Shy flowerhorn

[neto333]

Hello, i just bought my first flowerhorn (a red dragon) and he is very small, like 3 inches. And he is very shy, whenever i come close he hides behind the sponge filters. I dont know why is happening this, i dont know if the tank is just to big for the fist (i tried to get a big aquarium as people recommend them to be kept on big aquairums). I got the fish 3 days ago, the first date i didnt gave it any food, but now im a little bit worry about if he is eating or if he is sick,

He sweems fine around the tank, but the problem is when i got close. Im not sure if he is eating because, but i think he is eating, because i cant find any food, but what if the food is hide or stuck in the filter. Im feeding it with aquamaster ( anybody knows if the food stays floating or goes to the bottom of the tank?) and i even bought some shirmp in the supermarket. I gave him like 3 small pellets yesterday and the the afternoon i gave it just a little bit of a shrimp (not the entire shrimp, like 1/10 or less).

Is this normal? What can i do? I heard that putting a mirror could help but i dont want to stress it more.

 

[Deadeye]

Welcome to the forum!
How big is the tank? How many hiding spots are there?
It’s normal for new fish to be stressed and skittish, especially if there aren’t enough places to hide. To the cichlid, you are a giant predator - it takes time for them to get used to you.
How big are the foods you are feeding? It can be tough for them to eat if it doesn’t fit in their mouth. I have no experience with that brand of food.

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

Every large aggressive CA cichlid I have ever owned - which is countless dozens in the last 30 years - does this. They all go through "shy" phases where they are skittish and hide.

3" is a baby, remember. Baby fish are constantly on high alert because they're likely to be eaten by something bigger. That instinct is still there, it doesn't go away just because it was born in a tank instead of in the wild.

He'll likely come in and out of shy phases as he matures. He'll get better and be more confident, and then suddenly revert back to being shy for a while. It's pretty much the same thing as the fear periods in puppies. Eventually they get big and old enough that they grow out of it and you are unlikely to see it happen any more.

 

[neto333]

Thanks for the answers.
Little update: looks like he is a lot more active and i was even able to take a picture close. So for anybody with a similar problem, my best recommendation is to be patient, reduce the light, reduce feeding and just wait. Here is the photo