Can my fishies see me through the glass?

[OmniTranz]

I definitely agree. My oscars not only know when it's me, but my albino specifically likes my wife. They will all hide behind the rocks and sulk when any of my neighbors, or particularly neighbor kids, come to look at them. It took my red tail cat more than a week to be comfortable coming out of his cave when I was watching (I have a chair set about 5' away)...Initially I could only watch him from the staircase about 40' away.

They also know the difference between feeding and water changing time. When I feed them I just lift the front of the lid and when I do water changes I take the lid off. If I lift the lid they'll all rise to the surface and wait for their pellets/crickets/minnows and if I'm not fast enough with their food sometimes my fingers too!

As to sound, it's hard to say how well they can hear, but I like the analogy of someone talking to you while your head is under water in the tub. They definitely feel the reverberations and can distinguish different voices/sounds/patterns. When fishing as a kid in crystal clear Colorado rivers and ponds, we'd always low crawl to the edge of the water and be sure not to make a single sound - not only could the trout see you coming but they could hear your footsteps and voice as well!

[CichliditisExtremitis]

Hello OmniTranz. Thanks for the interesting post. The general consensus here definitely seems to be that our fish can see us, and to some degree understand our actions, and possibly hear us as well. I am not too sure of the latter point yet, as I haven't personally experimented with it yet.

[Talon242]

I agree with others fish definitely can see you. My guppies flock towards the corner for food when I go near the tank.

My old angelfish used to follow my finger back and forth across the front of the tank, fun stuff!

[Sweets1023]

Think they actually see you or sense the the vibrations of your movement? (lateral line)

[CichliditisExtremitis]

Originally Posted by Sweets1023

Think they actually see you or sense the the vibrations of your movement? (lateral line)

I think that God gave them eyes for a reason.

[spoonman]

Is this picture evidence that they can see us? This is my daughter. She is the one that feeds them most of the time. Every time she gets near the tank they flock over to say "HI".

[Yellow Eye Tang]

Cool thread hearing everyones stories. Ya know I heard a report on the radio real quick as I was driving talking about a new study that spoke of fish intelligence. I remember hearing that they were a lot smarter than previously thought. It was a quick report but I see there intelligence every day in my tank. I've also noticed when my rainbow shark chases the mickey mouse moon I can CLAP real loud and he will lay off. Tends to scare the others tho in the process. It makes me wonder if I had a bigger / deeper tank if that would still work.

[Brad S]

Originally Posted by Yellow Eye Tang

... I've also noticed when my rainbow shark chases the mickey mouse moon I can CLAP real loud and he will lay off. Tends to scare the others tho in the process. It makes me wonder if I had a bigger / deeper tank if that would still work.

Sure it would. You might have to get some of those big "number one" hand things (big hand w/index finger sticking up. Not the other finger!) you see at the football games and smack them together but...