Scaredy Rhom

[toehead11183]

My wife bought a 6" Rhom from my ex-boss for $30. Its a great looking fish, still havent gotten to see it eat, feeds at night. Problem is, it hides in the back of the tank and it goes crazy and bangs its head into everything when you try to get close enough to look at it. tank has black sand, black background, driftwood and a crappy 4' light. My wife even got one of those giant plastic plants for it to hide in.
Is there anything else we can do to make this fish less of a chicken?
You can see the scared little thing in the back right corner.

 

[cepon3]

How long have you had the RHOM in its current tank without any disruptions.. Piranhas are notorious for taking long to acclimate to their surroundings especially if it keeps getting redecorated.. My brandtii took 3 months to acclimate to its tank and is still sometimes just a big wimp.. give it some time and see what happens, rhoms are bad ass when they get bigger.. n remember patience is a virtue lol

 

[bigredjeep]

it takes time and patience, all P.s are like that at first, till they get used to their surroundings, they may go for a long time w.o eating, but they will eventually come around

 

[toehead11183]

we've had him for a month, i guess he needs more time. He's eating well, 5 goldfish and 3 bream so far

 

[doods]

what i did for my RB's to feel right at home is put a bunch of molly's in the tank with them and im saying like a 50plus or so, well they started chasing the molly's and their like the big bully will except they it what ever they catch

 

[KingofKings]

you could start by dimming that light... then just give him time-

 

[leviathon13]

yeah, i agree with KoK, dim the light, or place printer paper between the light and glass. the thicker the paper, the dimmer the light.P. don't like bright light. i got my 1st Rhom in June of last year. he still runs when you get really close to the tank, but he's just now staying in the open all the time, and he now chases you when you walk past the tanks sometimes.he's only about 3.5"-4". my other Rhom would come right up to the front of the tank as soon as you entered the room, and would "chase" you as you walked past. I just moved him to a little bigger tank about 2 weeks ago, and now he's skittish. they take time to adjust, sometimes ALOT of time. but you'll be glad when he comes around. My other Rhom is about 6". size may play a factor too.