang, a spoted mandarin and one blue chromis.
The chromis is fine and also comes.for food as i approach the aquarium the tang goes ballistic...
I put food in and stand perfectly still so he comes and eat and he comes in at lightning speed and hides again, before the move he was always out and ate till no food was left....
Water parameters are fine, temp, flow and light the same.
As to defending territory, I don't see from what since he's the only big fish in the tank...
Just don't get it....
 
What size is the tank? Did you drastically alter your aquascape when you moved? Is the lighting/activity level in the room surrounding the tank different?
 
Sounds like he is stressed out. Does he have adequate room to swim (at least 4 feet of uninterrupted tank)? Is the tank in a busy part of the house? Do you live with children/glass tappers?

A pic of the tank might help.

My gut feeling is that he has nowhere secure to go to feel safe as a result he is always on edge.
 
I think you are dealing with instinct rather than memory. Animals generally have the instinct to flee from perceived threats (something large) and it gets repressed with captive feeding and life. The move seems to have brought the instinct out again. Is it possible that the fish is seeing threats other than you that weren't around before? Perhaps reflections? It has become wary and your presence is triggering the need to hide?

You might try less light, particularly around feeding time, and reduced feeding (every other day?) for a while to see if it loses its acquired wariness. Nothing like being hungry to cause an animal to lose its caution.
 
Well, I know mine remember what side food goes in, and what their feeding cup looks like, and I had a naso tang for 7 years that would splash water surface if I took too long thawing his food in that feeding cup, so memory and maybe even some time reference, or impatience.
 
Fish seem to be almost wired for classical conditioning. It didn't take very long at all for my disco blenny to come to the top of the tank when I squirt water in the tank or follow my tongs around the tank regardless of whether or not I have food in them. He also stopped running away from my hand during tank maintenance.

I also have some of my cichlids feeding out of a net, for them net=feeding time.

Next step is to train my disco blenny to remove algae :D
 
CedzAquAddictio said:
How big is the fish?

Also: Is this in your 120lt (30g) tank?
Click to expand...

He's about 5cm long...
I know, my tank is to small for him...
I was just hoping that wasn't the reason for his behaviour....
I bought him as a compromise to build my new tank asap, he was very small at the time, but Portuguese government and their increase in taxes keep messing up my plans....
He was fine before but I guess the move triggered stress and since he hasn't a lot of space to swim he's unable to relax...
I wanted to keep him for the new tank because I live this fish but I guess it's like the saying goes...
If you love someone set them free!
Gonna start looking for a new and better home for him....
:-(
 
Has for the other possible causes for this behaviour their unlikely....
Same rock work, same lights same everything...
The tank has a room of it's one and I'm practically the only one that goes in so....
Must be lack of space...
Not fair to him...
Gotta let him go....
:-(
 
Well, you've got to give yourself credit for being honest if you can't upgrade your tank, and need to give the fish to someone with a larger tank. What you've described above is what several people in this hobby run into. Buying a fish with plans of an upgrade that for some reason or another doesn't happen. I'm sure you'll be happy with getting rid of the fish, as it's no fun watching a stressed fish.

Look at it this way: You've opened up the door to the nano fish community. There are several beautiful, active, and/or calm nano fish out there for you to enjoy...

Best of luck, and keep us posted...
 
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