Shy fish?

[kavin2845]

For some reason my fish are ALWAYS hiding, when your not in the room they come out but as soon as someone walks in they all go and hide, my water parameters are good and i feed regularly and all fish are healthy. This is happening in my 35g

stock list

2 x Green Severums
8 x Corydoras Catfish
1 x Bristlenose Pleco (i wont expect him to come out much since plecos are pretty shy)
1 x Synodontis Multiplicatus ( the only one that's constantly swimming around and isn't afraid of me)

*note that all fish will be moved into my new 75g in the next few weeks

Im guessing there are a couple reasons their not coming out, one would be is that unlike alot of people my tank lights arnt on 6-8 hours a day and i guess when i do turn on the lights they associate that with danger and all hide, most of my fish are catfish and usually stay on the bottom so i guess since there arnt any fish swimming on top there all scared to go up, and last when i walk in the room the floors are shaky and the fish can feel the vibration and get scared (this will be fixed b/c i am setting up the 75g in a room with a solid concrete ground)

So any suggestions?

Please help im sick and tired of hearing "where are the fish?" when i have company around.

Thanks!

 

[Yoimbrian]

Do you use an auto feeder? If so, don't.

The goal is to make the fish associate you showing up with getting food, so they come and beg.



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[wild bill]

Why do you keep the lights off so much. Not being miserable just curious we have our lights on close 12 hours a day. Even then we too have shy fish but severums are not usually shy.

 

[joe jaskot]

Add some floating plants to the tank or add some dither fish.

 

[justarn]

keep the tank in a high traffic area of your home so there are always people around, if they only see you for half hour a day when you are messing with them they will be nervous... and like the others said lights on every day will not only help them get used to it but help prevent brown algae.

 

[kavin2845]

Do you use an auto feeder? If so, don't.

The goal is to make the fish associate you showing up with getting food, so they come and beg.



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Used too, but stopped for a couple months now, when ever i feed they don't come up the just wait for me to leave them come out and eat

 

[kavin2845]

Why do you keep the lights off so much. Not being miserable just curious we have our lights on close 12 hours a day. Even then we too have shy fish but severums are not usually shy.

turn off lights in my house when when ever im not in the room so i guess, i do the same with my tanks, im considering getting a timer and just forget about it

 

[kavin2845]

Add some floating plants to the tank or add some dither fish.

considering the dither fish, not sure what would be good tho

 

[kavin2845]

keep the tank in a high traffic area of your home so there are always people around, if they only see you for half hour a day when you are messing with them they will be nervous... and like the others said lights on every day will not only help them get used to it but help prevent brown algae.

their in my dining room and that's a pretty high traffic are since you have to walk past it to get into the living room, i think my main problem is the lighting issue

 

[Fat Homer]

Other than the points already covered, it could also in part be that there isnt enough deco for them to feel comfortable...

But considering you normally leave the lights off, and arent always in the room, that does make a huge difference...

Since even most of my shy fish now come out from hiding and will at the very least have a look to see what im doing standing in front of their tank...


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