# Goldfish intelligence



## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Are goldfish actually smart? :shock: Maestro loves coming up to to the front of the tank when he sees me


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

Have you checked out r2fishschool on YouTube?

Goldfish are highly trainable!


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I always thought they were dumb little things


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

He's hungry. They are always hungry.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

He plays with the bottle cap in my tank, he likes to nudge it with his nose. x3


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

Did you look on YouTube?

Highly trainable.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Following around a piece of food, what a genius. :lol:


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

They are very smart you can train them tricks and they can recognize individuals


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

They can play soccer and basketball :lol:


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

registereduser said:


> They can play soccer and basketball :lol:


Bettas do that too. I plan to someday build a 10 gallon just for that.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I am afraid when I rehome him, he will be sad.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Why would a fish be sad?


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Olympia said:


> Why would a fish be sad?


Because I have been his caregiver for almost 2 months.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I don't think he will be sad..


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

You can visit.

I rehomed a gorgeous black/turquoise betta in 2005 to one of my friends bc she really wanted him and the friend I'd originally gifted him to just didn't take care of him at all.


The initial friend was an officemate and I took care of him along with the fish on my desk. Then I went away for almost a month. I left treated water and detailed instructions.

When I came back, He was close to death.

So I rehomed him. And whenever I'd visit he would do an especially acrobatic dance for me!

"He never does that for anyone else!" 

He lived until 2010. He was pretty big so probably a year old in 2004 at the time of his purchase.

Even if fish feel sadness, like human beings their emotions will pass.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I will be sad :lol: He is a good boy


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Just think, he will live in a pond with other goldfish!


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

And a few koi.


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

Ponds are awesome!

They get so much oxygen and natural stimulation!


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

He is getting so big, he is about 3" now


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Great fish learn trust you feed them they love you a goldfish can grow one foot and live 20 years sounds great for a large pond. Think you can see the goldfish is the pond.


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

A 13 inch goldfish was caught in a pond in Englad! They estimated he was over 10years old!


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

BettaQi said:


> A 13 inch goldfish was caught in a pond in Englad! They estimated he was over 10years old!


That is not very old considering record is 43 years. I have heard of 2 foot goldfish.


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## MsGita (Apr 24, 2012)

I've seen the videos for r2fishschool. It's not the fish that are a genius, it's the guy who created that "program" and is making money from it! lol


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## mkayum (Jul 5, 2012)

Of course, they are very intelligent! I had a few goldfish but some decided to jump out of the water... I stopped keeping them BUT when I move out, I'll be sure to get a Wakin. c:


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> That is not very old considering record is 43 years. I have heard of 2 foot goldfish.


Chocolate, I am trying to remember that your communication skills are different from mine.

Just to inform you gently, this message comes across as mildly confrontational due to this phrase "that is not very old considering record of 43 years."

While you might not mean to be hostile, I had to pause and remind myself that you have stated that you do not have the same perceptions as other people and sometimes you are in your eyes just putting across factual information and are actually trying to learn to connect with people.

With this in mind I googled and found a great article about a fish caught in Kentucky which is HUGE! So thanks for spurring more research on my part.

http://skeeter747.hubpages.com/hub/Eastern-Kentucky-Biggest-Gold-Fish


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

That is not a goldfish. That's a gold colored bighead carp. Same family, but different species. Bigheads are the ones that are invasive in the Mississippi River. Goldfish are known to live 25+ years (in ponds, lifespan is shorter in tanks) and grow to 32 cm (13 in) according to Fishbase.org. Hobbyist report some up to 18 inches. 

As for their intelligence, they aren't as stupid as people make them out to be. Mine remembered me as their caretaker after I had been on vacation for two months. Scientific studies seem to indicate that three months are about the maximum capacity they have for memory. Little longer than the average 3-second that most people tout.


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

thekoimaiden said:


> That is not a goldfish. That's a gold colored bighead carp. Same family, but different species. Bigheads are the ones that are invasive in the Mississippi River. Goldfish are known to live 25+ years (in ponds, lifespan is shorter in tanks) and grow to 32 cm (13 in) according to Fishbase.org. Hobbyist report some up to 18 inches.
> 
> As for their intelligence, they aren't as stupid as people make them out to be. Mine remembered me as their caretaker after I had been on vacation for two months. Scientific studies seem to indicate that three months are about the maximum capacity they have for memory. Little longer than the average 3-second that most people tout.


Interesting -- I had looked at a goldfish study that involved inducing lesions on their brains in an attempt to locate which neurological center was responsible for memory.

I guess the reporter and fact checker for that little paper didn't have enough information to write a more accurate account.


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## TheCrabbyTabby (Jul 7, 2012)

Mythbusters proved that goldfish can and will learn a certain set of behaviors with an appropriate award, i.e. food, as their goal. They also have far longer than the commonly thought 3 second memory.


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

TheCrabbyTabby said:


> Mythbusters proved that goldfish can and will learn a certain set of behaviors with an appropriate award, i.e. food, as their goal. They also have far longer than the commonly thought 3 second memory.


That's a cool show.


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## harleraven (Sep 4, 2012)

I had goldfish as a kid, and they always seemed a lot smarter than people gave them credit for. They definitely seemed to recognize me. I rather like the little guys, and I would love to have a pond someday.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

BettaQi said:


> Interesting -- I had looked at a goldfish study that involved inducing lesions on their brains in an attempt to locate which neurological center was responsible for memory.
> 
> I guess the reporter and fact checker for that little paper didn't have enough information to write a more accurate account.


It also could have been the memory length studies were done after the brain lesion studies. The studies that I'm referencing are relatively new having been done in the past 10 years.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Do goldfish always nibble on stuff?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

:lol: Yes. Mine love grazing on the algae that coats the back wall and picking through the substrate for left over morsels.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

xD Maestro loves doing that to the sand


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## TheCrabbyTabby (Jul 7, 2012)

I recently heard that goldfish don't have a stomach and need to constantly graze to stay alive. Good thing our pond has plenty of algae and bits of organic detritus on the substrate. Oh, and the fry are eaten every spring when they spawn, save the occasional one or two.


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

the "three second memory" myth was most likely originally concocted to make people feel less guilty about putting them in tiny bowls. i remember hearing as a kid that "their memory only lasts three seconds, so by the time they swim around the bowl they think they're somewhere new!"


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