Fish like to jump through a hoop. In this article, we have added 8 easy methods to train a fish to swim and jump through a hoop.
How to Train Your Fish to Jump Through a Hoop? You can train your pet fish to jump through a hoop by making it familiar to you and by communicating and teaching with patience and attention. Most fish species can learn many easy tricks that serve as a mesmerizing drama playing in a tank. You can make your fish play and perform certain stunts that keep it more healthy and happy.
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How to Train Your Fish to Jump Through a Hoop?
A fish is the most common and popular pet nowadays, and many hobbyists and aquarists love to keep them in their homes. You can not add anything more beautiful in your home area than an aquarium with beautiful, active, playful fish and live natural plants.
Some species can recognize, interact, and come forward to meet their owners, while some are too shy. The most prominent ones that are super easy to learn some tricks are betta, goldfish, Oscars, parrot cichlids, and some more.
They have a good memory and fast learning capabilities. You have to make some tries and practice, and they will learn everything you teach them.
Can a fish learn tricks?
Yes, many fish are willing and able to learn several simple-to-moderate level tricks. You can teach them many plays and tricks, such as playing with the ball, jumping and passing through obstacles, playing soccer, and others. It does not require too much effort, but good training will last long. You should consider the following things when training a fish:
Attention
You have to capture your fish’s attention to teach it. Focus on its activities and try to gain as much its attention as possible. Show it some colorful things, or you can also use mirrors to attract them.
Do not overfeed
Overfeeding your fish before teaching it is not preferable as it can make it inactive and lazy. Although training requires proper feeding to get energy but overfeeding is not the right practice.
Fish may get sick due to overfeeding, or it may fall asleep. Also, uneaten food can result in contamination in the water and makes it difficult for you to teach them.
Patience
You have to be patient while training any trick or play to the fish. A fish can not learn rapidly, as it can not has that understanding, and you can not make it hear or watch you.
It requires sufficient time and effort for the process, and you can achieve the goal only with patience. You can spend 10 minutes daily in the training session and respect your fish capacity of learning.
Treat and reward
Reward to treat is the best appreciation act for your learning fish. When you give it food-treat or reward for successful learning, it will learn faster and efficiently.
It will respond better and will show more happy gestures in return for the food reward. Give it live or frozen food such as worms, daphnia, mosquitoes, shrimps, and other favorite food.
Wash hands
Hygiene and safety come first in every activity. You have to maintain the hygiene and security of the fish. Wash your hand but do not use soap or chemicals containing hand-wash as they may be toxic for the tank inhabitants.
Be in a quiet room
Training and learning require dedication and concentration, and you have to provide a peaceful and silent environment to the fish. Make sure there is no noise and traffic in the room where you are teaching it. You have to take the aquarium to a quiet place or take it out and place it in the aquarium, which is in a quiet room.
Familiarity
The first thing you have to do is to make your fish familiar to you. If it recognizes you and interacts with you, it will make it too easy for you to teach them. Spend some time with the fish and keep the tank in front of better communication and interaction.
Make sure the fish is happy and healthy
If your fish is happy and healthy, it will efficiently learn everything you teach them. Provide it with the best quality food and a healthy tank environment to keep it healthy.
Add some beautiful decorations and plants to make them feel more safe, secure, and comfortable.
Never punish
In the whole session of training, you might face failure but keep in mind that you should never punish your fish. It will result in stressing, damaging health, and discouraging it. The fish will lose its ability to try learning, and you can never get success.
How to make a hoop stand for a fish tank?
You can make your prop that is safe and convenient for your fish that are the most appropriate size. It is better to start with a large hoop if it is hesitant and then move to a smaller size. You can take an appropriate-size metal hoop and attach it with a straw.
Remember to clean the straw before placing them in the tank by washing them with water and fish-safe soap. You can keep or fix the stand in gravel for some time to make it familiar with the prop.
Methods to train the fish to jump through a hoop
The training session should take place step by step and make sure to make it a feasible and glad journey for your fish and you.
Make the fish to follow your finger
The first step is to draw your fish’s attention toward your finger and make it follow the finger. Show it your finger from outside of the tank or shake it if it gets attentive and reward food treats. Do not place your finger inside the tank because some fish can bite.
Now, slowly move the finger back and forth across the tank and observe whether it follows or not. If the fish follow your finger, reward it. You can follow the same methods to teach fish to play soccer.
It may tank some time, so you have to show patience. Repeat the whole process every day for 5 minutes. So fish will understand that they will get the reward for this action. You can also use a wooden stick instead of your finger.
Train the fish to jump
The next step is to train it to jump by luring it with the food, and you can use your fingertips or a stick. Add some food to the end of the stick or hold the food at your fingertips.
Hold the stick or keep your fingertips very close to the water surface but not dip in the water. Your fish will leap and try to grab the food from a stick or fingers.
With time, increase the distance of food from the water. Repeat the process for several days.
Take a hoop that is bid enough and suspend it in the water or use a hoop stand. The hoop’s direction should be perpendicular to the aquarium’s side and keep it near the glass.
The betta fish will show interest in the hoop or completely ignore it. Now, place the finger out of the tank and slowly move it across the glass to make it follow the finger.
Run the finger across the glass where the hoop is. It will swim through the hoop following your finger.
It might take some time, but once the fish get it, reward it. Repeat the process several times and treat it every time. You can also place food on the inner side of to hoop to attract and make it swim through.
Slowly move from large size hoop to smaller size. Similarly, you can train your fish to jump a hoop while hanging it at the water surface of your tank. Place or hang the hoop just above the water surface.
Attract the fish with the food by placing it on the inner side of the hoop. You can also use it to stick and attach food to one end. Now hold the food containing the end of the stick in the center of the hoop.
It will jump through the hoop to grab the food. Repeat the process several times and it will make your pet fish like you.
Train a fish to take over the obstacle to swim through the hoop
- Create an obstacle course in the aquarium using plants are arches.
- Make your fish follow your finger from outside the glass.
- The fish will follow your finger and pass the obstacles in the path of the hoop.
- You can also use a treat on a string to lead it along the path to swim through the hoop.
- Repeat and reward it.
