Not long after I got my two goldfish, back when they were still tiny little things about an inch long, I began to suspect that the common wisdom did goldfish only have a three second memory was complete bullshit. Apparently the people at Mythbusters agreed and the myth has since been disproven.
Anyway, it always seemed to me that Fish and Other Fish seemed pretty smart for goldfish. Whenever I approached their tank they would swim to the side of it where put their food in, which compelled me to believe that they could remember far longer ago than the last three seconds. That, and the fact that they seem to recognize people. The only other person who feeds them is my mother. If my mother or I walk by their tank they get excited and swim to the front to beg. If my father or brother walk by they ignore them. I later realized that they can see me from a far greater distance than I would’ve suspected, because I noticed that they’ll swim over to see me if I get within three or four feet of their tank, and on one occasion they noticed me a few feet away holding something the same approximate color and size of the their food and swam over to be feed.
All this pales in comparison to their evil genius plot, however. Somehow they’ve figured out how to get my attention: they go to the surface of the tank and open and close their mouths which makes a snapping sound. (I’ve watched to see what they’re doing) At first I thought this was cute, and I’m afraid I’ve encouraged this because it really does remind me when they need to be feed. Lately, they’ve figured out how to make the sound even louder somehow.
Two nights ago they decided that this would be a good way to get me to feed them again a few hours after they’d been feed. I thought they slept in the dark too, but as they startled me out of a sound sleep, I realized that this isn’t necessarily true. I’d hoped it was a one time thing, but they were at it again last night as I tried to sleep. So much for fish being quiet, dumb pets! I’m really hoping that a lack of positive reinforcement in the future will put an end to them waking me up…but I don’t count on it.
I am totally fascinated by your evil genius goldfish!!
Have you told them about your plans for world domination? Where your secret base is? The passwords to your safe? Who your moles are? Have you caught them making Sean Connery-like smirks?
BAND NAME! (Or a good user name)
You could put a scare into them when they wake you up by eating goldfish crackers in front of them. Let them know it’s a warning of what could happen to them if they step out of line.
Some fish can be very smart. Bettas are one of the few tropical fish that will actually recognize their owners/people they see frequently.
Janus, my betta, regularly watches me while I’m cooking or washing dishes (his bowl is on the pass-through bar between my living room and kitchen.) His bowl has a thick mass of those fabric faux plants to hide in, and he frequently will just seem to appear from nowhere. If I walk up to the bowl and it’s kind of dark in the room or he’s been woken, he’ll flare out his gills and come storming out at me. As soon as he realizes it’s me, though, he stops flaring and will dart around wanting food. I’m not quite sure he is able to know his name, but I guess they feel vibrations from voice, because when I come to the bowl and starting talking he’ll dart around and act like he wants food/attention.
One time I put one of my rats next to the bowl – it was fun watching Janus swim down to where she was sitting and just stare at her like he was trying to figure out what it was.
Those tiny weensy goldfish you have could grow into monsters, given time. My grandson won an inch-long goldfish at the fair five years ago. I put him in my 55-gallon tank and fed him and loved him. After a number of years, we started to call him Spike-the-Wonder-Pony! He turned into a plate-sized fish that would slap the surface of the water and/or the sides of the tank if he wanted food. I kid you not, he left a wake on the surface when he cruised the tank…
He died a while back, and I miss the big lug. He used to eat out of my hand (or hoped to eat my hand, I’m not sure which…)
I second the not-believing-in-the-three-second-rule. And I love their names!
My betta, Phil, won’t eat unless I feed him. Fortunately bettas can fast a little without it being a problem, because my mom would happily fishsit, except that the main part of fishsitting is feeding the damn fish.
Bettas are hilarious. So pretty, and such ATTITUDE.
What do you know, withholding positive reenforcement worked! No more feedings in-synch with their noisiness, no more nocturnal noisiness. However, this seems to imply that my fish are smarter than our cats
