Getting shy fish to come out of hiding more?

[Rass]

I just picked up a 10" Ornate Bichir and he is very shy. He will come out now and then when the lights are on but if he sees you he will instantly go back into hiding. He isn't really skittish as he doesn't panic when he does it but he will not come out if he knows you are watching. Anybody have any general tips for taming a shy fish? Is this normal for a Bichir? I read that they can be quite tame and personable but this doesn't appear to be the case with mine. He is an incredible fish and looks so cool when he swims up into the water column but he only really did this on the first day when exploring his new tank, since then he hardly ever leaves his hiding spot.

 

[Soggy]

Teach it to associate you with food. I don't know anything about bichir but this has never failed me with any shy animal, once they know you bring food they happily come out in the open.

 

[mamapuff]

Spend a little more time in front of your tank too, as well as the food association. Some of my fish are shy at first, but when I sit in front of the tank for longer than the few minutes for feeding, they all start to swarm, even my two bichirs.

 

[NCStateFisher]

when i first got my sens they hid a lot.. took about a week but then they started coming out a lot and now sometimes one of them will even follow my movements a little bit - just be patient and try to wait and feed him until he comes out would be my advice

 

[Moloch]

Mine liked a laser pointer for a long time I would lead him directly to food on occasion, it was a blast.

Now the larger of my two bichirs is about 6 inches and he always comes out to greet me when I get home from work & other random times. The barbs are pretty much oblivious, my smaller bichir is hit and miss, the jack dempsey will come check me out then goes back to his own thing, and the convicts seem too self absorbed

I guess if you just spend any decent amount of time sitting & watching them, feeding them regularly, sticking your hands in the tank for whatever reason...they get used to you.

 

[knifegill]

Agree to all the above. Adding the idea that using more caves and hideys can actually make a fish feel more secure and it might come out more.

 

[Moloch]

Agree to all the above. Adding the idea that using more caves and hideys can actually make a fish feel more secure and it might come out more.

Ah yes forgot about that.

Also good use of dither fish can help. I like tiger barbs. My 6" bichir & 4" (or so) JD don't bother them at all. My little convicts will chase them around but nothing major. And the barbs don't bother anything else.

They might be small enough for your 10" ornate to eat, but they might also be too fast for him, I'd say worth a shot if you can find em for 2$ or less and grab 8 or more depending on your tank size.

speaking of: what is your tank size? That ornate will get to about 2feet I believe....

 

[PostalPenguin]

You could also try floating plants like frogbit. The shade and root structure the plants provides can make fish feel safer.

 

[ar0wan]

Dither

The term dither fish refers to an arbitrary group of aquarium fish used by cichlid keeping aquarists to reduce innate timidity in some species of cichlids (Barlow, 1967). The technique relies on the ability of cichlids in an aquarium to use the behaviour of other fish species as a measure of environmental security (Loiselle, 1979). Good dither fish are typically schooling species such as Danio spp., barbs and some Tetra species.

 

[Rass]

I have good hiding places in the tank. Large areas in the corners where the Bicher can hide in the shadows. I also have two 4" oscars and a 10" Arowana in the tank that are always out in the open and/or begging for food. I haven't seen the bichir eat much although I have seen him picking at the gravel. He may have found some of the Hikari sinking carnivore pellets that I put in there but I'm not sure as I didn't want to get too close to the tank and disturb him before he was done eating. I've had him a couple weeks now and it seems he has gotten even more shy. The first couple days he swam around a lot but now he never comes out.