Don't fish get bored?

Question

I got some fish in the pond and also in a tank in the house, and I was just thinking to myself the other day... don't they get bored?

I mean all they do is just swim around aimlessly in the same bit of water all day, the only other things being eating once a day and occasionally trying to hump each other.

Is that really enough to keep them amused? Or is boredom only a human trait?

Answer 1

I don't think they'd get bored. They're fish. They're supposed to swim around aimlessly ALL the time. lol! If you wanna spruce things up and get 'em more active, add a... shark... or something. lol!

Answer 2

Boredom is a human characteristic. Animals don't have human characteristic.

In the wild a fish has to be constantly alert. Ponds and tanks, without a predator, that just means it has one thing less to be alert about.

Sad the way people have gotten. Thinking animals are like humans. A human can be an animal, shared characteristics, animal like behavior, but an animal cant be like a human. Never bored, always something to do. Eat, escape or reproduce.

There is a lot of error in what some call memory versus instinct. Fish don't have to have memories to return to a spawning area. All it needs are the proper environmental clues to feed it's instincts. The fish is programed. It simply reacts to steps within the program. Just like your computer does. If it is programed properly.

Answer 3

If you watch them often enough especially shoaling species like neons you will find that they aren't aimlessly swimming! They play tag with each other, they constantly search for food, they court each other, they fight occassionally, they know what they're doing even if to you it looks like aimless swimming around! A bored fish like a sick one would not move!
My cat fish spend hours swimming against the current of the filter and then letting it push them to the far side of the tank. Once in calm water they go back and do it again! They don't need to do it as they aren't a species from fast flowing waters and since getting them some of the neons have started doing the same thing. What would you call it?

Answer 4

i think they can get a type of boredom. fish do need stimulus to keep active, hence appreciating decor to swim around, sit on, hide in and underneath. especially the more curious fish such as bettas and dwarf puffers. fish can see outside the tank, all my bettas are straight at the front of the tank when i'm in the room, watching my every move, seeing if there's any food to be had.

shoaling fish keep themselves occupied with each other, chasing, humping, finding food in the substrate, picking at decor for any munchies to be had there. and when someone is in the room, seeing if they have any food. even my endlers all come to the front and fight for my attention.

Answer 5

You have to have the mental capacity to be bored. Fish don't have a whole lot going on in the brains department. Everytime around the fishbowl is brand new to them. By contrast dogs and cats are smart enough to get bored but they require less stimulation than people to keep amused.

Answer 6

no one can know for sure if fish can get bored,scientist claim various things due to extentive research,but all that they can go is on behaviour patterns from that research.
many people believe that fish only have a 3 sec memory but recent research shows that they actually have a 3 month memory.
they say that they can teach fish to distinguish between different times of the day and also follow a routine,like collecting food at certain times of the day.
but can we tell if they get bored???
no we cant.. only the fish know for sure!

Answer 7

They would just be swimming around aimlessly in the wild. That 3 second memory thing was invented by the guy who made round fish bowls because people asked him the same question. They have longer memories but it doesn't seem to bother them all that much.

Answer 8

I have heard that fish have no brains so without brains I don't think they can get bored. Besides, that's the only life they have ever known, just swimming aimlessly.

Answer 9

I think it's possible, a lot of people say they only have a ten second or lass attention spans, then how do they know your going to feed them? My fish know when it's time to eat! Or is that just instinct! I don't believe they think like us but how do we really know? My fish do have their own little personality, I've seen it in my mollies behavior, 2 of my females will eat there fry as they are being born, the other female is protective over her fry and will not eat them! Makes you really wonder what's going on in their little fishy brains!

Answer 10

yes!!! i have a dwarf puffer... who likes to play hide and seek. most fish will play with each other or even play games with the owner of the tank. my puffer, if bored, will swim up and down the sides of the tank or play in the bubbles from the air stone. i keep a lot of plants in the tank, that keeps him busy looking around, he's very curious by nature and if he doesn't seem to have anything to do he will chase his tank mates and make them sort of hide for him. hes not aggressive towards the other fish but does enjoy a good game of tag or hide and seek.

Answer 11

Does anybody realize that nobody ever scientifically proved that fish are absolutley stupid and only have a memory of 10 seconds? No. I'm sure fish don't get bored, their only goal in life is to survive to reproduce. That's really our only goal in life, we just make it a little more convoluted and pretend it isn't!