Can my fishies see me through the glass?

[bs6749]

My discus can see me 15-20 feet away and they go into "frenzy mode" where they go up and down and left and right hoping that food is coming. It usually is, since I feed my adults 4-5 times per day. All of them will eat out of my hand too. I think they can tell me apart from other people as well.

[Donna]

This also answers my next marrige-dependance-political question then, do fish have a memory longer than the supposed 3 seconds? i'm certain they do, otherwise how could they remember where the food comes from?

P.S. thanks for everyone's replies, it's been interesting learning the different behaviours of other people's fish.

[Mystery]

There are different kinds of memory. Most fish's working memory (used to solve immediate problems) is quite short. But once something gets into their long term memory it can be there for life.

[CichliditisExtremitis]

I have absolutely no doubt that our fish can see us through the glass. I also believe that they are very intelligent, and in some cases, quite the manipulative psychologists. They can communicate with us through their body language -- including strutting and dancing -- and even by the look in their eye. Boy have I received some demanding messages that way!

If you want further proof, consider this:

My main four-foot tank is situated just to the left of my left elbow, as I sit here typing at my computer desk. In other words, my tank is perpendicular to my computer desk, kind of like an upside-down letter "L", where the long part of the "L" is my tank, and the short part of the "L" represents my computer sitting on my computer desk.

Because of this setup, they can see my computer screen, particularly late at night when the house lights are off, and I am typing madly away on a tropical fish messageboard like this one.

Well, if you still are not convinced that our fish can see through the glass, consider the fact that just now, my fish told me to scroll back up the screen because he hadn't finished reading the previous paragraph yet!

Now are you convinced?!

[Zakk]

oh most definatly! they are not really the 3 second memory spans people belive them to have. yes, they do have one of those but like Mystry said, they use that for a quick solution to a problem. my fishes know when it feed time and when i'm just doing something with the tank.

[fisherman876]

off course they can see you through the tank glass...i also have noticed this through all these years of my fish keeping

[Donna]

i feel sorry for my fish now, having to put up with my ugly mug staring at them. (i'm quite short sighted so have to get pretty close, poor guys!)

[CichliditisExtremitis]

One must wonder if they think that we humans are as beautiful as we view them to be beautiful. Or maybe they wonder why we have no gills.

[DragonFish71]

Originally Posted by CichliditisExtremitis

One must wonder if they think that we humans are as beautiful as we view them to be beautiful. Or maybe they wonder why we have no gills.

Or maybe they wonder why they are stuck behind the glass and we can wander freely. lol



But yes, I agree that they can see us. Our cichlids, mainly the Jacks and Firemouths, dang near head butt the glass or the hood for food. I walk by, they meet at the glass. If I ignore them, they splash around. If I keep ignoring them I swear they hit the hood. It's even worse when they see the bag of rosie reds they get every weekend. Our Bettas do a wiggle when they see me. Our rams do the same, but our others, like the tetras, just go about their business. I am the "Food Goddess". Ah the power!

[DizzCat]

do fish have a memory longer than the supposed 3 seconds?

I know they do! Mine react to strangers! If its me or someone who is over a lot (like my daughter) in the room, they go about their business like normal. If someone comes in and they have never seen them before, or only once or twice they all hide and peek out at them from inside their caves. Once that person leaves, as soon as the front door closes, they come out. Another example: one of my cats likes to tease them. Well, I have 5 cats and if any other cat lays in front of the tank my male Red Zebra ignores them. But, if my one cat lays down, he attacks her thru the glass, postures and is just totally wound up until she leaves! He does not do this to any of the other cats! Makes me wonder what the heck she did in the past LOL. So, not only can he see the cat thru the glass, he recognizes her!

My favorite time to watch my fish is after dark with all the lights but the tank lights off. I don't think they can see me as well that way, it turns the tank wall into a mirror of sorts. Its when it is like this that they attack themselves in the glass and get right up in my face to see me better

My son and I had an argument going one time. He insisted that the fish could not hear me. He was staying with me for a couple weeks and he noticed that every time I feed them or just watch them I talk to them. Can't help myself LOL. He insisted that they cannot hear me. But, after watching how they reacted to my voice, he conceded that they can hear me, but they can't understand what I am saying. I will give him that one hahaha

My Mbuna know that a small net means fry time too. When they see a small blue net over the tank above the water they all come to the top waiting. That is why when I add a new fish I have to be careful and put it in with my hand. If I use a net they will go after it, no matter its size.

I have discovered too that Cichlids are much smarter than community fish in these ways. In my planted community tank, it is only my Bolivian Rams who display a knowledge of strangers and such. The other tank mates, Tetras, danios, etc. do not show all these intelligent behaviors. I am not knocking these fish, I love my little guys, just stating my observations.