Do your fish recognize you?

[Yellow Coris Wrasse]

Do you think your fish recognize you when you approach your aquarium? What are your thoughts?

 

[Skipbacon]

Yes- my yellow tang knows I’m the one who feeds her and starts her dance whenever I go by the tank.

 

[CMMorgan]

Leo (mt Davinci clown) swims to the surface to give me fishy kisses. Even if I don't feed him.... it's the cutest thing ever. Sadly, he gets separation anxiety when I'm gone and freaks out when I come back. He totally hides when my husband comes around.
The big tank .... those fish treat anything that move as a meal ticket.... me, the husband .... the dog.... if we move, they want food.

 

[Critteraholic]

I don't have saltwater fish, just freshwater. I've learned over the years that they not only recognize you but also who is a stranger in the house.

I've had shy fish that stay out for the family, dive into the plants until company leaves.

A friend had a goldfish that would spit marbles against the glass to get attention when company came.

And just because I could, one time I took the time to show the front of the food container to the fish before feeding them. After awhile, they started reacting to their favorites when I showed them the container and giving me their backs when I fed the boring stuff.

I believe fish are smarter than we realize.

 

[Goaway]

They know my family and retreat into hiding when in-laws show up. Wish I could do the same sometimes.

 

[S2G]

They recognize me as the primary bringer of the food, but are pretty bold with most people. My puffers (sw&fw) seem to tell the differences between each person.

 

[blaxsun]

Do you think your fish recognize you when you approach your aquarium? What are your thoughts?

Without a doubt. But to be perfectly honest, I think they recognize the frozen food containers I’m carrying a lot more!

 

[WVNed]

Me, no. But they can tell their food from a camera.
Camera, HIDE.

 

[S2G]

Me, no. But they can tell their food from a camera.
Camera, HIDE.

No kidding. You can do all kinds of things around the tank, but as soon as you pull your phone out....poof

 

[Yellow Coris Wrasse]

I would like to think my fish recognize me, but I just don't know. When I walk by my tank, they react to me. However, I'm afraid they would do the same thing if the UPS man walked by the tank

 

[revenant]

For sure.. when new people are over they hide a lot.. bur for me they’re always swarming near where I am watching from.

 

[Damon Jensen]

My cow fish is a very curious little guy. He likes to watch the dry world and does come to see me with or without food. Cow fish have huge personalities.

 

[Dolphins18]

Very interesting thing to watch, mostly with tangs, but if you take a tank in a common area, the fish will adjust to you and welcome your presence, but a tank at another property, or in a room without much socialization going on, they are scared ime. I had a tank I kept for 2 years (breaking it down tomorrow) that I almost never go near, apart from feeding and top up. The tang in this tank is scared to death of me, I almost never see it, its always out when poking my head around the corner, but as soon as it sees me its gone.

 

[MaxTremors]

My current fish don’t (but they’re still young and relatively new), but I’ve had plenty of fish in the past that did. Everything from tangs, to a dogface puffer (would spit water out of the tank at me), to clowns, to triggers, even had a coral banded shrimp that would get so excited every time I walked by the tank, he’d sort of dance upside down on the surface of the water and eat out of my hand.

 

[ZoWhat]

Absolutely....

If im in the room they all start huddling in the area where I dump the food. Its almost like they have their faces pressed against the glass in anticipation.

They know who feeds them....

 

[dennis romano]

My copperband recognizes me. He sees me, swims to the corner of the tank closest to me and goes crazy. He wags his tail like a puppy. Everyone else is ignored.

 

[Nick Steele]

Not so much my saltwater fish but my freshwater fish definitely know me.

I have two angelfish, cardinal tetras, cherry barbs and a beta in a 55g. The anglerfish regardless of where they are at will come flying to me when I walk in the bedroom and the other fish follow suit. My wife noticed this one day while sitting watching the tank. I thought they did that for everyone as I never paid attention to it. But sure enough a few days later I’m sitting there on my phone all fish are just doing their thing eating little bugs and detritus when wife walks in and no one in the tank noticed and I laughed.