Training Goldfish

[double-trouble]

I've got two goldies and heard they are very intelligent and can be trained to do tricks etc which keeps them entertained. does anyone have any tips about training them or any links.
one of them is very active and think he would appreciate the excercise!!

 

[Betta5]

Im not sure about articles (cant find any, do a google) But i found this its cool!!!
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGw6EhBtznM

 

[gsta13]

WTF thats sweet! I cant help but think its fake tho for some reason

 

[black angel]

I heard from others that the goldies were fed earth magnets and something under the board made them do what they did.
I just dont believe that goldies can be trained to do anything like that in formation.

 

[Betta5]

Black angel i think you are correct. At the end if you watch closely you can see the fish try to swim the opposite way to the way its going.

 

[gsta13]

Glad i was right!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Goldfish can be trained to feed directly from your hand, my own goldfish do this. I've also seen certain types of fish being trained to move a ball into a hoop into the tank (saw this on tv), so i know that is posible too. Giving the fish rewards in return for doing the right actions can train most fish to do all sorts of things. I've also trained my fish to follow my hand as well around the outside of the tank.

If you want to give your fish more to do though, giving them a more interesting tank set up will help a lot. Fish enjoy planting a lot (although a lot of live plants are eaten by goldfish, so silk ones are better- plastic plants can scratch fish), and giving them places to explore like piles of driftwood or bogwood will be appreciated by them a lot.
Varying their diet will also be good for their health as well as give them more to enjoy at feeding times- frozen bloodworms are particularly enjoyed by goldfish, as well as algae wafers and special frozen veg cubes for fish will be good for their digestive system and imune system.

 

[Leopard-danio]

yeh i saw a tropical fish shoot a ball through a hoop, that is pretty cool, and yes ermm i have sorta trained my goldfish to follow my hand, they jus kinda follow it half way then forget what they are doing and go back to whatever they were doing...

is it true that goldfish only have a 3 second memory??? i think it would b slightly longer than that...surly?

 

[raptorrex]

yeh i saw a tropical fish shoot a ball through a hoop, that is pretty cool, and yes ermm i have sorta trained my goldfish to follow my hand, they jus kinda follow it half way then forget what they are doing and go back to whatever they were doing...

is it true that goldfish only have a 3 second memory??? i think it would b slightly longer than that...surly?

lol they can be trained, but find riding a bike a bit hard! no a goldfish has the same memory as any fish, but they tend not to have as good a memory as a mammal would.
a interesting fact here. A horse has the same intelligence as a tropical fish, though it does have a much better memory. Bit of a shock that one, i would have bet the horse was way more intelligent.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Argh, I had such a long post on the betta board about goldfish intelligence and trainability, but I can't find it. All I can say is - the 3 second memory was proven a myth by several scientific studies; it is closer to 3 months for most species of fish in general. And yes, goldfish are highly trainable; they can be trained to do a variety of cute little "tricks," such as ringing a bell, "playing ball," eating from your hands, jumping for food, swimming through hoops, etc. and have shown the ability to navigate complex mazes in the laboratory setting. Most tricks take about 2 weeks of intensive training to learn, and can be retained with frequent exersizes. If you'd like to find out how to train your goldfish, http/www.fish-school.com

 

[Betta5]

if they had a 3 second memory, how do they know when we are going to feed them? they all come to the top and 'beg'.

 

[double-trouble]

too right they beg when tea time comes around they are worse than my dog!!!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Argh, I had such a long post on the betta board about goldfish intelligence and trainability, but I can't find it. All I can say is - the 3 second memory was proven a myth by several scientific studies; it is closer to 3 months for most species of fish in general. And yes, goldfish are highly trainable; they can be trained to do a variety of cute little "tricks," such as ringing a bell, "playing ball," eating from your hands, jumping for food, swimming through hoops, etc. and have shown the ability to navigate complex mazes in the laboratory setting. Most tricks take about 2 weeks of intensive training to learn, and can be retained with frequent exersizes. If you'd like to find out how to train your goldfish, http/www.fish-school.com

I agree, i have also read that it has been proven that goldfish (and a lot of other fish in general) have a suprisingly good memory. Their short term memory is usually about 3 1/2hrs but their long term memory can span into many months, apparently even years in some cases.
Guppys can also recognise each other (even if they appear the same to us) and also their owner and other familiar people who visit their tank and can remember each others behavior (fish or human) towards each other as well.
Goldfish are pretty intelligent as far as fish go, which also makes sense since they live a very long time (over 40 years in some cases) and grow quite large and lead sociable, active lifestyles and eat a variety of foods (generally speaking, animals which live in large social groups or regularly socialise which each other or survive on a large and varied diet need a higher intelligence to live this way successfully).