Juvenile personalities.

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Covetous

Covetous

Aimara
MFK Member
Feb 8, 2016
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So, let me start out by saying the majority of the fish I've raised I've purchased them when they where around 3-4 inches. So I've skipped alot of the "fry- juvenile " phases. I would say before these Umbee's I've had maybe 3-4 juvenile's around 1inch. So I may come off like an idiot, and for that I apologize.

But here is my question, are the majority of small 1"-2" fish outgoing? Or does it depend on the breed/ individual personality, the way they where raised, or maybe the stock they came from? I ask this because my new umbee's are about the most outgoing small fish I've ever seen. Super interactive and curious about their environment. While the other three or four 1"-2" fish I had were super shy and scared of everything that moves. All my water changes where dramatic for them, hiding and not coming out for an hour after. Where as these little guys where swimming around my syphon the entire time I was doing it.

Anyways I was just curious of everyone's opinions on the matter. So far I'm extremely happy with the little guys. My tank is right next to my couch and Everytime I sit to watch TV I look over and all 6 of them are hovering around my head looking at me. It's rather funny.
 
May be worth saying that the other small new world cichlids I've had Festae, jack Dempsey. And jags.
 
It's how they're raised. If you buy a couple (one or two) young fish (1-3 inches), and put them in a 125 gallon tank, they're gonna be very cautious, hide a lot, be really calm and subdued--until they grow up to be about 6 inches--then they change.

If you buy 10-20 fry, all born and raised together, they've been in a tank altogether for months, they're gonna be rambunctious. Go nuts for food. Especially if they're healthy and always have been. They're like a pack of wild dogs.

I have a pair of Argentea, they're very aloof. They always have been for the 3 years I've had them. I just bought 7 3.5 inch fry, they're wild. Always doing stuff, swimming around, getting into stuff, competing with each other for stuff. One looks at something under a log, another one comes along wants to see it, too.

I have a bunch a fry that were born in one of my tanks--they're the exact same way.
 
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That makes sense, I couldn't see it just being breed at that size. I figured there had to be something else to it.
 
I agree with ragin, but would also add that tank decor and other stock in the tank also come into play. Like he said, if you buy a couple of small juvenile cichlids and put them in a 125 alone, they'll probably be pretty skittish and hide a lot. However if you add a school of dithers of some sort (I love using livebearers but am also currently using Buenos Aires tetras) then they'll likely feel much more secure in the tank and come out more often. :)
 
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Yea, my Festae where shy even with dithers in the tank and lots of hiding spots. These guys are just a roving pack of curious goofballs like ragin said.
 
I had some rainbow cichlids the size of my thumbnail a month ago and now they are already paired up trying to flash their stuff. Very outgoing.
 
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