Enrichment for aquariums

[someboooode]

Hey everyone! Hope you guys are having a good day.

I’ve recently started working at an aquarium and I was looking to introduce new enrichment activities for the animals. They include bamboo sharks, shovel nose rays, and white tip reef sharks.

I’ve seen a couple of videos online showing puzzle feeders and the changing of the environment (shifting rocks, ”caves”, substrate) but I was wondering if any of you had any other inputs or suggestions.

Looking forward to reading the new and fun ideas!

 

[Kitt]

"Holee Molee" balls with diet stuffed inside are a hit with our stingrays. You could do frozen ice treats as well, can't go wrong with those! You could do real/artificial kelp to change up their environment, you could change their lighting, add seashells, etc. Diet-wise, you could do scatter feedings, do random small feeds throughout the day, and/or feed in different places.

Training can also be considered enrichment so behaviors like station, target, or stretcher training could be very enriching.

 

[Mr Gharial]

I sometimes like to make my fish chase their food by holding it in tweezers and moving it around the tank quickly (although, to be fair, I have barbs and danios, not sharks and rays)

 

[Jurek7]

In my limited experience, many aquarium fish and terrapins are extremely curious. If you put something new near the aquarium, they will come to look at it. If you put it in the water - stick, stone, shell, a leafy branch - they will often check how it tastes etc.

 

[AndyJ08]

I keep smaller cichlids (angelfish and convicts) and they are probably among the smarter and more interactive species of commonly sold aquarium fish, as they love chasing bloodworms that I drag around the surface of their tank, and they appreciate sunken wood and rock formations to hide in and claim as their territories.

 

[MClaeys]

My best friend has an Mbu puffer fish which he also trains before it gets food. He trains the fish to follow his finger that he holds at the aquarium and lets him follow the finger before it gets food (mussels, shells, bloodworms, beef heart, …). It’s lots of fun to see him chase after his food and my friend’s finger. One thing I hope for him, is that the puffer never gets the finger. He’s not full grown yet, he is just around 25 cm now in length, but its beak is already very strong. You can hear the shells and mussels cracking from outside the tank. He keeps the fish with green swordtails and the puffer has only eaten one of them by accident during feeding time.

I had angelfish and flag cichlids myself before that I also let follow my fingers first and then feed them. It’s nice to watch them go after something.

 

[Zoovolunteer]

One feeding method I saw at the aquarium of the old Bristol Zoo - in one of their larger tanks they used floating coloured rings as targets for different species. That let them spot feed puffers and trigger fish while smaller fish scattered to feed on broadcast food over the surface, avoiding smaller and faster fish getting food before the slower ones could reach it.