Fish that are afraid of their own shadow

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S

SteveR

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 1, 2008
1,359
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Scotland
I've just gotten rid of 6 quite large (approx 8 inch) Silver bala sharks due to extreme skittishness and it got me thinking.
Lets start a list of fish you would avoid due to them being big wimps! I really try and stay away from fish like this now as it is such a pain in the ass dealing with fish that can't even cope with someone a foot from the tank looking at them without jumping into the walls etc.

I really got tired of tip toeing around my tank. Even if i went near they where slamming into walls etc etc. I know many people keep them, but wait until they get very large, pain in the backside.

So let me start by putting bala sharks on this list.

This thread can act as a warning to anyone considering buying the fish in this thread.
 
Haha rojowe - exactly the problem isn't it, it becomes a case of "why am I keeping these fish?"

I would like to add - piranhas - pretty stationary too!
 
red belly pacu. he would come right up to the surface to feed and for no reason dart to the other side of the tank and smash into the glass. my wife walked by the tank and he must not have liked the patterns on her shirt or something because after a few times of slamming back and forth he nearly jumped out. had to replace a 1/8 of the water that ended up on the floor.
 
I had my 6" Bala Shark in a 75G and he was super skittish. However, when I moved him into a 150G Tall (same 4' length tank), he completely calmed down. He is still with basically the same type of tank mates (African Cichlids); so I don't know what to think.

Two years later (about 8" now) and he is still one of the most friendly and relaxed fish in the tank.
 
vfc;3665557; said:
I had my 6" Bala Shark in a 75G and he was super skittish. However, when I moved him into a 150G Tall (same 4' length tank), he completely calmed down. He is still with basically the same type of tank mates (African Cichlids); so I don't know what to think.

Two years later (about 8" now) and he is still one of the most friendly and relaxed fish in the tank.
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Exactly, alot of these fish just need larger tank's. And most are schooling fish, so one fish per tank already freaks them out. I have 6 id shark's(between 9"-18") in my 265, and there is no freaking out. When these type of fish get skittish I just move them to a bigger tank.
 
amphilious sagitea when there little babys ( i love mine anyways )


and hujeta gars
 
I had problems with 4 tinfoil barbs, they freaked out everytime I came in the room. I'll never own these guys again.

As for my bala sharks, they only freaked out if you moved quickly and was close to the tank.

Most all my fish freak out when turning lights on at night(for the last 20 years)
 
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