Shy Dovii - Why ?

[qguy]

There are already several threads to this topic , but I am going to add one more, so bare with me I have the same questions and search the net and a couple of common responses.

1. Still young ... even at 13 inches ?
2. Hiding from predators
3. No hiding places...
4. Each fish has its own personality, some are shy some are aggressive.

Now the questions is, if the above reason is true, It should apply to the rest of the Parachromis species, so why is this shyness seems to be much more prevalent on P. Dovii ? If you search the net for "Shy Dovii" you get a lot of results, but if you try searching for "Shy Jaguar" or "Shy Motaguense" , you barely get any results ???

 

[Frank Castle]

There are already several threads to this topic , but I am going to add one more, so bare with me I have the same questions and search the net and a couple of common responses.

1. Still young ... even at 13 inches ?
2. Hiding from predators
3. No hiding places...
4. Each fish has its own personality, some are shy some are aggressive.

Now the questions is, if the above reason is true, It should apply to the rest of the Parachromis species, so why is this shyness seems to be much more prevalent on P. Dovii ? If you search the net for "Shy Dovii" you get a lot of results, but if you try searching for "Shy Jaguar" or "Shy Motaguense" , you barely get any results ???

All Dovii are shy up to a certain point. All 3 I have had over the past year were sissy-fish in their own tanks alone, but when I moved them into a community after quarantine they sprung right to life and started acting "normal". Try putting him w/ other large fish that can hold their own.

 

[dan518]

Where are the fish in the house? Always found that fish kept in a main living area get bolder quicker then ones kept in out of the way places.

 

[qguy]

Not asking about my particular dovii, but all doviis in general.

anyways...

Tank is in a high traffic area. Motas, Festae, Midas, Umbee were all in the same area and the Dovii was the only one that is shy. Tank is 250g with 3 large bala sharks

 

[qguy]

Exactly, why is it limited to Dovii ?
What makes doviis different from the rest of the Parachromis species ?

All Dovii are shy up to a certain point. .

 

[Frank Castle]

Exactly, why is it limited to Dovii ?
What makes doviis different from the rest of the Parachromis species ?

i'm not saying it isn't per-say, but I have Dovii, Motaguense and Managuense and the latter 2 were not shy for me. Some people DO have shy Jaguars, but I have never known of a Motagua to be shy - usually they are psychotic right out of the bag, however some peoples' experiences you talk to may differ

At most my Jags did a bit of hiding as juveniles but the tank also had over 30 caves and each fish a choice of several per fish so it was a given, but I would have never considered them "shy". This changed once I removed the caves and moved some fish around after 6 months or so.

The overall abundance of caves and hide-spaces is quite often responsible for juvenile fish NOT being shy, ironically

 

[PYRU]

I haven't had that experience. My dovii, jags, etc all perked up once they started to mature and felt comfortable. Some more aggro than others but all became more bold.

My pet store variety jags etc have been weird sketchy characters that dont act natural. My F1's have been much more stereotypical. I think most people want a glassbanger now and are just not patient enough to wait for the fish to come into its own.

 

[justarn]

They just are I guess, maybe it's down to instinct. Why are leopards more shy than lions....
How do they act in the wild in comparison to other parachromis, do they live in large loose groups or are they solitary would be a good start if applied to all parachromis...
I'm a firm believer in dithers but you have some so who knows, could something be stressing him and is he healthy?
My dovii haven't been anymore shy than any other central but I've always grown mine in community tanks so who knows?
duanes

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

Dovii are predators. They are not shy. In a tank by itself it will swim around looking for prey. In with tankmates of equal size it will hide and plot how to murder them or it's pouting because it's attempts were unsuccessful -really NOT a community fish.

 

[justarn]

I should have elaborated, aggressive cichlid community and I've not kept one past 11 inch yet, both in 300g with larger midevils, butti, vieja ect.
They are often shy, fact.