Hey everyone, new to the forums, but with all the forums ive seen I thought this would be the one that would help.
I have recently bought a hartwegi cichlid, he is about 11 inches long. The pet store that had him, sold him to us for $10 because they had them in with their african cichlids and he was eatting them.
So we had him in a 70 gallon all by himself with tons of artificial plants (which he loved, he added tons for this reason) What he would do is pile them in one corner and sit inside of them, never swam around, never moved from his corner. He would grab his food and go right back. Really hand shy fish, took awhile to get him to eat when we got him.
Ok that being said, we moved him to a 40 gallon breeder recently so we could do a full clean of his tank (he doesnt like hands in his tank, he freaks out sometimes, has jumped up and hurt himself on the rim of the tank)
So we removed him so we could move all his plants with him and really get everything clean.
We noticed right away in the 40 breeder, he was swimming around in circles and was more active then I have ever seen before. We have left him in the 40 gallon a few days to see what would happen, and he doesnt huddle his plants in a corner of the tank and hide in them, he actually seems content with his space.
Now I know a 40 gallon breeder is a tight space for a 11 inch fish, however, its making me wonder if his previous owner had him in a small tank and putting him in the large tank actually makes him uncomfortable. Sort of like when you take a betta and put it in a huge tank, it doesnt know what to do... they can be claustrophobic. Im having mixed feelings on what to do with him, he seems like a happier fish in the 40, so do i keep him there and just do more tank maintenance, and filter the crap out of it, or move him back to his larger tank where hes skiddish? Anyone have any input, opinions, anything?
I have recently bought a hartwegi cichlid, he is about 11 inches long. The pet store that had him, sold him to us for $10 because they had them in with their african cichlids and he was eatting them.
So we had him in a 70 gallon all by himself with tons of artificial plants (which he loved, he added tons for this reason) What he would do is pile them in one corner and sit inside of them, never swam around, never moved from his corner. He would grab his food and go right back. Really hand shy fish, took awhile to get him to eat when we got him.
Ok that being said, we moved him to a 40 gallon breeder recently so we could do a full clean of his tank (he doesnt like hands in his tank, he freaks out sometimes, has jumped up and hurt himself on the rim of the tank)
So we removed him so we could move all his plants with him and really get everything clean.
We noticed right away in the 40 breeder, he was swimming around in circles and was more active then I have ever seen before. We have left him in the 40 gallon a few days to see what would happen, and he doesnt huddle his plants in a corner of the tank and hide in them, he actually seems content with his space.
Now I know a 40 gallon breeder is a tight space for a 11 inch fish, however, its making me wonder if his previous owner had him in a small tank and putting him in the large tank actually makes him uncomfortable. Sort of like when you take a betta and put it in a huge tank, it doesnt know what to do... they can be claustrophobic. Im having mixed feelings on what to do with him, he seems like a happier fish in the 40, so do i keep him there and just do more tank maintenance, and filter the crap out of it, or move him back to his larger tank where hes skiddish? Anyone have any input, opinions, anything?
