My fish can tell time!!!!

[Rfsmith4]

Has anyone ever had fish seem to know when dinner time is. I have a auto feeder that feeds every day. About 15 min before dinner they all start hovering underneath the auto feeder. Crazy thing is I just put a Midas Blenny in yesterday and he's already there waiting too. Kinda think they
let the knew guy know. Jk. If you have any story's share.... Crazy thing to see everyday.

 

[cymonous]

Saltwater fish are smart! The blenny may just be sticking with the "group" since they all gathered at the same spot.

 

[juggalogentry]

at the moment i dont have a timer for my lights, i usually stay right on track with the schedule manually tho, and there was one time i forgot to turn the whites on for about fifteen minutes, and they were all already awake as if the lights would have kicked on

 

[PatW]

It has to do with circadian rhythms. The part of the brain that handles it is very old. I think that fish have as good a time sense as we have assuming we are not cheating and referring to time pieces.

 

[mainereefer]

I train all my fish.. I tap on the glass at feeding time, now I can go up to my tank anytime tap on the glass and they all come running.

I hate it when someone says check out my fish then it hides when someone comes up to the tank

 

[Bernie21]

I train all my fish.. I tap on the glass at feeding time, now I can go up to my tank anytime tap on the glass and they all come running.

I hate it when someone says check out my fish then it hides when someone comes up to the tank

That's awesome... I'm going to start doing that now. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Squishie89]

Sort of relevant. My tank is about 10 feet away from my living room/bird room where my 4 birds (3 parrots, 1 finch) live. At 10pm the whites turn off and it is just blues, I also start the evening bird chores at 10pm. The birds know when the white lights go off it is time for them to come out and will screech at me to remind me if I am running late.

 

[leptang]

My fish are always waiting for me to feed them at 4pm when i get home from work, the fish start going crazy as i walk up to the tank to feed them. They furiously eat all the food. Ill wait around an hour to clean the glass with a scrubber, as i walk up to my tank they dive into the rocks for cover before i even touch the scrubber. Then ill feed them again an hour before the lights go out, the fish goes nuts as i walk up with the food. They know whats up!

 

[bobstir]

had a melanarus wrasse that would bury himself at the same time every day. He would do this regardless of whether or not the lights went off. Every day at ~6:30 pm, he was nowhere to be found. I don't have him anymore as i took down that tank and gave him away, but it was super cool.

 

[pickupman66]

mine have always been beggars and in my 180, they could see the refrierator/freezer where I kept the food. in the evenings, I would have 4 large tangs, 2 large butterflies, 2 clowns, 2 wrasses and assorted other fish all crammed into a 5 gallon area of my 180 watching me dig in the fridge...

 

[gemini9]

I train all my fish.. I tap on the glass at feeding time, now I can go up to my tank anytime tap on the glass and they all come running.

I hate it when someone says check out my fish then it hides when someone comes up to the tank

Good idea!

 

[Eckolancer]

mine have always been beggars and in my 180, they could see the refrierator/freezer where I kept the food. in the evenings, I would have 4 large tangs, 2 large butterflies, 2 clowns, 2 wrasses and assorted other fish all crammed into a 5 gallon area of my 180 watching me dig in the fridge...

Mine as well. I also have an afs when that kicks in all the fish swim to it freaking out waiting for the pellets to drop. My CBB is always hungry and following thing that is by the tank.

 

[WindeyD]

I feed mostly pellets out of a shot glass and tap the rim of the tank a few times before feeding. Operant conditioning works well, The fish and shrimp know their dinner bell. I use this technique to distract my cleaner shrimp so I can feed my acans without his thievery. Pavlov would be proud!