Do fish have memory?

[Squall]

So my pair of oc. clowns continue to ride the plumbing down to the sump. I have put a cover over the overflow box, put mesh behind the teeth. They have now figured out how to get through the mesh that was blocking the teeth of the overflow box. They tested all along the teeth, and where I couldn't get a tie onto the mesh, they pushed through and got into the box and into the sump. SO, is this just a game and they don't remember what they did the other day. (Yeah this is a daily event of me fishing them out of the sump even with all the barricades.) Or do they remember and think this is one cool roller-coaster ride? I have a 20 long refugium tank that is part of my system that they are now living in till they get bigger because I am tired of ripping apart my sump to fish them out. (They are so small they can swim through the overflow teeth easily). However, my question is, is this an imprinted behavior? When I put them back in the DT will they continue to test the overflow box, or will they outgrow this behavior?

[tsharp90]

Maybe they are trying to get to the pods in your sump? :)

[Agu]

My fish recognize me, I'm the food soon to be in the tank.

They act all friendly and like they really like me.

[Phil125]

Mythbusters Episode 11: Goldfish memory CONFIRMED

[jwalker314]

every morning when im sitting in my computer chair (right next to the tank) every fish swims over to the one corner and waits for breakfast. Other than in the morning they pay no attention to me and scatter when i walk by the tank, so i'd have to say yes, they do have a memory, and as far as your clowns i imagine they are after a snack down there, Im sure the first time they ended up in there was by accident and after that they decided that was the place to be. Good luck keeping them out!

[Gary Majchrzak]

I have a feeling we're going to hear a million fish memory story here!
Long story short: fish have a memory.

But I believe that your clownfish are going down the drain accidentally.
Small clowns will often hang out in the upper portion of an aquarium. Water flow will push them towards an overflow.

It's fairly common IME.

[agreeive?fish]

fish do have memory in my opinion but another thing to look at here also is there a fish in your tank that might be a bully to them and they are taking the daily trip to get to safety??

[TripleT]

fish do have memory in my opinion but another thing to look at here also is there a fish in your tank that might be a bully to them and they are taking the daily trip to get to safety??

Same thought here. What size tank? What else is in it?

Clown pairs favor smooth surfaces to lay eggs on. Maybe if you add a small clay pot or tile they will gravitate to it, instead of your overflow?

Do they appear healthy? Are they breathing normally?

[TripleT]

Or... maybe the female is bullying the male, and he is winding up in the overflow? And then she follows him in there?

Do you notice bickering between them?

[kingfisher62]

" All drains lead to the sea" To quote the finding nemo characters!

[sslak]

Yes.

Fish learn, and remember. Most of the "learning" is encouraged by food, similar to pavlovs dog.

My fish certainly act different when I step up to the tank than they do when guests visit the tank. My mandarin has been trained to eat from a specific spot on my rocks every night when I turn the pumps off and she always goes there right away waiting for food.

Fish certainly do have memory.

[kingfisher62]

Yes.

Fish learn, and remember. Most of the "learning" is encouraged by food, similar to pavlovs dog.

My fish certainly act different when I step up to the tank than they do when guests visit the tank. My mandarin has been trained to eat from a specific spot on my rocks every night when I turn the pumps off and she always goes there right away waiting for food.

Fish certainly do have memory.

Yup, Thats called " conditioned response with positive reinforcement"

[Stuart60611]

Fish definitely recognize people and have memory. When I have guests come over the fish often hide at first when someone new approaches the tank. However, when I approach the tank, especially when the fish are hungary, they all rush to the front glass beging for food. Moroever, whenever I open the freezer, my fish go nuts b/c they know that food may soon follow. Lasly, whenever my fish (especially my dogface) sees the white plastic spoon I use to feed with (even when no food is on the spoon) they go spaztic with excitement b/c they think food is about to hit the water. I agree that obvious signs showing fish memory generally seem to revolve around food. However, I have also noticed that fish remember cetain things about eachother. My fish know eachothers' behavior in the sense that they know that certain areas of the tank are the domain of certain fish. For example, my fish know not to enter a certain cave which my trigger calls home even when my trigger is not in the cave. I will see my fish swim by the cave and look like they are about to enter the cave even when the trigger is not in the cave and then sudenly decide to abort entering the cave once they discover that the triger is watching them. If a fish enters the trigger's cave, the trigger will often dart into the cave and chase the fish out of the cave. They have learned not to enter his home even when he is not in the cave or at least only to do so when out of the trigger's line of sight.

[Squall]

Maybe they do like the pods in the sump. My tank is a 40Breeder, they are the only two fish in the tank, with one skunk shrimp, so nothing to bug them, and the snails leave them alone too :)

They don't seem to recognize food comes from me yet, but probably will with time. I have only had them for four weeks.

Thanks for the responses, I will watch that myth buster episode. The clowns will just have to live in the refugium till they are big enough to be in the main tank.

[Squall]

I don't think that one clown is bullying the other. Both fairly juvenile, one is a bit larger than the other. They hang together in the rock caves and see to swim/stay together where ever in the tank. But I will watch to see if behavior changes.

[Top Water]

My fish like me more . They swim really fast to me and follow me.:celeb1:My fish recognize me, I'm the food soon to be in the tank.

They act all friendly and like they really like me.

[38bill]

I wanted to remove a large Cinnamon clown from my tank. I tried everything I could think of and I finally gave up and decided to use a tiny fish hook and bait. He took it instantly and I had him out of the water in a second but he got off and fell back into the tank. I tried off and on for a year and that fish would not take the bait if it had a hook in it. The hook was so tiny I dont know how he even knew it was there but he did. He remembered that one episode, there is no doubt in my mind. Finally moved him out when I drained the tank during an upgrade. Fresh water fish may not be as smart. My son and I had a one walleye on six times between the two of us in less than 30 minutes. I finally landed the stupid thing and it still had the hook and line in its mouth that it had broken off earlier.

[Meus]

I wanted to remove a large Cinnamon clown from my tank. I tried everything I could think of and I finally gave up and decided to use a tiny fish hook and bait. He took it instantly and I had him out of the water in a second but he got off and fell back into the tank. I tried off and on for a year and that fish would not take the bait if it had a hook in it. The hook was so tiny I dont know how he even knew it was there but he did. He remembered that one episode, there is no doubt in my mind. Finally moved him out when I drained the tank during an upgrade. Fresh water fish may not be as smart. My son and I had a one walleye on six times between the two of us in less than 30 minutes. I finally landed the stupid thing and it still had the hook and line in its mouth that it had broken off earlier.

I rebuttle, I have trained my betta splendens to swim through hoops, jump on comand and to swim in a circle...Maybe its american freshies.:lolspin:

[iamwrasseman]

i also agree that they must have some memory as they always know when i am preparing food . they dont get all that excited when other people are around the tank but they go crazy when i prep food in front of the tank .