shy and skittish midas

[davew]

i've got a 5" F1 midas that's very shy and skittish he hides all day under a log that he has dug out ,i've had him for a month , he is very skittish i coughed the other day and he went mental hitting the top of the tank.
the tank is a 65 gallon and there are a couple of convicts and a purple spotted gudgeon in there with him, i change about 50% of the tank water every week i don't think there is anything wrong with him he's just shy.
the strange thing is during the day when the tank lights are off he never comes out but he does venture out when the lights are on and when there is food about, he spends most of his time sideways under the log.
do you think he will always be this nervous

 

[Chrisplosion]

No, this is typical behavior. Give him time to adjust to his new surrounding and he will come out of his shell.

 

[davew]

ok thanks ,i just thought after a month he would have come out of his shell a bit more, i've had a couple of midas before and none have been this shy

 

[davew]

well i've had this midas now for 2 months i would say it's about 6" now and there is a small slate cave which he can just about squeeze into and he stays in there pretty much all the time unless there is food about, if i take the cave out he will squeeze behind the bogwood and stay there.
do you think i should take out all the tank decorations to force him to come out or will that just stress him, if i put a mirror at the side of the tank he will attack his reflection and stay out a bit more but if the mirror is not there he prefers to hide.

 

[RD.]

Personally I would remove all tank decorations, and force him to get used to being out in the open. Not too exciting having an amph that hides all day.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Personally I would remove all tank decorations

You're a mean old man.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[RD.]

Hey, I'm not that old.

 

[davew]

Personally I would remove all tank decorations, and force him to get used to being out in the open. Not too exciting having an amph that hides all day.

i think i will try removing the decorations then and see how it goes ,he seems quite active when he is out it's just he prefers to sit in a cave all day long like you say it's no fun having a fish that hides all day especially as i was planning on having only the one fish in the tank