What spooks your fish?

Sk8r

Sk8r

Staff member
RC Mod
I've noted that fish react to certain visuals as well as sounds. They don't 'like' certain images.

Most notoriously, a t-shirt with a ship's wheel as the logo. Every fish in the tank nearly went belly-up with panic at the mere sight of it. I mean, nearly pass out in the water and hyperventilate.

I'm wondering if they think they saw a jellyfish...

A ring with a lot of red stones in an arc. No idea what they think that is, but I've had fish go after it in real anger.
 
my fox face doesn't like shadows or any rapid changes in lights - as in if I turn the lights off suddenly to work on something

he darts around freaking out - my fox face is pretty much scared of his own shadow tho

good question though
 
Rabbits are aptly named, for sure. It was particularly my tangs that would nearly faint at the sight of the t-shirt. And particularly the clowns that would go for the ring, though some of the damsels didn't like it a bit.

Got to wonder how many fish are stressed out by music---though we did have a betta that sat atop the sound system and really got off on the bass. He'd preen and carry on for his lady when that came on. I knew a restaurant shark that reacted the same: he really liked heavy metal---and don't worry: the shark ended up in the zoo in a huge tank, living quite happily.

And, from another thread, I discovered that mirrors near a tank are not a Good Thing. My rabbit nearly had an apoplexy and my yellow watchman nearly burst a blood vessel trying to get at the intruder. They obsess and won't leave the image, and it's not good for them. Bettas at least get bored with a mirror. Yellow watchmen would probably die of exhaustion. And my rabbit was a basket case.
 
It sure does, but briefly, and they seem to cope with that. My mandarins display to the glass in the evenings, and the yellow watchman gets up in the water column and goes up and down, up and down when the actinics alone are on...at which time I'm sure there's some reflection.
But a clear mirror is sharper, and seems to provoke a really violent reaction---more realistic, I'm thinking, and they just have no experience to tell them it isn't real.
 
makes sense

my scooter bennie get all puffed up sometimes, he displays his flag and kind hops trying to show who is boss. I thought he was looking at his reflection, but over time I realized he was doing it to me!

kinda neat, dunno if he feels threatened or if he's defending his territory, or worse, he thinks I'm cute and is trying to impress me... lol
 
Strangers scare my fish.
It's quite an interesting look at there intelligence level.
People they see regularly are fine.
They will come to the front to see them.
However take a person they aren't used to seeing.
They hide in the rock work.
Of course the reaction of course depends on the fish.
My Pygmy hawk and LMB are the most notable.
where my clown could care less.
 
I had a freshwater betta that would hold his breath til he turned white rather than surface while my inoffensive college roomie was anywhere near him. For me, he'd leap from the water to take dried brine shrimp off the flat end of a toothpick.
 
I was very fond of that fish. He went off to college with me in a bowl---and there was a near accident [not my fault] on the freeway. I jammed on the brakes, he went over and spilled all over the floorboards---here I am, stupid frosh, with my foot on the brake in absolute mayhem of blowing horns and stopped motorists, and I've gotten over to the shoulder---scooped him off the mat, righted the brandy glass which by the nature of brandy glasses had a little water left, and plopped him back in, bracing the near-empty glass against my leg. Being a betta, he could go on breathing air for a supplement while I made the next 20 miles to my dorm. I used the dechlorinator, gave him fresh water, and he survived his *entry* into dorm life...He lived a betta's full span and was greatly missed, even by my roomie. For some bizarre reason he trusted me, [can't imagine why, after that!] but my roomie never got him to come to the surface, not even for live brine shrimp.
 
This is a neat thread. I have a pipe cleaner, its a long strand of metal with black bristles on either end, I use it for cleaning out filters and tubes and stuff. One day my girlfriend was playing around with it and got it too close to the tank and the two clownfish disappeared into the rocks... I've had these fish for years and I have NEVER seen them hide from anything. They sleep in the open, even right after I introduced them they were just swimming around. To this day I have never seen them go into the rockwork to hide other than the incident with the pipe cleaner.

Also, my angelfish chases my mag-float. He pays no attention to it usually, but when I am cleaning the glass and it moves away from him he chases it. Kind of like when your with a dog, and if you start running the dog just starts chasing you.
 
It kind of points to some sort of inbred warning system in certain species, something primal that just says Enemy! Warning! when they see certain shapes or motions. Pipecleaners, eh? I wonder what dire thing in the reef looks like pipecleaners...
 
My foxface isn't usually skittish, but he will ocassionally freak out when I come around the corner fast.

My Watchman gobies charge at me if I get to close during feeding.
 
my friend has a large lion that is completely fine with him and I. my fiance stuck her hand in the tank (smaller hands to reach into some rockwork) and the lion purred all of his little spines or fins whatever you want to call them, and darted across the tank after her hand. not sure why?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Paul B
Think like a fish
Replies
1
Views
1K
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
E
Need some help with two clowns swimming unusually as I’m doing a fish cycle.
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
kfisc
kfisc
Paul B
IMO How to set up a tank to stay healthy and immune
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
zappa
Z
J
Losing fish possible tank crash
Replies
18
Views
2K
leebca
L
C
Scored a complete setup for $100
Replies
13
Views
2K
griss
griss
Back
Top