Getting RTM to come out of his shell

[JoeBoxer]

Hi all

I recently posted about a young RTM I picked up (by accident, was sold to me as a jag, but super happy about it).

I know they are shyer than other parachromis species, just wondering if anyone has tips to get this little guy to be a bit less shy.

Right now I am sitting on my couch looking at the tank, and he is swimming around, exploring, etc, but as soon as I get up he dives back for his cave. He won't come out of the cave unless I stay motionless for awhile or turn off all the lights in the room so he can't see me.

He is about 2.5" long. I had a small GT in there but he destroyed it and I had to return it. I also tried dithers in danios and barbs but he ate/killed them in a few hours.

Someone suggested a few convicts about the same size or larger than him since they are pretty tough. May try that? RTMs are not common where I am at all, so getting him a mate may happen for a long time.

Or should I just be patient and wait for him to calm down? Will he get better once he's about 5" or so?

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

You need to give him some time, i believe I have an RTM and it took me some time to get it out. But I did not have anything in the tank from the point I introduced him to now , that cud have helped.

 

[dan518]

Patients, hardest thing about fish keeping. Once he is 5 inch or so should start to settle down, ime ca cichlids take about 3 years to truly hit there peak

 

[ehh]

Just be patient. Spend a lot of time on that couch haha.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I agree with the others,time is what is needed most.
There are however one or two things you can do that may help a little.
Cover from above I find helps a lot.I always use hornwart floating on the surface.It soon grows and covers the surface of the tank.This can be very helpful getting shy cichlids to emerge.
Birds will prey on small fish in the wild so the instinct to find shelter from above will be instilled in a lot of fish.
Offer plenty of caves and retreats,the more hiding places the fish has the more confident it will be to venture out.
These are little tricks that can help but the fish will gain confidence with size.

 

[MonsterFishCreeper]

Cover from above I find helps a lot.I always use hornwart floating on the surface.It soon grows and covers the surface of the tank.This can be very helpful getting shy cichlids to emerge.

Is that the floating plant I see in all your tanks? Do you use any other floaters as well?

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Yes I do use it a lot.
I also use moss.I grow it attached to wood near the surface and let it spread across the surface of the tank.

Christmas tree moss starting to spread



I also use it on rock and parts of the substrate




If you want something to work quickly,hornwart grows very fast and will soon cover the surface.
It is a very wide spread plant and can be found in some central American waters.

Here I used it with firemouths.I used it here to provide refuge for livebearer fry.



I also use duckweed.A very invasive plant that requires regular removal or it takes over.
I find the look of duckweed very natural and it provides the fish some cover.

I have also used water hyacinth in amazon set ups.

 

[Frank Castle]

RTM are shy????!!! I wish someone would tell my pair that. My Dovii are far from shy too.......my little monsters are 2.5" - 3.5" and savage beasts already

J joe Boxer, what is the fish's diet??? How many caves do you have for him and what size tank is it?

 

[JoeBoxer]

Thanks everyone for the input and feedback. Sounds like I should just give the little guy some time.

I may try some floating plants. However, I really don't want to go with live plants, so might buy some fake ones and see if it makes any difference.

One other question....he is digging a lot under his cave, and the glass is showing. Should I give him more gravel so he can dig a lot and not get to the glass? Will that make any difference? I purposely didn't put a lot of gravel in because I am worried about a lot of bio waste building up and getting trapped. So there is a very thin layer. I have a lot more spare, should I add it back to the tank?

Frank....from what I've heard from many members (past and present) is that RTMs are shyer than most. Thats awesome that yours are not!! Maybe because they are a pair?? One member in my last thread said that their RTM was shy until it paired up. I cant remember who wrote that.

The tank is 55 gallons, he has two caves, and right now I am feeding pellets with the occassional bloodworm treat.

I know that if I go and get some more barbs or anything else he will be out of that cave in a split second and will attack them until they die lol. But that's not a sustainable or right way to get him to come out more lol.

 

[JoeBoxer]

Some more pics of him. Water is cloudy because I just dumped bloodworms in. I will try and get some better ones of him and the tank setup tomorrow when I clean the tank.