Fish Psychology?

[JCareyETexas]

I have noticed over the last few months that, with a fair amount of consistency, my fish seem to act very nervous (especially my foxface) whenever somebody wearing any shade of green shirt approaches the tank. Has anybody else experienced anything like this? Do you think they are associating the green color with some kind of predator?

[charleneatkins]

I know my fish DO NOT like the color of the net

[kfisc]

That's news to me; one thing I'm fairly convinced of is how accustomed they become to the same people and routine. Strangers send them fleeing. Perhaps the green reflects brightly under your lights and spooks them, in contrast to clothes you typically wear?

[aleonn]

That's a very interesting observation. Maybe your fish nets are green, or they remember the net from the LFS they were purchased from?

[SushiGirl]

Our fish don't like strangers. They don't mind if they're just in the house, but if they look in the fish back away and head to the back of the tank. Of course, when I look in (as their feeder), they're right in my face.

I knew someone who had a cuttlefish that hated anything white. If you wore white or his white dog came near the tank, the cuttle would turn white itself & spit water at you/it. It was hatched in the tank that it was living in, so it obviously was some other kind of instinct rather than memory.

Most fish nets are green, so I could fall for that theory.

[Misled]

The deep end. Me thinks we've found it!!!!! J/K

[JSeymour]

My fish will definitely run for cover at the sight of a fish net, green or blue, even though some of them haven't been in a net for years. They love white brine shrimp nets though. Foxfaces are pansies, anything out of the ordinary will frighten them. Could be anything. Could be fish net based fear or large dark predator looking. Perhaps if one person in particular likes to wear green shirts and shows alot of fast, aggressive body language, then all green shirts become aggressive appearing. At some point, if things remain consistant, they'll get over it.

Sometimes that's one of the coolest things about keeping fish, realizing your fish are watching you more than you watch them, and with more intelligence than the average person gives them credit for.

[lordofthereef]

It's certainly not going to be a case of :remembering" something in the way you and I remember things. It may be a case of classical conditioning, however.

[DeniseAndy]

I wore a red color the other day (not common for me) and my yellow coris wrasse went nuts. He came to the tank and started whipping his tail at me into the glass. I had to back away so he didn't injure himself.

Of course, this from the fish that recently has decided when I feed them in the morning, he flicks his tail up out of the water to splash me. Funny guy. He really only does this on the morning feed. Rarely the afternoon or evening (if he is awake). Yes I feed often (anthias), but small amounts.

Fish can be weird. Love the variation of personality though.