Scared cichlids

[joe jaskot]

Your fish are not used to you approaching their tank. Perhaps it is the lighting in the room casting shadows that are scaring the fish. Try adding some overhead lighting to the room. Also, providing more decorations (rocks, plants, driftwood) to the tank or adding some dither fish may help.

 

[MonitorSpiderCichlid]

My guess would be, once one shy fish freaks out the rest forsee danger so they freak out also. I noticed this in my Corydoras tank, when I had 5 they never swam away when I approached the tank, but now I have 15 adults and 10 ~1 inch babies, the babies dash away when I come near, so then the adults do, and now all of them do it together. Im guessing because of the amount you have, you are witnessing what my cories did as the population increased.

+1