chicken fish-chapter 2: A new approach

[bluehighways]

Hello MFKeepers. I'm still trying to get my uber-shy JD to come out of his shell. I went to my LFS as suggested and got him a tankmate. 6 actually. I picked up a small school of great danios to use as dithers and try to make him feel comfortable coming out of his hiding spots. Well, it hasn't worked, but I'm not done trying to modify fish behavior yet. I've decided on a new approach.

My attempt at fish psychology and behavior modification is as follows: At the LFS where he was housed, the JD tank had quite a few inmates with plant cover, but no real caves to hide in. I provided my tank with two substantial caves which block out almost all light, and provide a very safe location for any fish.

This may have made my fish feel safe and protected, but has worked against my goal of having fish I can actually see. He has only come out to eat once since I brought him home, and will instantly dart back into a cave if even the slightest shadow crosses the room.

So, I simply took away all the caves and dug out my big box of plastic tank decorations. Now the tank has an assortment of plastic plants, a resin parthenon type decoration, and a few baseball sized river stones here and there. I set up the new decorations to provide structure and swim lanes, but spaced far enough apart so that no single hiding spot is any better than the rest.

My theory and hope is that this will force JD to adapt to the fact that he cannot completely hide himself all day and night. He can sidle up to a plant, rock, or decoration, but never be totally covered. This may sound cruel, but it may work. If this doesn't force him to be a little more brave and start eating, I may have to return him to the LFS.

 

[Sarah88]

how long have you had him? and have you seen him poo? while my JD wasnt the most outgoing of the bunch he definitely never turned down a meal he was voracious lol but maybe yours has parasites since he did just come from the store? how large is your tank? if its large enough for another cichlid tankmate then i would get one, some fish just act like that when they have no other cichlid around for competition, im dealing with that problem with my argentea right now, when i had all these different cichlid juvies growing out he was the most personable fish in the tank but then i took them out and dedicated the tank to him with just angelfish and serpae tetras which acted as dithers but not competition so he hid ALL the time and barely came out to eat, now im starting to go away from the angels and add in some other fast moving cichlids again and he is starting to come out more now though still not as personable as before also do you hang around the tank when you feed it? i would feed it a sinking pellet to begin with because he may not even be seeing it and stick around a little further back from the tank in the beginning and get gradually closer till your face is right up to the tank and he will get used to it and associate it with food

i would try that, but JDs are know to be shy so you may just have an exceptionally shy one

 

[Cookie*]

I had a JD with the very same personality. He was always in the cave structure and would only come out to eat. I would agree with what you did in the tank by removing the caves. As long as there is something for him to hide behind from people peering into the tank, he will do fine. Especially since there are no other fish his size in the tank to pose him a threat. He should adjust ok. I did the same with my JD and he was seen more often although was still comfortable in the plants.

 

[bluehighways]

how long have you had him? and have you seen him poo? while my JD wasnt the most outgoing of the bunch he definitely never turned down a meal he was voracious lol but maybe yours has parasites since he did just come from the store? how large is your tank? if its large enough for another cichlid tankmate then i would get one, some fish just act like that when they have no other cichlid around for competition, im dealing with that problem with my argentea right now, when i had all these different cichlid juvies growing out he was the most personable fish in the tank but then i took them out and dedicated the tank to him with just angelfish and serpae tetras which acted as dithers but not competition so he hid ALL the time and barely came out to eat, now im starting to go away from the angels and add in some other fast moving cichlids again and he is starting to come out more now though still not as personable as before also do you hang around the tank when you feed it? i would feed it a sinking pellet to begin with because he may not even be seeing it and stick around a little further back from the tank in the beginning and get gradually closer till your face is right up to the tank and he will get used to it and associate it with food

i would try that, but JDs are know to be shy so you may just have an exceptionally shy one

I have seen him poop. He's eaten a few (maybe 8 or 9) dried shrimp since I brought him home. He completely ignores the pellet food, although the LFS told me that that's what they fed him the whole time he was there.

His tank is 90g with only a 7" pleco and half a dozen danio dithers, so plenty of real estate is available.


My LFS is an independent dealer, and I have never seen an infected fish from them. They take really good care of the fish, and they charge accordingly. It's worth the extra price to me.

JD doesn't appear to be sick, he raises his dorsal fin like a healthy fish should, I just think he's incredibly shy. He was almost impossible to net at the LFS.

A sinking pellet may be the trick right now, as he is really sticking near the bottom. He's not ON the bottom, but hovering in the cover near it. I think you're right about another cichlid for him to compete with. That may be the ticket here.

I am new to cichlids, this is my first one. I am realizing I had some serious misconceptions about JD's. Oh well. Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it.

 

[Sarah88]

yeah i mean JDs can be aggressive with other cichlids but they vary greatly with personality towards people, some are super shy while others are as outgoing as oscars but yeah in that size tank you could get him a mate, he may be happy with a girlfriend, but you could also get another medium growing cichlid like a carpintis or something (though sometimes carps and JDs dont get along since they both have bluish spangling but maybe you could get one of the opposite sex and they may like each other (and with a female carpintis your not missing out on the color like you would with a female JD) or maybe just a small convict they are smaller but tough enough to handle their own since plecos do put out a ton of waste, thats awesome you have such a great fish store available to you, if i had a place like that i would definitely pay the higher price, all i have around me are chain stores with only a couple employees who actually know what they are doing but most have no clue

oh and WELCOME TO THE ADDICTION!!! once you actually get to see the personality of these guys you will love them, hopefully your guy comes out of his shell soon

 

[Gatorxxx420]

Hello MFKeepers. I'm still trying to get my uber-shy JD to come out of his shell. I went to my LFS as suggested and got him a tankmate. 6 actually. I picked up a small school of great danios to use as dithers and try to make him feel comfortable coming out of his hiding spots. Well, it hasn't worked, but I'm not done trying to modify fish behavior yet. I've decided on a new approach.

My attempt at fish psychology and behavior modification is as follows: At the LFS where he was housed, the JD tank had quite a few inmates with plant cover, but no real caves to hide in. I provided my tank with two substantial caves which block out almost all light, and provide a very safe location for any fish.

This may have made my fish feel safe and protected, but has worked against my goal of having fish I can actually see. He has only come out to eat once since I brought him home, and will instantly dart back into a cave if even the slightest shadow crosses the room.

So, I simply took away all the caves and dug out my big box of plastic tank decorations. Now the tank has an assortment of plastic plants, a resin parthenon type decoration, and a few baseball sized river stones here and there. I set up the new decorations to provide structure and swim lanes, but spaced far enough apart so that no single hiding spot is any better than the rest.

My theory and hope is that this will force JD to adapt to the fact that he cannot completely hide himself all day and night. He can sidle up to a plant, rock, or decoration, but never be totally covered. This may sound cruel, but it may work. If this doesn't force him to be a little more brave and start eating, I may have to return him to the LFS.

Mine go in spells, I have 3 regular Dempsey's, an Electric Blue Dempsey and 3 Texas Cichlids (blue) and a Jaguar. But my Dempsey's will go through spells where they see me come in the room and they will come flying to the glass and then there are times they flee.

What size tank was yours in at the LFS? Sometimes going from a smaller to a bigger or bigger to smaller tank (Which in your case I'd guess smaller to bigger is the case here) can make them feel uneasy. Leave your aquascape as it is and add a slightly smaller cichlid. Also keep the Danio's.