Today, I was messing with the air filter for my house's hvac system;
the air intake of which is above a 46 gal tank that I'm currently using as a growout for some baby CA cichlids and Plecos.
in the tank there are 4 little con's, a little gibby, a fat baby oscar, and two dempseys. All of these fish are under two inches long, very baby (the smallest is about the size of my thumb nail).
But also in this tank is the "godfather dempsey", who is about 4 in. Still a juvie, but much bigger than the other babies. He lives in a little pile of pvc pipe splitters/elbows, and up until now, he usually kept to himself, and rareley left cover, except for eating, teritorial things, etc. (he has a castle of a territory in that pile of pipes).
SO here's the thing-
Because I was messing with the air filter, I put a black sheet over the top of the tank to prevent dust from falling in. (the tank has a clear plexiglass 3/4 cover usually).
The funny thing is, as long as that black sheet remains on the tank, the big dempsey in there has become at least 400% more confident. He immediateley put on his show /breeding colours and began swimming about in open water, patrolling the whole tank, babies be damned.
This makes me think that in the wild, dempseys must be preyed upon chiefly by birds, so the more obstructions of view there are above a dempsey's head, the more confident it is. I have also noticed similar behaviour with mbuna, who I know are chiefly afraid of birds.
Suffice to say, I'm getting a dark coloured hood for all my tanks that have dempseys in them.
Just thought I'd share. Dempseys are one of the most nervous CA cichlids ime, so anything that helps them gain confidence should be shared. Has anyone else tried or experienced this?
If they haven't, I would encourage those of you that have skittish dempseys to put treebranches and black lids over the water in your tanks.
Cheers
the air intake of which is above a 46 gal tank that I'm currently using as a growout for some baby CA cichlids and Plecos.
in the tank there are 4 little con's, a little gibby, a fat baby oscar, and two dempseys. All of these fish are under two inches long, very baby (the smallest is about the size of my thumb nail).
But also in this tank is the "godfather dempsey", who is about 4 in. Still a juvie, but much bigger than the other babies. He lives in a little pile of pvc pipe splitters/elbows, and up until now, he usually kept to himself, and rareley left cover, except for eating, teritorial things, etc. (he has a castle of a territory in that pile of pipes).
SO here's the thing-
Because I was messing with the air filter, I put a black sheet over the top of the tank to prevent dust from falling in. (the tank has a clear plexiglass 3/4 cover usually).
The funny thing is, as long as that black sheet remains on the tank, the big dempsey in there has become at least 400% more confident. He immediateley put on his show /breeding colours and began swimming about in open water, patrolling the whole tank, babies be damned.
This makes me think that in the wild, dempseys must be preyed upon chiefly by birds, so the more obstructions of view there are above a dempsey's head, the more confident it is. I have also noticed similar behaviour with mbuna, who I know are chiefly afraid of birds.
Suffice to say, I'm getting a dark coloured hood for all my tanks that have dempseys in them.
Just thought I'd share. Dempseys are one of the most nervous CA cichlids ime, so anything that helps them gain confidence should be shared. Has anyone else tried or experienced this?
If they haven't, I would encourage those of you that have skittish dempseys to put treebranches and black lids over the water in your tanks.
Cheers
