Do goldfish play with toys? Yes, they do. Goldfishes are usually active and playful. Read on to know you can entertain your goldfish.
If you have a pet goldfish at home, keeping them entertained is very important. The aquarium has minimal space, and your fish love to move around in an open space like a pond or river.
Many people want to know: “Do goldfish play with toys?”. The answer is yes. We will explain how to keep your goldfish entertained and what kind of toys you should get for your pet in this article.
Do goldfish get bored?
Fishes get bored and unhappy after some time. This is especially true for goldfish. You need to keep them happy and entertained.
How do you entertain a goldfish?
Most people think fish don’t like to play like dogs and cats. This is not so.
Gold Fishes like to be entertained and are very playful. You can keep them entertained in different ways, such as:
Interacting with them
As you interact with dogs and cats, you can have fun with your goldfish by interacting directly. Goldfish understand that humans are trying to interact and reciprocate by swimming up the tank.
Offering a playful environment.
Goldfish usually like to move around and play at the bottom of the surface. So make sure to add some pebbles and decor items to the tank. Do not use any sharp objects or stones in the water tank that may harm the fish.
You can use some large pebbles and smooth stones and make a safe ecosystem for your fish. You can add some good quality artificial plants and woodworks as well.
Feeding Them
Try to feed your goldfish with your own hands. When you shift the goldfish to the aquarium, you need to create a friendly environment and interact with them by feeding them with your own hands. When they get friendly, you can teach them some play movements. Treat them with different foods they like but do not overfeed them.
Feeding your goldfish is effective when you train them. When you teach them certain behaviors and movements, feeding them is the best reward for them.
Will goldfish play with toys?
There are many different ways to entertain your goldfish. You can buy some toys, decorate the aquarium with some aquatic plants, or even interact with them.
#1 Aquatic Plants
Placing aquatic plants is one of the best things to entertain goldfish. Keeping aquatic plants is a good thing, and goldfish would love to swim through the aquatic plants. It gives them the ocean vibes, and they will enjoy the organic experience all day in the tank. Keeping aquatic plants has a lot of benefits like:
- Increase the excitement.
- Keeping the fish tank healthy.
- Better eating habits.
Keeping live aquatic plants is also a good option, and fishes would love to play with them. But if you don’t find any live plants, you can place some replicas at the bottom of the tank. So it is better to keep at least two to three aquatic plants in the tank to make it fun for goldfish.
#2 Tunnel
Setting up a tunnel is another great option to entertain goldfish. Goldfish likes hiding inside the tunnel. It gives them an ocean vibe to play, move around, hide and have fun.
You can place tunnels from one end to another. You may have to train your goldfish with the tunnel setup. Once your goldfish learns to move through the tunnel, it will keep playing inside. This will allow your fish to move around more and enjoy the experience.
You can place them at different spots and see which space works best. Just make sure the tunnel is large enough for your goldfish to pass through with ease. Look for the tunnel that has sufficient air and light to pass through. Otherwise, it may harm the goldfish if it stays inside for a long time.
#3 Add Gravel
Adding gravels gives a great look to your aquarium and has some benefits as well. It is better to choose natural gravels as it will attract the goldfish and also won’t damage the tank environment.
One of the great benefits of keeping gravel is it works as a filter and keeps the water clean. It also helps in keeping the live plants properly placed and gives nutrients to the plants. Overall it gives your aquarium great looks, and goldfish will recognize it as something to play with.
#4 Balls and Goalpost Training Kit
This is a great entertainment kit for your goldfish. This Mini goal post setup and soccer kit will be great entertainment for your goldfish. It needs a little bit of training, and your goldfish will enjoy and have fun playing in it.
#5 Add Large Marbles
It may be difficult to find toys for your goldfish but adding large marbles is always a great idea. Placing large marbles will attract goldfish as they find it shiny and easy to sink at the bottom of the tank.
Goldfish find it fun to push the marvels from one place to another. Just make sure the marvel balls are large enough so the goldfish do not swallow them. Otherwise, it is totally safe to add marvels in the tank. Marvel balls don’t ruin the water quality and keep the goldfish entertained.
#6 Add some artificial toys and aquarium decor items
You can entertain your goldfish by adding some artificial toys like a crystal clear ball. Goldfish can push it from one side to another with ease.
Similarly, adding limbo poles will entertain your goldfish. You have to place the poles vertically on the ground and maintain some distance between the poles. Your goldfish will like to move around the poles and have fun.
If you find it difficult to keep the aquatic plants alive, you can place some artificial plants. You can place it at the bottom of the aquarium, and your goldfish will like playing around.
How do you train goldfish to play with toys?
- You can place a treat ball in the tank. So when your goldfish moves inside the treat ball or a tunnel, you can reward them by feeding with your own hands. It will be a lot of fun for them.
- When placing a ball and goalpost inside the tank, you will notice that your goldfish may be trying to push the ball to the goalpost. When you see them doing it, you can reward them with a small treat.
- When you see your goldfish moving around the limbo pole, hand feeding them with their favorite food will make them do it again and again.
Do goldfish play with humans?
People think goldfish are not as smart as other pets, and therefore they might not understand that a human is trying to play with them.
But this is not true. While goldfish may not be as brainy as other pet animals, they do understand that the people who live with them look after them. They greet humans by swimming up to meet them and love it when you feed them.
Final Thoughts
Goldfish usually look very lovely and appealing. They may get bored inside the aquarium and do not like doing anything. They want to be entertained with some toys and decor items present in the water. Usually, they look for aquatic plants, tunnels, stones, and other such things that give them an ocean vibe. Make sure to choose lightweight, easy to push around and aquarium safe toys, so it does not harm your goldfish.
So by placing a few toys and aquatic plants will help entertain the goldfish and make it fun for them.