Training Goldfish

[theotheragentm]

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Is this cruel? We teach dogs tricks. Why can't fish do tricks based on operant conditioning? I don't know if I'd like my fish rubbing against object in the tank though. What do you guys think?

 

[Phoenixphire55]

aw thats so cool! But yeah, I also wonder if it'd make them drop scales or something

 

[CatatonicBug]

The problem is that it's been proven that goldfish have literally a 3 second memory. Not exactly a good formula for tricks...

 

[jsoong]

Nah, goldfish can be trained .... and they have much better memory than 3 sec (according to Mythbuster episode!.)

At any rate, we all train our fish to a certain extend. My goldies knows it it feeding time when they see me, and will go to the specific spot where the food will be dropped. They are also trained to come to eat off my hand.

At the Mythbuster episode I saw, they managed to train goldfish to go through a series of gates (maze) to get to food; and showed memory effect when they returned the fish to the same setup a week later and it went through the same series of gates without further training.

 

[theotheragentm]

Can you imagine if you taught one fish to push the ball into a blue goal and another to push into a red goal? Then you could create the Fish Olympics.

 

[Phoenixphire55]

goldfish do not have a three second memory, thats probably restricted to bugs and stuff. Goldfish know that humans bring them food so they have to have some sort of longterm memory

 

[warped1]

Great - When we can train them to get my slippers and newspaper I think we will be on to something

 

[Karegg]

Watching a couple of those videos makes me think it would be next to impossible to train a fish without insanely overfeeding it. From what I can tell, you guide it with the food wand (a tasty morsel at the end of a stick) to do the tricks. Upon completion, you let the fish have a nibble and repeat. But after 10, 20, 30 reps of a trick, I'm pretty sure your fish wouldn't be feeling too good.

But, it's still pretty sweet for sure

 

[QTOFFER]

That is really cool, but I wonder how long it takes to train a fish.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You can definitely train fish and IMO they have a memory longer than 3 seconds. When I walk over to the 55, all of the fish swim to the top of the right side of the tank. It's like clockwork. They know they are about to be fed.

 

[Sahabo]

Can you imagine if you taught one fish to push the ball into a blue goal and another to push into a red goal? Then you could create the Fish Olympics.

I can see it now...

 

[Innovator]

Professionally speaking, most fish can be successfully target trained (reward system) and usually delves into feeding strategies and medical procedures. I do not see why the average hobbyist could not do the same with patience and dedication.

 

[jadedragen]

goldfish have a memory of about 3months

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I have a memory of about 6 minutes so they have me beat.