scared orante

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Neervana

Neervana

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 11, 2008
1,319
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68
UK
i have a 15" ornate who i never see apart from the night because he is too scared to come out of his cave. he is a big guy and i've had him for ages but since i had to take a pictus catfish out of his mouth he has stopped coming out during the day.

this happened over a year ago...i made the mistake of putting a pictus catfish in his tank with him...and he was half way swallowing it when i netted him out and had to pull the pictus out of his mouth. since then he swims away when i come up to his tank and never comes out when im there :(

i have tried soooooo many things. i've tried to tempt him with silversides, i've tried to tempt him to come out with feeder guppies...nothing. all he does is hide in his cave then when its lights out if he thinks no one is there he will come and eat the food i've left for him.

is there anyway in making him come out during the day again? i often catch him playing with his reflection during the night when he thinks im not there lol. i tried to take out his cave but he just went completely psycho and started banging against the walls of the tank i started to worry he would knock himself out or injure himself to i had to put it back in.
 
Seems to have a personality there... your ornate have claim the cave to be it's territory. Have you tried sinking pellets and dunk it at the opposite end from the cave? He will have to come out to get it when he smells it.
 
get rid of the cave or whatever hiding place in the tank, I have a bare bottom tank with 3 ornates in it, and they never hides; I did bother them everyday, its when I clean their poo out of the tank; they always ran away but always come back; still they eat in front of me; I think few people in this forum also have similar tank; and this is just one way to train your bichirs,
cheers
 
ok thanks guys, i will try to remove the tank and see how he does. he will come out and eat his food, but only when lights are out. i hope he doesnt go all crazy again when i try to do this if not i will have to put the cave back again.
 
Maybe remove the cave at night? I dunno, I let my bichirs hide, but most of them will eat only when I'm not sitting in front of the tank (don't have to patience to wait them out after I've put food in). I don't put in food at night though.... they've learned to eat in the day or not eat at all.
 
Maybe instead of completely removing the cave, you can just move a few things around, and give him time to get comfortable with the tank again.


Good luck Neer... ;)
 
I would take out the cave and use maybe a piece of driftwood he can hide under but that will still let you see him, wide open space under it I guess.

Also, only feed with lights on. If it doesn't eat, then take the food out, don't leave it overnight, because the fish will learn to be patient.

Good luck!
 
Neervana;3118003; said:
ok thanks guys, i will try to remove the tank and see how he does. he will come out and eat his food, but only when lights are out. i hope he doesnt go all crazy again when i try to do this if not i will have to put the cave back again.
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Badly is my guess, fish tend to need water to survive IMO:ROFL:

Sorry I couldn't resist;) , I agree with the others, remove the cave and there are less places to hide.
 
Yanbbrox;3123755; said:
Badly is my guess, fish tend to need water to survive IMO:ROFL:

Sorry I couldn't resist;) , I agree with the others, remove the cave and there are less places to hide.
Click to expand...

LOL shut up you! in my moment of desperation you make me out to be some joke! :D

well i did remove the cave then he started going all spastic. he tried to hide under the bogwood but he is so fat he cant even get his head under it lol i just put the cave back in but in a different position. then after that he sulked for a day, trying to make me think he is the boss by not eating.

needless to say i was worried ;) so tried to tempt him with more white fish...then the day after he was stuffing himself again.

i see no other way out of this. he refuses to be sociable with me :irked:
 
Try removing the cave at night, he will likely feel more comfortable then.

If it gets to be too much stress for him, you may as well let him have his cave back and give up. lol

Do you have lunar lights?
 
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