Scared fish

[JanC]

My fish are now 11 days in the tank, but they are still scared when I walk in front of it, they go hide asap. How long will it take before they are used to me?

My malawis were used to me after 1 week, seems it takes longer with american cichlids? Or is it just my tank?

 

[Aquanero]

Tell us somthing about your tank. What fish do you have/size/how many? Where is the tank located? How is the tank decorated? Fill in some of the blanks and we might be able to help you out better.

 

[robo monster]

we need more info

 

[JanC]

Ow well thought u guys could see the other posts I wrote with my tank setup.

Its a 125G with 1x JD, 2x GT, 1x Oscar, 1x Pleco. They are all small.

The tank is located next to my bed in my room. So there is some movement every day, my computer is also located in that room. So they see me pass alot, thats why i dont understand why its taking so long before they are relaxed, when they see smn passing.

This is a picture of the tank, one with the ****ty original lights in it, got new ones now, but didnt make a full tank shot yet with the new lights on.

They are all behind the left wood piece. The fish that comes out most, is the GT female, she seems to have the less fear of em all.

I hope this is enough info now.

 

[JanC]

Some better pictures

Left side of tank, they mostly all go asap behind that wood when they see smn.

Right side:

 

[JanC]

Something else thats worth mentioning i guess: when im at my computer, and look behind me, i see the tank, the fish are swimming and seem happy, they are all 4 out in the open. But then when I stand up, and go in front of the tank, even slowly, they shoot away behind the wood asap.

Only one not doing that, is mostly the Oscar, who just stares at me.

 

[hamfist]

DO you have the lights on a lot of the time ? If so, it might be worth keeping them off for a couple of days, and then slowly build up the time that they are on. A lot of fish are a LOT more confident in lower light conditions.

A lot of SA cichlids can be nervy in new tanks. It can take weeks, months in the worst scenarios for them to get over it. Just be patient. Putting more fish in there, including some very confident ones, might well give your new boys some extra confidence. Try a small shoal of rainbowfish or something like that, something that exudes movement and confidence.

 

[JanC]

Thx for the info, well I thought it could be something with the light conditions. Because when I only switch on the sera plant light, which is not that bright, they seem to scare less. But when I put on the sera blue sky, they seem to be scared more.

Though when I put both lights on at the same time, they dont seem to be scared at all, only when I make a sudden movement. So its a strange case.

The lights are on +- 10 hours a day.

I also added a piece of driftwood, to create shades as u can see on the pictures. I also wrapped foil around the sera blue sky lamp, to create even more shades.

But it seems this isnt helping, so I guess ill follow your advice and keep the lights to a minimum. Ill try to find some quick small fish, that wont be eaten.


EDIT: about that confidence, its mostly the JD that goes hide the first, and when she does, the others follow her The JD is the most scared of em all.

 

[Gruff Master]

Give them some more time and they will change their behavior. Having a tank in a busier area sometimes help the fish to adjust to people passing by their tank. My tanks are in my living room. I did have a bunch of scared fish though. But I later found out that my JD was the culprit. She was very nervous all of the time. So when she saw someone near the tank, she would run and hide. This freaked out the other fish so they ran and his too. I sold the JD and everything changed, no more hiding. I still ended up selling the others. Maybe you can add a school of Tetras or Barbs to coax the cichlids out in the open. That works a lot of times.

 

[Gruff Master]

DO you have the lights on a lot of the time ? If so, it might be worth keeping them off for a couple of days, and then slowly build up the time that they are on. A lot of fish are a LOT more confident in lower light conditions.

A lot of SA cichlids can be nervy in new tanks. It can take weeks, months in the worst scenarios for them to get over it. Just be patient. Putting more fish in there, including some very confident ones, might well give your new boys some extra confidence. Try a small shoal of rainbowfish or something like that, something that exudes movement and confidence.

This is true too. I forgot about the lights. Sometimes having intense lights or too much time with the lights on can stress and frighten cichlids. I turn mine on and off at the same times everyday. The original lights that came with my set up were too bright (10 years ago). My fish didn't come out much with them on. I had to switch them out for a softer light. The fish responded instantly by swimming out in the open and feeding.