Ornatum question

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Cichlidfever

Cichlidfever

Piranha
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2005
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Bowie, MD.
Are Ornatums generally shy fish? Minds run and hide. Only wants to come out when no one is around. Do anybody with Ornatums or Atromaculatums have this problem. They both seem to be nervous cichlids. I wonder will this change once they grow to be adults? Also is there anything that I can do to help them out with the shyness?
 
i dont know about ornatum or atros in particular but since they are wild caught they are gonna usually be more shy to begin with no matter what the fish type, to help i would just try and keep you face looking right into the tank when you feed them, like start a little bit away to where they are comfortable eating and then gradually get closer and closer each time you feed them until they are comfortable with eating with you right there and then they should associate you with food just like the other fish, but they are pretty closely related to festae and while there are some personable festae they are definitely a fish that minds their own business and dont really respond to owner interaction as much as some other fish so he may get braver with age but not ever truly be really personable
 
Sarah88;4689102; said:
i dont know about ornatum or atros in particular but since they are wild caught they are gonna usually be more shy to begin with no matter what the fish type, to help i would just try and keep you face looking right into the tank when you feed them, like start a little bit away to where they are comfortable eating and then gradually get closer and closer each time you feed them until they are comfortable with eating with you right there and then they should associate you with food just like the other fish, but they are pretty closely related to festae and while there are some personable festae they are definitely a fish that minds their own business and dont really respond to owner interaction as much as some other fish so he may get braver with age but not ever truly be really personable
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If they're like my Festae, then a male should be very owner responsive and interactive, whereas a female will be more timid and mind her own business. IME, just as Sarah stated, wild caught fish are always more timid. My little Ornatum are finally starting to come to the front of the tank...at least at feeding time. They're only about 4" now and will hopefully blossom into personable, outgoing fish. Good luck with yours too.
 
my ornatums by themselfs are pretty shy. at the moment i have three of them about 6-8 inches, also there are two small dovi about 3-4 inches, and a 4-5 inch umbee with them and they do well.

as for my atros. they are 3-4 inches. i have had them since they were about a inch. they are with 9 very small freddies. if there is less then 5 fish in the tank, my female never comes out. she will hide forever. the male is very active.

i have always been very careful to keep much smaller fish in with them. seems like the more fish in the tank the more they are active.
 
Some new fish take a while to come out. Some may take 1-2 months for being very timid and scared of human.

2 months for my ZonATum and more than a month for my festaes
 
Like stated wild fish are more shy. I have 2 small 1.5-2" ones and some 7-8"...all are shy if I make a sudden movement...but when food hits they are more unfazed by me. Of the 3 larger ones there is one female that is much more shy than the other two so it varies.
 
Mine aren't shy at all and swim around the tank freely and do the tail wagging thing when ever they think they are being fed. I'm trying to figure out how aggressive they are going to be. I have one male in a 125 gallon with some Geo's and a couple severums. I'm just a little worried that they may end up being too aggressive for this mix. I have my other male in a 120 show tank with my P. Menarambo and that one seems to be just as social as the other Ornatus and both have a very prenounced presence in there tanks.
 
my males are not shy . the 8 inch one was scared by quik movements for the first couple of days . know he eats more than my umbee and always swims around .
the 13 inch one is not shy and swims around but is a picky eater . he is eating hakari only , he wouldn't take jumbomin , massivore or extreme cichlid , but is eating and is looking to me for food now . im sure he will eat the other foods in time .
umbeeking had these before and said they were picky eaters ....
 
Yeah, I do notice that the male seems to be less shy then the female. I added the Escondidos in the tank with the Ornatum and the Atromaculatum, and it seems to work well. They seem to relax a little more. I guess they are watching the Escondidos movements... What are you guys feeding the Ornatum? Also around what temperature and Ph are you keeping them in? Are you using dithers, if so, what kind, and why did you choose that particular dither?
 
yah iv got a pair of ornatum" 5+inch and they are very timmid cichlids! slightest movement and they shoot for cover!! eaven find they dont really like showing for food eather!! have to turn light off"" Iv just added 6 silver dollers! to see if i can bring them out a little bit more!! (female is showing little bit more allready)

lifes a ***** when you"ve forked out £175 each for the ****ers thow!!
 
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