Can Betta Fish Hear? Can They Recognize Your Voice?

They’re very intelligent. They’re extremely captivating. And they can feel anger and pain. But can betta fish hear? Are they able to recognize your voice? How about some other cool facts about the fish? Do you want to know the correct answers to these commonly asked questions? Then you’ve landed on the right page.

Everything you need to know about the hearing capabilities of betta fish is right here!

Can Betta Fish Hear?

We humans have visible ears, correct? On the other hand, betta fish have ears but they’re not visible. Their ears take the form of tiny holes located on either side of the head. These little holes have hearing structures.

So to answer the question, can betta fish hear? It’s YES. In fact, all fish out there have hearing abilities. Along with the sense of smell, sight, and detecting vibrational water changes. That’s how betta fish protect themselves from predators. And that’s also how they find prey.

Now I’m not saying that betta fish have acquired some extraordinary type of hearing capacity. After all, water tends to dampen sound. Even so, betta fish is able to hear your sound coming from outside the aquarium. That’s for sure.

How about responding to your voice? As in the case of dogs and cats? Let me make one thing very clear here. Let’s say you name your betta fish Lily. You can call out her name as much as you like, she is not going to respond. No betta fish will. They do not recognize names. But betta fish can certainly associate words with actions.

Fish don’t understand or know words, right? But they can associate a few sounds with actions. For example, you can call Lily each time you add some fish food into the tank. Eventually, your fish pet will learn to associate the sound of that word with food. That means she’ll expect food every single time you call out her name.

Isn’t that incredible! Well, fish are incredible creatures.

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Betta Fish and Sound/Noise – Some Useful Tips You Need to Know

When you’re the noisemaker, then you have to remember a few important tips with a betta fish around you.

• Generally speaking, fish are very skittish creatures. Betta and the others. They don’t appreciate loud noises or sounds. This means think twice before you place your amplifier or TV close to the aquarium.

Loud noise coming from speakers ends up stressing out your fish. So keep the aquarium in a relatively peaceful and quiet environment.

• As for getting your betta fish to give you some attention, snap those fingers of yours. Do it above the surface of the water. Or next to the glass. But please don’t tap that glass using your fingers. No fish enjoys that; it startles and scares them.

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Can Betta Fish Recognize You and Your Voice?

Call yourself the owner, guardian, or parent. Can betta fish recognize the voice of their owners? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. But only to an extent. Betta fish are pretty intelligent creatures. Now, this is not true for other fish in general. Meaning not all fish or most fish are as intelligent as a betta.

Over time, betta fish can start to recognize the voice of their owners. This means your voice. Obviously, something like this is not easy to prove or judge. But you can check if it’s true simply by conducting an experiment on your own. When you speak to your betta, does he/she come to the surface of the water? If yes, then maybe your pet fish is able to recognize your voice.

It goes without saying that constant bonding creates an attachment here. Hearing and sight also matter when it comes to your betta fish recognizing your voice. However, this takes a very long time, probably months.

Seeing you around the aquarium, being fed by you, playing with you, learning tricks from you, etc. When you talk to your betta fish, that is also an act of bonding. All these gestures and actions do indeed bring your pet fish closer to you. And it also paves the way for your fish learning to recognize you and your voice.

Now, obviously, fish do not understand the concept of ownership and property. Nevertheless, they do possess the ability to become familiar with their owners.

So if you’re keen on getting your pet fish to recognize your voice. Here are some methods you can try to achieve that.

• Make sure you’re around the aquarium, in plain sight, for at least 20 minutes daily. Preferably in the front, where your fish is able to see you. Memory might not be their best forte. However, they can start to recall your face due to such repeated appearances.
• Needless to say, interact with your betta. Talk to him/her for a few minutes on a daily basis. Now, there’s no proof that betta fish has the capacity to differentiate your voice from the others. Even so, you have nothing to lose by spending some quality time with your pet fish.
• How about feeding your fish on your own? And maybe even teaching him/her some tricks? They’re great ways to allow your betta fish to get familiarized with you.

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Final Say

There’s no denying that betta fish are intelligent water creatures. They can hear your voice and maybe even recognize it. But you have to create a loving bond with them in order for something like this to happen. You might not be able to spot their ears. But that doesn’t mean betta fish have no ears.

The thing about betta is that it can detect different kinds of sounds as well. Speaking of which, betta fish or any other fish don’t appreciate loud noises.

At the same time, they hate it when you tap the glass. Tapping creates vibrations, which fish can hear and feel in the tank. And that tends to freak them out. So refrain from tapping the tank glass. Instead, snap your fingers to draw their attention.

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