Fish Vision

[Angry_Platy]

I have been curious about this for some time...

What is fish's vision like? Can they discern a red platy from a yellow platy? Can a neon tetra tell the difference between another neon tetra and a glolight tetra for example?

Just curious.....

 

[Nauplii]

my fish go mad when they see me sit at the computer and thats a meter away.... im not sure about them seeing each other though

 

[The-Wolf]

I read somewhere that fish can see the full range
of visual light and also inferred light, Not sure if it's true
but it would seem to be a natural need given the state
that rivers, etc, get in due to heavy rains winter melts etc.


This means no pointing you tv remote at the tank

 

[Rybka]

On the National Geographic channel once i watched a program about the amazon right...and it said most fish have very clear vision (depending on species like sharks for example have bad vision) now the fish they were showing were cardinals, neons, hatchet fish and all of these fish have crystal clear vision...this is to help them evade predators/hunt.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Funny you should mention that Paul....I have a laser pointer I use for presentations at work....we entertain the cat with it....one day we were doing it near the tank and the reflection in the tank drove the fish mad....they were swimming around like crazy....so we put the beam into the tank....EVERY SINGLE fish went after it....

Quite amazing really watching platies, tetras, guppies etc. chase a little red lasr light around a tank.....not good for them either I guess...hence we halted it fairly quickly

 

[The-Wolf]

Quite amazing really watching platies, tetras, guppies etc. chase a little red lasr light around a tank.....not good for them either I guess...hence we halted it fairly quickly

*cough* BAD CHOOKIE *cough*
Glad you stopped it quickly

 

[tekknocolor]

I know for a fact my bettas can see a pretty good distance from their tanks. OK, so somedays you're bored and there's nothing to do at home and no good entertainment around except for fish and a mirror...

I tried to measure the distance they started to see their reflection and started flaring... It was at least 4-5 inches away. But then again, I have a lazy betta so it may even be more...

*note* This is in no way an expert experiment...

 

[MAM]

i think not only can fish see, but thye can discern colors. i have a trio of platies when i first began. the males were both brightly colored. the female was a blue mickey mouse(so she was white). they ignored her completely. i added a colorful female, they were all over her.

also i now have one opaline and one gold gourami. they leave each other alone, but i had an additional gold and opaline, the golds chase each other, the opalines chased each other. also, my one gold loves to hand out with another gold colored fish in my tank.

 

[cation]

Also see these threads:

Here, and here, for starters...

 

[RYO]

I would say most fish can see a good colour spectrum , if not there would be little point in the display colours when it came to breeding.

 

[clutterydrawer]

they must be able to see fairly well, or how would they shoal in the wild? for example red phantom tetras must be able to tell their own kind from black phantoms, cardinals from neons, etc

unless they have a cunning fish ID technique which we dont know about...which is always possible.

 

[Aquascaper]

I know for a fact that my fish can't see under UV light (either that or they suddenly don't get spooked when my face is 1" from the tank). Not sure if this is true of all fish or just mine

 

[Jimmy927]

Lazers are good for fish as long as you dont keep the lazer on them all the time.
you can buy them for under the water level they are called LAZER LIGHT MODULES they are expensive but they are supposed to make the fish live longer and provent fin rot.

i may get some for xmas with my money.
the module (with 4 lazers) are around £30
and single lazers are £7
but you need the lazer module to buy extra lazers.


James

 

[SirMinion]

Not only can they tell the difference between each other, they can tell the difference between us too!

Any large Puffer keeper will tell you that their Puffer reacts differently to different people.

Martha, our Fahaka Puffer used to get excited when I went near her tank as I was the one that fed her, but was indifferent when LadyMinion approached.

Now that LadyMinion feeds her too, Martha is glad to see either of us!

She can also see quite some distance from her tank. She will rest on the sand watching us untill she sees one of us get out of our chair on the other side of the room, then she races to the surface and swims excitedly up and down the length of the tank with her cheek pressed against the glass. Feed me! feed me!

 

[FishDan]

Lazers are good for fish as long as you dont keep the lazer on them all the time.
you can buy them for under the water level they are called LAZER LIGHT MODULES they are expensive but they are supposed to make the fish live longer and provent fin rot.

i may get some for xmas with my money.
the module (with 4 lazers) are around £30
and single lazers are £7
but you need the lazer module to buy extra lazers.


James

These are not lasers, they are LED lights, which are totally different than what is used in the common "laser pointers". Laser pointer lights can cause eye damage, while a LED can not (unless it is exceptionally bright and powerful). As to the claims these may make about improving or maintaining health of your fish, or preventing certain ailments, I seriously doubt any LED has these properties. These are similar to lights used to modify computers, simply made to be used in an aquarium. They serve no other purpose than to look cool (subject to personal preference and opinion).

To the original topic, I think it has been answered fairly well, but fish can indeed see very well, both inside and outside the tank. In addition to other senses, keen vision is vital to many fish. For predators they need it to be able to distinguish prey from the surrounding area. Also keen vision is used to avoid predators. As I said, vision alone is not the only useful sense fish use, and I bet that some fish see better than others (the shark mentioned above is an example). And keep in mind though, that there are some fish that do not see at all, like the aptly named blind cave fish. Just like people, some fish see better than others.

\Dan