Can you classically condition fish?

[aquarius]

something else i've been wondering about. i know you can condition many animals but are fish capable of that or are they just not on that level? for example, if i wanted this one agressive fish to stop chasing and fighting with other fish, i can do someting unpleasant to it when it starts being agressive, like give it an electric shock, (this is a hypothetical situation, i'm not proposing anyone do that) or just tap loudly on the glass and scare the fish. and if i continue doing it everytime that fish starts fighting, do you thing the fish will associate fighting with something unpleasant happening to it and stop being agressive? are fish capable of making these kind of connections, anyone know? maybe research has been done on this or something. well anyway, i promise i'll stop thinking about these things now

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Nope, fish brains are not capable of that.

They seem to learn lessons, but only very short term. For example If I'm trying to net a fish in a heavily decorated tank, I'll feed the fish and dip the net and scoop the fish as fast as I can. If I miss the fish will not come back to the top, afraid that the net will come swooping down on him again. But if I back away for just a couple of minutes, the trick will work as well as it did the first time.

 

[Losi]

I read an article recently in Britains best selling Tropical fish magazine and fish are alot more intelligent than many pople realise.

They can remember things in the long term.
They learn from other fish and can recognise individuals in a shoal of thousands (proven scientifically).

However if you do something nasty to the fish you will probably just make it a nervous wreck and hardly ever see it when you are around the tank. Also If you tap on the glass you will scare the other fish as well.
Dont buy aggressive fish in the irst place is the obvious answer IMO

 

[Sinuhe]

They don't always seem that smart, but, on the other hand, if they only have short memory like that, how come they learn to remember any signs that might mean food? Whenever I go near my 33 gallon/ 128 liter tank, the Platies and Swordtails gather in the corner where I always drop their food from. That memory must be more than 2 minutes.

 

[chaotica2010]

I read an article about a lady who had her Koi fish trained to pull a string attached to a bell at feeding time. If that isn't classical conditioning I don't know what is.

Rick 8)

 

[aquarius]

I read an article about a lady who had her Koi fish trained to pull a string attached to a bell at feeding time. If that isn't classical conditioning I don't know what is.

Rick 8)

lol, i didn't know a fish could be trained to do that

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I'm workin on it with my Jag, I'll let you know

 

[aquarius]

great. good luck

 

[smb]

I had a cichlid that was conditioned to me always wearing a blue shirt. It was my work shirt and I fed as soon as I got home and he would always be up at the top of the tank waiting for me to feed him. One day I walked up to the tank and he started coming up again and then he flew away in fright and hid in his cave and barely peeked out at me. Once it hit me it might be the color shirt, as I had a red one on, then I put my blue shirt back on and he was the same. I tested this quite a few times and the results were all the same.

It's also noted how many cichlids only like 1 person and charge the tank at others.

 

[aquarius]

wow, that's really interesting. never had cichlids myself but i heard they were smarter than many other fish. plus the fact that they can percieve colors.. makes me want to take a course in fish psychology, lol

 

[wuvmybetta]

My oldest betta is trained to come to hand signals, it may not seem that amazing in text but it's really a sight to see in person. When he lived in a community tank we had to come up with something private between myself and him so that he could eat without being bothered by the others, I still do it every day just to keep his memory fresh


I've also noticed that my midas remembers the orange container of food, it's the brand I bought when I got him and what they told me he grudgingly had been eating, he's since started eating another brand but if I flash that orange container at him he'll jet and hide in his clay pot as a protest
smb~I've noticed that my midas has taken a certain fondness to me but he charges with extreme aggression at everybody else in the house, animals included :kira:

As far as aggression...I dunno, I once had a gourami who repeatedly picked at another gouramis wound, everytime I caught him in the act I would bop him on the head with the handle end of a fish net (very gently people, don't freak out) but he eventually caught on and left the other gourami alone

 

[Sondan]

:kira: Wuv :kira:
When I was a little boy and I would pick at my sister.....I got bopped too but I never figured out the association.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[Cian McLiam]

When my angels started fighting first, they were pretty savage. I used to shake a finger at them if I was near the tank and they would swim off scared. Now, they just stop fighting and watch me. I am sure they are saying to themselves 'hey look he's going mad again!' then just go back to their fighting as usual...

I read that article too, it had some pretty fascinating stuff, like those fish that were introduced to a shoal that travel 2 miles or something like it to feed every day. When the native fish were taken away the next day, the new fish were able to follow the exact route, even stopping for a breather in the same spots. Fish are dumb??

Ken

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

I have my fish trained to come to the top of the tank when I tap the glass. every feeding time I tap the glass twice and imeadietly all of the fish come to the surface.

 

[snotirl]

I feed my fish at the same time everday so i think they know when that is because they always come to the top at that time even the african dwarf frogs!!