So I have had my first peacock gudgeons for about a month now...4

[Effluorescence]

and I LOVE them,
they are so beautiful and sweet. They are very interactive too, they will come up to the glass and make eye contact (one in particular does more often) their personalities are so diverse.

I was thinking about breeding them after they were adults because they are a unique fish that is not sold frequently in my region so the demand is there because they would fit wonderfully into peaceful aquariums.

I want to treat them but not by feeding them all the time, How do you enrich your fish?

 

[Andy Sager]

and I LOVE them,
they are so beautiful and sweet. They are very interactive too, they will come up to the glass and make eye contact (one in particular does more often) their personalities are so diverse.

I was thinking about breeding them after they were adults because they are a unique fish that is not sold frequently in my region so the demand is there because they would fit wonderfully into peaceful aquariums.

I want to treat them but not by feeding them all the time, How do you enrich your fish?

Generally, once a fish knows where their food comes from ( that big blob outside the part of the tank they can't go through ) fish will either go to a spot or come to the blob expecting food. There is feeding and there is overfeeding. You could feed the fish 3, 4, even 10 times a day but the more often you feed them, the smaller the amount of food should be fed at each feeding. With that said, you could use a single feeding to feed something special vs their regular diet as a treat. As for " enriching", keep in mind that a fish's life is basically finding food, finding a mate for procreating and keeping themselves from getting killed and eaten. Everything they do in nature or in a tank is all based around those 3 things. People like to anthropomorphize fish but they just don't think that way. Fish do not school for finding friends but for protection. Fish do not give up a piece of food to another fish because they want to be nice. If they do it, it's because they either couldn't swallow it the first time or it wasn't to their liking or the other fish outsmarted them while they were trying to make the piece more swallowable. Fish do not interact with you because they think you want to be friends. They do so because you give them food. So, if you set up a tank properly for that specie, it will have all the " enrichment" it needs to live a happy life.
Of course there are always exceptions. For example, I had one Oscar that when I put my hand in the tank, would cuddle inside it. Why did he do it? I haven't the foggiest idea. I raised thousands of Oscars and this was the only one that did that. I had an Angelfish that when I came to the tank, would come up to the surface to have his nose scratched. Why? Again, I have no idea. I have put over a million angelfish on to the marketplace over my career and only one did that. So there are always exceptions but they are rare. So if you want to make a connection with your fish, I would stick with food treats or just trying to interact with them. If you do this by putting your hand in the tank, always make sure you don't have any soap or perfume residue on your skin. Maybe your fish will climb onto your finger? Maybe it will like to take a bite of it. :^0 You won't know until the fish does what it's going to do.

 

[Effluorescence]

Generally, once a fish knows where their food comes from ( that big blob outside the part of the tank they can't go through ) fish will either go to a spot or come to the blob expecting food. There is feeding and there is overfeeding. You could feed the fish 3, 4, even 10 times a day but the more often you feed them, the smaller the amount of food should be fed at each feeding. With that said, you could use a single feeding to feed something special vs their regular diet as a treat. As for " enriching", keep in mind that a fish's life is basically finding food, finding a mate for procreating and keeping themselves from getting killed and eaten. Everything they do in nature or in a tank is all based around those 3 things. People like to anthropomorphize fish but they just don't think that way.

Fish do not school for finding friends but for protection. Fish do not give up a piece of food to another fish because they want to be nice. If they do it, it's because they either couldn't swallow it the first time or it wasn't to their liking or the other fish outsmarted them while they were trying to make the piece more swallowable. Fish do not interact with you because they think you want to be friends. They do so because you give them food. So, if you set up a tank properly for that specie, it will have all the " enrichment" it needs to live a happy life.
Of course there are always exceptions. For example, I had one Oscar that when I put my hand in the tank, would cuddle inside it. Why did he do it? I haven't the foggiest idea. I raised thousands of Oscars and this was the only one that did that. I had an Angelfish that when I came to the tank, would come up to the surface to have his nose scratched. Why? Again, I have no idea. I have put over a million angelfish on to the marketplace over my career and only one did that. So there are always exceptions but they are rare. So if you want to make a connection with your fish, I would stick with food treats or just trying to interact with them. If you do this by putting your hand in the tank, always make sure you don't have any soap or perfume residue on your skin. Maybe your fish will climb onto your finger? Maybe it will like to take a bite of it. :^0 You won't know until the fish does what it's going to do.

I disagree to a degree,

"Fish do not interact with you because they think you want to be friends"

Fish become friends with eachother for the same reasons mammals do, safety in numbers. It's not a anthropomorphic thing, it is an evolutionary adaptation to take advantage of a group to increase survivability. If there is a psychological prompt (feelings of safety and contentedness) to encourage grouping behavior it is retained genetically and carried forward. This psychological mechanism to facilitate grouping behavior is not unique to people or mammals, it's a behavior found across the animal kingdom as a result of co-evolution with predators

I don't think the fish wants to be my friend, but I do think it's cool that it recognizes me. I've gotten more eye contact from this fish than I do with many hamsters I care for so they notice me as an individual and that is cool enough. My catfish don't make eye contact ever or perceive the outside of the tank, and the guppy does sometimes but he never lingers like the gudgeon, it's one in particular and the other hangs back. I've started giving them sticks with a veggie piece on it occasionally. I just love spending time with them, I am having so much fun watching them mess around and grow

My thoughts about your oscar are it probably felt pleasurable to feel pressure on its scales in the same way it might rub on a rock a little bit for the stimulation.

Enrichment wise you have a good point, my ideas were a shrimp colony because baby shrimps would be a fun to chase and capture for the fish. I have plenty of hiding spots, they seem ok, I just love maxxing out habitats for my animals. I want their quality of life to be topnotch

 

[Andy Sager]

Well, we can call it any way you'd like. I don't believe they have a " friend" desire more than a safety desire. Any fish or thing can become that place of safety.
My studying of fish just past 59 years so I have a good idea how most of them think and do things. I also have over 45 years in the pet business so I had to do a lot of learning along the way.

Yes, fish recognize people but they recognize people who feed them or are in more frequent view of them. Case in point, you could walk into the room where your tank is and the fish may come to the front of the tank because they think you are going to feed them while a stranger could come into the same room under the same conditions and the fish all hide. How you want to call that is up to you. I'm not going to argue that point. Why your other fish do not interact with you is up for debate. I have not had a similar experience with the species you mentioned. In my hatcheries, everybody came to the front of the tank when they saw me coming. I AM that blob that feed them.