Conclusion. Not only can your aquarium fish hear you speak, but they can also respond to certain sounds, differentiate different types of music, and speak back to you through their body language.
Yes, fish can hear you talk!
Sounds that are created above water typically do not carry enough force to penetrate the surface tension of the water, so talking on the boat or loud noise may not affect fish as much as your fellow anglers may want you to think. Your voice is unlikely to spook or scare fish away.
Surprisingly, science has found that fish are capable of recognizing their owner's face, even if the owner is standing by the tank with other people. Fish can develop an association between something they like, being fed, with the person who feeds them.
However, yes, they can hear your voice.
They can associate sounds with action, though. For example, if you are to say your betta fish's name – let us call him George – each time you sprinkle food in his aquarium, he will eventually associate the sound of “George” with food.
Name your betta and talk to it.
Bettas are sensitive to the vibrations in water caused by sounds such as human voices, which some take as meaning your fish can learn to recognize your voice and its name.
Researchers have found that fish recognize each other and gather information by eavesdropping. They're capable of remembering past social interactions that they've had with other fish, and they show affection by rubbing against each other.
Tapping on fish tank glass scares fish simply because it bewilders and disorients them. They have no idea what's going on, and all of a sudden they hear an overwhelming tapping sound that's completely puzzling to them.
Can your pet fish recognize your face? A new study says, Yes, it probably can. Researchers studying archerfish found the fish can tell a familiar human face from dozens of new faces with surprising accuracy.
Fish Have Feelings, Too: The Inner Lives Of Our 'Underwater Cousins' : The Salt Jonathan Balcombe, author of What A Fish Knows, says that fish have a conscious awareness — or "sentience" — that allows them to experience pain, recognize individual humans and have memory.
Fish-keepers sometimes see their pets 'glass surfing' – swimming repeatedly up and down the glass of the tank. This could be the aquatic equivalent of the pacing of a captive tiger that's bored from a lack of stimulation. But the fish could also be stressed from an overcrowded or unfamiliar tank.
According to Balcombe, some fish (though certainly not all) do actually enjoy being touched by humans.
Groupers are not the only fish that enjoy being petted, it seems. According to videos on YouTube, other species of fish that appear to like the interaction include koi, cichlid and discus fish.
The cerebral cortex and limbic system are absent in fish. Cerebral cortex, which is what permits other animals to cry.
Fish is extremely sensitive to low-frequency vibrations, below some 10s of Herz. If the sound source is sufficiently intense, fish usually respond by swimming away from the source. The reason for this is probably that low frequency sounds usually indicates an approaching predator.
Several studies on fishes have shown that behaviour and auditory sensitivity are often affected by underwater noise.
Certain fish species can sometimes become aggressive and hard to control. Fish that don't live in the right environment tend to be very aggressive. It's essential that you know why certain species are aggressive before you add them to your aquarium.
In captivity, it's strongly recommended that they should be kept at least in pairs, to provide companionship. If you watch fish in a tank, you'll see that they regularly engage with other fish. It's thought that solitary fish, much like solitary humans, may begin to suffer from depression and lethargy.
They quickly learn to recognize their human companions, they know when feeding time is, and they get excited when you approach their aquarium.
To stimulate your fish's brain, give it toys like floating rocks and caves for it to hide in. You can even train your fish to do tricks like swim through a hoop or jump out of the water with a little practice. Keeping your fish healthy and active will help you enjoy your fish for longer.
The wild wriggling and squirming fish do when they're hooked and pulled from the water during catch-and-release fishing isn't just an automatic response—it's a conscious reaction to the pain they feel when a hook pierces their lips, jaws, or body.
As well as getting water through osmosis, saltwater fish need to purposefully drink water in order to get enough into their systems. Where their freshwater counterparts direct all of the water that comes into their mouths out through their gills, saltwater fish direct some into their digestive tract.
Besides being able to see their prey and recognize their owners, fish also can see a range of colors, since they have color receptors in their eyes. Many species of fish can also see ultraviolet light, which humans can't.
The same noise level in the air could lead to serious hearing damage over time. And fish have it even worse: since the sound pressure is four times higher under water than it is in the air, a good portion of deaths in public aquarium can be traced back to repeated tapping on the glass.
Municipal/Tap Water
Most municipalities treat drinking water with either chlorine or chloramine for disinfection purposes. Chlorine is extremely toxic to fish and needs to be completely removed before the water comes in contact with fish. Chloramine is chlorine bonded to ammonia, both of which are detrimental to fish.