Waking the fishes

[Gill Passman]

Hi All,

One thing that I really love is watching the fish wake up at lights on.
So try to find the time whenever possible to watch them. I find it
totally fascinating the differences in behaviour across species and
tanks and was wondering if it is peculiar to my fish or if others
observe this type of behaviour.

Kitchen 15 gall - the Rummy Noses are usually first up - they slowly
rise from the bottom of the tank gaining their colouration as they do so
- the first time I noticed the lack of colouration when they sleep I got
worried but for mine it seems normal and within 10 mins of lights on
they are back to normal. The Ram then does his patrol - making sure that
the "bottom dwellers" are kept in line - he hasn't forgiven a Clown
Loach for jumping on his head and is now quite strict. The Clowns and
Cories never turn up until the food is in there and they are totally
sure that I'm not walking past the tank. The Dwarf Gouramis just seem to
slowly come round and usually are swimming about after 5 mins....

Kitchen 5 gall - home to Boris the Betta. He is usually sleeping behind
the driftwood. As the lights go on he slowly rises up and flares - a
little bit like a yawn and a stretch - and then comes to the front of
tank and does his little betta dance as if to say "good morning"

Conservatory tank - right now they are usually awake before lights on as
the sun is starting to rise before I'm up and about. The Plec quickly
scurries off to his driftwood hollow once he knows people are about....

Mbuna tank - this one I find particularly interesting. All of the fish
are resting either in hollows or on the substrate at the back. It's like
they have a truce at night (unless they have murder on their minds but
touchwood this hasn't happened for quite a few months now). If it's too
early they just stay asleep - or give me a "grumpy look" - I do find
Mbuna faces quite expressive. The first to get up are the less dominant
- they seem to take advantage of the alpha still being asleep to have a
good swim about before taking up their hiding places. The deposed Alpha
then comes out and up to the front of the glass (looking for food I
guess). He then has a good "workout" tearing up and down the tank.
Finally, the Alpha decides to get up. At this point the deposed Alpha
swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of his
sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself and
makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper" place.....lol


Gill

[NetMax]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
.. .
> Hi All,
>
> One thing that I really love is watching the fish wake up at lights on.
> So try to find the time whenever possible to watch them. I find it
> totally fascinating the differences in behaviour across species and
> tanks and was wondering if it is peculiar to my fish or if others
> observe this type of behaviour.
>
> Kitchen 15 gall - the Rummy Noses are usually first up - they slowly
> rise from the bottom of the tank gaining their colouration as they do
> so - the first time I noticed the lack of colouration when they sleep I
> got worried but for mine it seems normal and within 10 mins of lights
> on they are back to normal. The Ram then does his patrol - making sure
> that the "bottom dwellers" are kept in line - he hasn't forgiven a
> Clown Loach for jumping on his head and is now quite strict. The Clowns
> and Cories never turn up until the food is in there and they are
> totally sure that I'm not walking past the tank. The Dwarf Gouramis
> just seem to slowly come round and usually are swimming about after 5
> mins....
>
> Kitchen 5 gall - home to Boris the Betta. He is usually sleeping behind
> the driftwood. As the lights go on he slowly rises up and flares - a
> little bit like a yawn and a stretch - and then comes to the front of
> tank and does his little betta dance as if to say "good morning"
>
> Conservatory tank - right now they are usually awake before lights on
> as the sun is starting to rise before I'm up and about. The Plec
> quickly scurries off to his driftwood hollow once he knows people are
> about....
>
> Mbuna tank - this one I find particularly interesting. All of the fish
> are resting either in hollows or on the substrate at the back. It's
> like they have a truce at night (unless they have murder on their minds
> but touchwood this hasn't happened for quite a few months now). If it's
> too early they just stay asleep - or give me a "grumpy look" - I do
> find Mbuna faces quite expressive. The first to get up are the less
> dominant - they seem to take advantage of the alpha still being asleep
> to have a good swim about before taking up their hiding places. The
> deposed Alpha then comes out and up to the front of the glass (looking
> for food I guess). He then has a good "workout" tearing up and down the
> tank. Finally, the Alpha decides to get up. At this point the deposed
> Alpha swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of
> his sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself
> and makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper"
> place.....lol
>
>
> Gill

lol, thanks for the story-board. Mine wake up very slowly to the sunrise
now, so I haven't watched their antics. What I get to see is the
reverse, when the light timers switch on the single incandescent bulb and
switch off the fluorescent lights. The fish know the new dim light will
only be on for about 10 minutes before they go into total darkness.
Whatever they were doing (middle of a fight, racing around the tank etc),
comes to an end, and all fights are temporarily called to truce. They
slowly migrate to the tank's depth or location where they want to be when
the lights go out entirely.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[fish lover]

You must be a morning person;-)

I never had the chance to do with my Discus since I don't get up till
7:30am. By that time, my lights timer went off already.

>Hi All,
>
>One thing that I really love is watching the fish wake up at lights on.
>So try to find the time whenever possible to watch them. I find it
>totally fascinating the differences in behaviour across species and
>tanks and was wondering if it is peculiar to my fish or if others
>observe this type of behaviour.
>
>Kitchen 15 gall - the Rummy Noses are usually first up - they slowly
>rise from the bottom of the tank gaining their colouration as they do so
>- the first time I noticed the lack of colouration when they sleep I got
>worried but for mine it seems normal and within 10 mins of lights on
>they are back to normal. The Ram then does his patrol - making sure that
>the "bottom dwellers" are kept in line - he hasn't forgiven a Clown
>Loach for jumping on his head and is now quite strict. The Clowns and
>Cories never turn up until the food is in there and they are totally
>sure that I'm not walking past the tank. The Dwarf Gouramis just seem to
>slowly come round and usually are swimming about after 5 mins....
>
>Kitchen 5 gall - home to Boris the Betta. He is usually sleeping behind
>the driftwood. As the lights go on he slowly rises up and flares - a
>little bit like a yawn and a stretch - and then comes to the front of
>tank and does his little betta dance as if to say "good morning"
>
>Conservatory tank - right now they are usually awake before lights on as
>the sun is starting to rise before I'm up and about. The Plec quickly
>scurries off to his driftwood hollow once he knows people are about....
>
>Mbuna tank - this one I find particularly interesting. All of the fish
>are resting either in hollows or on the substrate at the back. It's like
> they have a truce at night (unless they have murder on their minds but
>touchwood this hasn't happened for quite a few months now). If it's too
>early they just stay asleep - or give me a "grumpy look" - I do find
>Mbuna faces quite expressive. The first to get up are the less dominant
>- they seem to take advantage of the alpha still being asleep to have a
>good swim about before taking up their hiding places. The deposed Alpha
>then comes out and up to the front of the glass (looking for food I
>guess). He then has a good "workout" tearing up and down the tank.
>Finally, the Alpha decides to get up. At this point the deposed Alpha
>swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of his
>sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself and
>makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper" place.....lol
>
>
>Gill

[Gill Passman]

fish lover wrote:
> You must be a morning person;-)
>
> I never had the chance to do with my Discus since I don't get up till
> 7:30am. By that time, my lights timer went off already.
>
>
>>Hi All,
>>
>>One thing that I really love is watching the fish wake up at lights on.
>>So try to find the time whenever possible to watch them. I find it
>>totally fascinating the differences in behaviour across species and
>>tanks and was wondering if it is peculiar to my fish or if others
>>observe this type of behaviour.
>>
>>Kitchen 15 gall - the Rummy Noses are usually first up - they slowly
>>rise from the bottom of the tank gaining their colouration as they do so
>>- the first time I noticed the lack of colouration when they sleep I got
>>worried but for mine it seems normal and within 10 mins of lights on
>>they are back to normal. The Ram then does his patrol - making sure that
>>the "bottom dwellers" are kept in line - he hasn't forgiven a Clown
>>Loach for jumping on his head and is now quite strict. The Clowns and
>>Cories never turn up until the food is in there and they are totally
>>sure that I'm not walking past the tank. The Dwarf Gouramis just seem to
>>slowly come round and usually are swimming about after 5 mins....
>>
>>Kitchen 5 gall - home to Boris the Betta. He is usually sleeping behind
>>the driftwood. As the lights go on he slowly rises up and flares - a
>>little bit like a yawn and a stretch - and then comes to the front of
>>tank and does his little betta dance as if to say "good morning"
>>
>>Conservatory tank - right now they are usually awake before lights on as
>>the sun is starting to rise before I'm up and about. The Plec quickly
>>scurries off to his driftwood hollow once he knows people are about....
>>
>>Mbuna tank - this one I find particularly interesting. All of the fish
>>are resting either in hollows or on the substrate at the back. It's like
>> they have a truce at night (unless they have murder on their minds but
>>touchwood this hasn't happened for quite a few months now). If it's too
>>early they just stay asleep - or give me a "grumpy look" - I do find
>>Mbuna faces quite expressive. The first to get up are the less dominant
>>- they seem to take advantage of the alpha still being asleep to have a
>>good swim about before taking up their hiding places. The deposed Alpha
>>then comes out and up to the front of the glass (looking for food I
>>guess). He then has a good "workout" tearing up and down the tank.
>>Finally, the Alpha decides to get up. At this point the deposed Alpha
>>swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of his
>>sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself and
>>makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper" place.....lol
>>
>>
>>Gill

I'm atrocious at getting up in the morning :-) but sometimes need to in
order to shout the kids out the door in time for school. I don't have
timers on the lights (not sure why not as everything else in the house
seems to be on timers including the main house lights)....

[Bill Stock]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
.. .
> fish lover wrote:
>> You must be a morning person;-)
>>
>> I never had the chance to do with my Discus since I don't get up till
>> 7:30am. By that time, my lights timer went off already.
>>
>>
>>>Hi All,
>>>
>>>One thing that I really love is watching the fish wake up at lights on.
>>>So try to find the time whenever possible to watch them. I find it
>>>totally fascinating the differences in behaviour across species and tanks
>>>and was wondering if it is peculiar to my fish or if others observe this
>>>type of behaviour.
>>>
>>>Kitchen 15 gall - the Rummy Noses are usually first up - they slowly rise
>>>from the bottom of the tank gaining their colouration as they do so - the
>>>first time I noticed the lack of colouration when they sleep I got
>>>worried but for mine it seems normal and within 10 mins of lights on they
>>>are back to normal. The Ram then does his patrol - making sure that the
>>>"bottom dwellers" are kept in line - he hasn't forgiven a Clown Loach for
>>>jumping on his head and is now quite strict. The Clowns and Cories never
>>>turn up until the food is in there and they are totally sure that I'm not
>>>walking past the tank. The Dwarf Gouramis just seem to slowly come round
>>>and usually are swimming about after 5 mins....
>>>
>>>Kitchen 5 gall - home to Boris the Betta. He is usually sleeping behind
>>>the driftwood. As the lights go on he slowly rises up and flares - a
>>>little bit like a yawn and a stretch - and then comes to the front of
>>>tank and does his little betta dance as if to say "good morning"
>>>
>>>Conservatory tank - right now they are usually awake before lights on as
>>>the sun is starting to rise before I'm up and about. The Plec quickly
>>>scurries off to his driftwood hollow once he knows people are about....
>>>
>>>Mbuna tank - this one I find particularly interesting. All of the fish
>>>are resting either in hollows or on the substrate at the back. It's like
>>>they have a truce at night (unless they have murder on their minds but
>>>touchwood this hasn't happened for quite a few months now). If it's too
>>>early they just stay asleep - or give me a "grumpy look" - I do find
>>>Mbuna faces quite expressive. The first to get up are the less dominant -
>>>they seem to take advantage of the alpha still being asleep to have a
>>>good swim about before taking up their hiding places. The deposed Alpha
>>>then comes out and up to the front of the glass (looking for food I
>>>guess). He then has a good "workout" tearing up and down the tank.
>>>Finally, the Alpha decides to get up. At this point the deposed Alpha
>>>swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of his
>>>sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself and
>>>makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper" place.....lol
>>>
>>>
>>>Gill
>
> I'm atrocious at getting up in the morning :-) but sometimes need to in
> order to shout the kids out the door in time for school. I don't have
> timers on the lights (not sure why not as everything else in the house
> seems to be on timers including the main house lights)....

Might be because the Fluorescents can play havoc with the X10 signal.

[Bill Stock]

"fish lover" > wrote in message
...
> You must be a morning person;-)
>
> I never had the chance to do with my Discus since I don't get up till
> 7:30am. By that time, my lights timer went off already.

I never see mine at wake up time either, as they're in the basement. So even
though lights on doesn't happen til 10 am, that's well past breakfast on the
weekends.



>>Hi All,
>>
>>One thing that I really love is watching the fish wake up at lights on.
>>So try to find the time whenever possible to watch them. I find it
>>totally fascinating the differences in behaviour across species and
>>tanks and was wondering if it is peculiar to my fish or if others
>>observe this type of behaviour.
>>
>>Kitchen 15 gall - the Rummy Noses are usually first up - they slowly
>>rise from the bottom of the tank gaining their colouration as they do so
>>- the first time I noticed the lack of colouration when they sleep I got
>>worried but for mine it seems normal and within 10 mins of lights on
>>they are back to normal. The Ram then does his patrol - making sure that
>>the "bottom dwellers" are kept in line - he hasn't forgiven a Clown
>>Loach for jumping on his head and is now quite strict. The Clowns and
>>Cories never turn up until the food is in there and they are totally
>>sure that I'm not walking past the tank. The Dwarf Gouramis just seem to
>>slowly come round and usually are swimming about after 5 mins....
>>
>>Kitchen 5 gall - home to Boris the Betta. He is usually sleeping behind
>>the driftwood. As the lights go on he slowly rises up and flares - a
>>little bit like a yawn and a stretch - and then comes to the front of
>>tank and does his little betta dance as if to say "good morning"
>>
>>Conservatory tank - right now they are usually awake before lights on as
>>the sun is starting to rise before I'm up and about. The Plec quickly
>>scurries off to his driftwood hollow once he knows people are about....
>>
>>Mbuna tank - this one I find particularly interesting. All of the fish
>>are resting either in hollows or on the substrate at the back. It's like
>> they have a truce at night (unless they have murder on their minds but
>>touchwood this hasn't happened for quite a few months now). If it's too
>>early they just stay asleep - or give me a "grumpy look" - I do find
>>Mbuna faces quite expressive. The first to get up are the less dominant
>>- they seem to take advantage of the alpha still being asleep to have a
>>good swim about before taking up their hiding places. The deposed Alpha
>>then comes out and up to the front of the glass (looking for food I
>>guess). He then has a good "workout" tearing up and down the tank.
>>Finally, the Alpha decides to get up. At this point the deposed Alpha
>>swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of his
>>sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself and
>>makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper" place.....lol
>>
>>
>>Gill

[Koi-lo]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
.. .
> Hi All,
At this point the deposed Alpha
> swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of his
> sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself and
> makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper" place.....lol
=====================
Fascinating,.... but my fish always beat me up! By the time I get up
they've all started their day and await "lights on" and "first feeding."

Oh how nice it is to be retired. ;-)
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Troll Information:
http://tinyurl.com/9zbh
Reading Headers:
http://tinyurl.com/amm9s
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Dick]

On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 12:39:03 -0500, "Bill Stock" >
wrote:

>
>"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
.. .
>> fish lover wrote:
>>> You must be a morning person;-)
>>>
>>>
>Might be because the Fluorescents can play havoc with the X10 signal.
>
>

I have one hood that does not work reliably with X10. I wired a relay
into the circuit. The X10 turns on the relay, the relay turns on the
light.

dick

[Dick]

On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 13:15:14 +0000, Gill Passman
> wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>One thing that I really love is watching the fish wake up at lights on.
>So try to find the time whenever possible to watch them. I find it
>totally fascinating the differences in behaviour across species and
>tanks and was wondering if it is peculiar to my fish or if others
>observe this type of behaviour.
>
>Kitchen 15 gall - the Rummy Noses are usually first up - they slowly
>rise from the bottom of the tank gaining their colouration as they do so
>- the first time I noticed the lack of colouration when they sleep I got
>worried but for mine it seems normal and within 10 mins of lights on
>they are back to normal. The Ram then does his patrol - making sure that
>the "bottom dwellers" are kept in line - he hasn't forgiven a Clown
>Loach for jumping on his head and is now quite strict. The Clowns and
>Cories never turn up until the food is in there and they are totally
>sure that I'm not walking past the tank. The Dwarf Gouramis just seem to
>slowly come round and usually are swimming about after 5 mins....
>
>Kitchen 5 gall - home to Boris the Betta. He is usually sleeping behind
>the driftwood. As the lights go on he slowly rises up and flares - a
>little bit like a yawn and a stretch - and then comes to the front of
>tank and does his little betta dance as if to say "good morning"
>
>Conservatory tank - right now they are usually awake before lights on as
>the sun is starting to rise before I'm up and about. The Plec quickly
>scurries off to his driftwood hollow once he knows people are about....
>
>Mbuna tank - this one I find particularly interesting. All of the fish
>are resting either in hollows or on the substrate at the back. It's like
> they have a truce at night (unless they have murder on their minds but
>touchwood this hasn't happened for quite a few months now). If it's too
>early they just stay asleep - or give me a "grumpy look" - I do find
>Mbuna faces quite expressive. The first to get up are the less dominant
>- they seem to take advantage of the alpha still being asleep to have a
>good swim about before taking up their hiding places. The deposed Alpha
>then comes out and up to the front of the glass (looking for food I
>guess). He then has a good "workout" tearing up and down the tank.
>Finally, the Alpha decides to get up. At this point the deposed Alpha
>swims around him in a circle a few times....taking advantage of his
>sleepiness I guess...then the Alpha once fully awake aserts himself and
>makes sure that everyone gets chased into their "proper" place.....lol
>
>
>Gill

I sure wish I could recognize individual fish behavior. They are not
distinct in my head unless there is something obvious, like there is
only one Black Angel or one White Cloud with a deformed back.

I see my fish wake and prepare for night, but never paid attention to
how individuals prepared for either. I do see some stay in their
sleep nests until close to feeding time. It is beyond me how they
know I am just walking by versus when I am going to drop the food. How
they know it is time to find the sleep nests and do so an hour ahead
of lights out.

Aren't fish great?

dick

[Liz McGuire]

I haven't been around enough when it starts getting light or after I
turn out the lights to notice what the fish are doing, but I can say
that the dogs and cat know weekdays vs weekends and the hours we keep
for each - if I stay home from work on a weekday, they know this is
odd and assume something's up. If we get up early on Saturday, they
know it's unusual and we must be going for a long trip - or something
fun. If I stay in bed late on a weekday, they come wake me up (I'm
sure the barking means "mom! wake up! your alarm is broken! you're
gonna be late for work! get up!")

Animals are amazing. :-)

Liz


Dick wrote:
>
> It is beyond me how they
> know I am just walking by versus when I am going to drop the food. How
> they know it is time to find the sleep nests and do so an hour ahead
> of lights out.
>