trusting fish?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

this may seem like a dumb question but do fish have to develop a certain level of trust amongst their owners? this is realy my first actual community of fish so i dont rly know. I see my fish swimming all over when i first start to come in the room but then they all swim to the back of the tank when they see me. All except my molly that ive had for a while. I have sunburst platty, red fire dwarf gourami (who seems to like staying by the heater) and a red wagtail platy. is there a trust issue?

[cocoa_pleco]

fish DEFINITELY get trust like cats and dogs. some fish even let you pet them once they know you. I find that sailfin mollies get attracted to humans alot

[~Erik3.8.07~]

so im assuming the more u interact with them the quicker they learn to trust u. awesome cause i love my little guys and dont want them to be scared of me. and is it normal for my gourami to stay along the bottom by the heater? the water temp is about 80 degrees

[cocoa_pleco]

if hes constantly there, you may need to worry a bit. else, its fine.


If you feed your fish by hand, that gets trust too. i feed most of my fish by hand

[~Erik3.8.07~]

he was constantly their the first couple of days but seems to come out a little more recently but still spends a lot of time there. this is also where a majority of my decorations are tho. are they rly big hiders?

[cocoa_pleco]

gouramis arent really hiders. i have a godzilla 6" silver gourami in my 55g and hes always out and about

[zackish]

Idk about fish but funny story with my turtle. As soon as I walk into the room he comes to the glass and knows exactly who I am. He is a baby red-earred slider and I have had him for only a little longer than a month. He also knows when it's feeding time when I take the top off and he watches my hand with the green food pellet container when I am holding it. He also will eat out of my hand but you have to be really still.

Kind of amuzing.

[bscman]

How big is your tank? How many watts is your heater? Where is your themometer in realation to heater location?

He could be staying near the heater because that is the warmest part of the tank. I've found it's best to put the heater near the out-flow of the filter. This way it mixes with the warm water and keeps the ENTIRE tank more evenly heated (circulates the heat!). Otherwise, you end up with part of your tank (near the heater) warmer than the other half.
Also, keep your themometer on the opposite side of the tank than the heater to get a more accurate gauge of water temp.

[nanaglen2001]

I thought this thread is about trusting fish, not weird behaving gouramis:c4: :c4:

back to topic then...

My Cichlids and Mollies are "trustingly" (hell I have to look for the right term). I only need to stick my nose into my living room (about a good metre away from the tank) the cichlids and Mollies almost jump out of the tank. But I guess it has more to do with food than with trust.

My cory cats ignore me completely and my "plecos" vanish within a snap when I enter the room.

[NeonJulie]

The first dwarf I got was a stinker... REALLY shy. Hid all the time. (My dad said he only saw him ONE time in his brief life, before he darted behind something. He succombed to ich, sadly.) Anyway, I had to get him used to me. Every day after I stocked the tank, I sat either on the floor in front of the tank, or on my bench I have in the bathroom, for a half hour or longer. After about 6 days he DID get used to me, must have realized I wasn't a threat. But he'd still hide from everyone else.

The new guy, he's not shy at all, although I open the bathroom door slowly because he is kind of jittery, and he'll dart. But he's not afraid of anyone. Unfortunately that means I have to keep an eye on him during water changes - he bites. ><

[~Erik3.8.07~]

How big is your tank? How many watts is your heater? Where is your themometer in realation to heater location?

He could be staying near the heater because that is the warmest part of the tank. I've found it's best to put the heater near the out-flow of the filter. This way it mixes with the warm water and keeps the ENTIRE tank more evenly heated (circulates the heat!). Otherwise, you end up with part of your tank (near the heater) warmer than the other half.
Also, keep your themometer on the opposite side of the tank than the heater to get a more accurate gauge of water temp.

its a 10 gallon tank with a 50 watt heater. and the thermometer is on the opposite wall of the heater and the heater itself is right next to the powerhead so that is circulating the heat

[troy]

My crystal Darter swims to the front of the tank when I come over, usually.

[A340]

I had a few Malawi's in my 29g, when I came into the room, they would go nuts. When my (now ex-) girlfriend came in, no reaction. I had to give them up a while back and now they are swimming in a big display tank at a LFS and they still recognize me when I visit them ... :19: