Enrichment for the fish???

[anabechara]

Hello everyone!
I am wondering if you guys know a way to provide enrichment / exciting experiences for my fish.

I have a 45G tank with 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 gold midas blenny, 1 longnose hawkfish and 2 banggai cardinal.

I would like to help them have some fun to make their lives happier.
If there is such a thing, I would really appreciate if you guys could share some information!

Thank you in advance!
Ana.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Lots of hideouts and a nice anemone for the clowns might make them happy...also feeding live food such as white worms which you can culture might be fun for them to catch as they wriggle around in the water (not only highly nutritious but also what I'd imagine fish would find to be fun!)

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Lots of caves
Lots of variety in food offerings
Keep your water immaculate
Don't overstock the tank.

 

[anabechara]

Lots of caves
Lots of variety in food offerings
Keep your water immaculate
Don't overstock the tank.

I do offer 4 different types of shrimp. And 2 kinds of pellets. I like to think I have tons of hiding places and I do my best to keep the tank super clean!

would you offer all the foods at the same time? Or maybe one by one?

 

[anabechara]

Lots of hideouts and a nice anemone for the clowns might make them happy...also feeding live food such as white worms which you can culture might be fun for them to catch as they wriggle around in the water (not only highly nutritious but also what I'd imagine fish would find to be fun!)

I want to get an anemone when the tank is a bit older and more mature. I am concerned tho with aggression. I have read that clowns can become very territorial when they have an anemone...
I don't handle the death of fish very well, so now I am hesitant on getting the anemone because of that...
My last addition to the tank was a pair of banggai cardinal and last night the big one killed the smaller one... I don't know why. They were doing well for 5 days in there... it is always super hard for me to see a fish die slowly...

 

[Thomas Jedlicka]

Hello everyone!
I am wondering if you guys know a way to provide enrichment / exciting experiences for my fish.

I have a 45G tank with 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 gold midas blenny, 1 longnose hawkfish and 2 banggai cardinal.

I would like to help them have some fun to make their lives happier.
If there is such a thing, I would really appreciate if you guys could share some information!

Thank you in advance!
Ana.

I change up what I feed, move around the aquascape. fish tend to be a little more easy going than more intelligent creatures such as octopus.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I want to get an anemone when the tank is a bit older and more mature. I am concerned tho with aggression. I have read that clowns can become very territorial when they have an anemone...
I don't handle the death of fish very well, so now I am hesitant on getting the anemone because of that...
My last addition to the tank was a pair of banggai cardinal and last night the big one killed the smaller one... I don't know why. They were doing well for 5 days in there... it is always super hard for me to see a fish die slowly...

I understand and am sorry to hear about your cardinal...i still think white worms are probably fun for fish to catch as they wriggle around so they'd probably love that

 

[anabechara]

I change up what I feed, move around the aquascape. fish tend to be a little more easy going than more intelligent creatures such as octopus.

I wouldn't be able to move the aquascape. Unless it was a most... it took me a while to get it to where I was happy with it... plus all my fishies have their spot... wouldn't that be the cause for anxiety for them?

 

[anabechara]

I understand and am sorry to hear about your cardinal...i still think white worms are probably fun for fish to catch as they wriggle around so they'd probably love that

Thank you. It is very sad for me to loose a fish.
I have an issue with feeding other love animals... but I will totally look into this white worms and see if I can handle that! Thank you!!!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Enrichment with small fish seems like it may be a bit more difficult than with some of the larger, more aggressive fish or creatures like mantis shrimp, but the quote and linked thread below have some ideas that might be able to be adapted successfully for smaller fish enrichment (you'd probably need to scale them down pretty intensively though):

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
Full disclosure, I don't have a mantis shrimp (at least, not yet - I might in the future), but for most animals, I look at cat and bird toys for some inspiration on how to provide them with some good, quality enrichment. So, my first thought would be some kind of food puzzle toy - though, I'm not sure what kind of food puzzle would work well for a mantis shrimp. Maybe the whiffle ball kind where the food is in the center and falls out of the holes when knocked around properly (you'd need a very durable &/or flexible ball for this, though, as it would likely be punched/speared repeatedly). If the food puzzle works or you want to try a different kind, there are plenty out there, and you can be as eccentric or mundane with them as you want.

Another thing you could try (I have no idea if the mantis would go for it or not) would be one of those bell/rattle ball toys (obviously you'd want one with no metal that can take a fair amount of abuse).

Also, while blaxsun's comment above was clearly intended to be humorous, you could actually try it in a variety of forms, and it might actually work. You could hang the "punching bag" in the tank a ways away from the walls and have it be either a rattle toy that sounds when "punched" or a food puzzle toy (you could do something like a mesh bag with food inside that either cuts open when speared, or one with wide enough holes that some food comes out when it's "punched" - you'd want to keep an eye on any mesh though, just to make sure the mantis doesn't get stuck, so this would be a "with supervision" toy until you've tested it enough to feel it's safe). Or, you could even have it be both a rattle and food puzzle (just put the rattle portion at the very top or very bottom would be my suggestion).

Again, not having a mantis, I have no idea if they would go for any of these toys or not, but I'd be interested to know if you decide to try any of them.

Trigger stimulation, how do you prevent boredom?

I've got a juvi Blue Throat, maybe ~4 inches, and recently he's been spitting water around the tank even after I've fed. I feed 4 times daily so I highly doubt food is the goal here. I've read they can do this when bored or are just messing around. Moving around the rock work has been suggested...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Rmckoy]

Hi Ana and welcome to r2r
Besides feeding , and a healthy clean environment I am trying to think of if fish actually get depressed and need more excitement from time to time .

you could dose vodka ( carbon dose ) Friday nights ?
joking ……

pictures are always welcome . And possibly help offer suggestions

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I vary the food and also the time I feed, to avoid routine. They have tons of hiding places, and occasionnaly change the place of a rock or 2. If you have several fish and a few different species, I thing they also entertain each other.

 

[anabechara]

Hi Ana and welcome to r2r
Besides feeding , and a healthy clean environment I am trying to think of if fish actually get depressed and need more excitement from time to time .

you could dose vodka ( carbon dose ) Friday nights ?
joking ……

pictures are always welcome . And possibly help offer suggestions

Actually I have been reading about fish and feelings of pain and stress and the research shows that fish could actually feel joy over certain events... also they do feel pain but kot in the way we as humans interpret it... so if one can feel joy I am guessing one could also feel sadness or depression.
So... I do my best to keep the water as clean as I possibly can. I do water changes every week religiously. I try to feed good stuff and mix it up to keep it interesting.
And I talk to them. Every day I talk to each of my fish and my corals. I know that might be controversial as to the benefits of it. But there are many scientific papers on how words and intentions can affect animals and plants.
Attached some of my fish and my little tank.

 

[Rmckoy]

Actually I have been reading about fish and feelings of pain and stress and the research shows that fish could actually feel joy over certain events... also they do feel pain but kot in the way we as humans interpret it... so if one can feel joy I am guessing one could also feel sadness or depression.
So... I do my best to keep the water as clean as I possibly can. I do water changes every week religiously. I try to feed good stuff and mix it up to keep it interesting.
And I talk to them. Every day I talk to each of my fish and my corals. I know that might be controversial as to the benefits of it. But there are many scientific papers on how words and intentions can affect animals and plants.
Attached some of my fish and my little tank.

This is very interesting .
I also talk to my fish sometimes similar to the way I communicate with my dog .