I have been keeping reef tanks for a few years now and have become very fascinated by fishes tendancy to swim towards the surface at feeding time. a few months ago, i purchased a green wolf eel (congrogadus subducens), which greeted me whenever i entered my fish room. over the next few weeks, using a feeding stick, i inched toward the tip of the stick until it could be handfed. after a fewdays, it swam into my hand.
I have since sold that eel due to the fact that it was too aggressive. Now, i am trying this expirament again, bit this time with a Very large Clarkii clownfish, which is now eating out of my hand, so if everything continues as normal he should be in my hand by next week. Is this at all detrimental to thier health, even though i thuroughly wash my hands before contact?
When I was doing my weekly tank cleaning last week I noticed that my two Perculas were the only fish not hiding from my big scary hands. A reward was in order and I offered them flakes from my hand. Pretty cool. My fire shrimp will also take food from my hand. I don't think I am going to start with tricks though.
Whenever I put my hand in my tank, my cleaner shrimp (one in particular) will always jump on my hand and start cleaning my hand or fingers. It is pretty funny. I did not encourage this or try to get him/her to do this, just started on its own accord.
Whenever I put my hand in my tank, my cleaner shrimp (one in particular) will always jump on my hand and start cleaning my hand or fingers. It is pretty funny. I did not encourage this or try to get him/her to do this, just started on its own accord.
John W.
cleaner shrimp are known for this.
most will do this by instinct without any prompting or "traning"
its kinda fun if you ask me
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I knew someone who got an Oscar to jump through a hoop at feeding time. It just took some training by having the fish swim through the hoop to feed. Over time you slowly move the hoop up.
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One of my koi will come to the edge of my little pond and "roll over" letting me rub his belly. He does this for pellet food. If I don't give him a pellet when HE thinks he deserves it, he quickly rolls back over, splashes me, and dissapears into the deep. If I toss the pellet into the water, he eats it..and comes back to me.
My lionfish actually trained me... whenever I do anything in or near the tank he swims to the surface and waves his dorsal fins all menacingly... then I give in and feed him something... works out nicely, sorta like a mafia payoff... he gets food and i dont get the business end of his fins
thats cool guys i once had a rainbow shark(fresh water fish) that would clean my hand when ever i put it into the tank and aggresivly defend my had from other fish that approached.
He did this on his own i was just carring out maintance and the little guy must have thought my hand looked tasty...
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this thread is great, got some enjoyment out of it!
nice stories everyone. i personally wouldn't worry about the moral high ground of teaching them tricks, we have taken them from the wild anyways, so they aren't at any more risk of becoming domesticated, they already are displaying un-natral behavour, so i say go for it!
i use clean water only for my hands, but thats just me!
i used to have a black ghost knight that become very tame, they are usualy shy as anything, but this one loved attention, i would spread my fingers in the tank and he would rub in between them! i also built a clear tube system so i could see him play!
sadly, he was the last fresh water fish i ever owned, carpet surfed through the smallest gap in the edge of the tank! just thankful the cat missed it!
got to say if u ever want a smart fish - check out mangrove jacks
but on the lighter note it does show though this thread that fish are not simply dumb animals, and that they display inteligence & character
i had a puffer that let me pet him...i adored that fish
i think that is my former puffer, if he lets u scratch his chin, he was difinitely mine!
real men hand feed whole fresh tiger prawns to a pair of HW dragons. i used to be a real man. 3 stitches and 4 stitches later, i learned to use chopsticks.
Teaching fish tricks 
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