Shy orinos....should I...?

[The True Guapote]

I've had these guys almost a week now and one thing I've noticed is that they're fairly shy. Normally hanging out on the unlit side of the tank sticking closely to the driftwood. They'll come over to the lit side because I normally sit there and feed them but they're very wary.

So I'm wondering should I add more cover in an attempt to make them feel more comfortable...such as wood and artificial plants?
Should I add some dither fish such as silver dollars or something they can't eat in an effort to draw them out?
Or should I add more cichla to try and create a larger school and they might feel a little more safety in numbers?

 

[andre6000]

Weird, I was just about to start the exact same thread. I have 5 pbass at 3-4" and they are extremely shy they will flee at the speed of sound to hide behind any of the many driftwood plants in there setup the moment anyone walks in the room. So I'm thinking getting some other more confident tank mates for them to learn off just wondering which species would be best. As I already have plenty of plants and driftwood which does not help.

 

[haynchinook334]

With cichla that small, a group of 5 worked for me. But, dithers and target fish will get them out and about. Let them get use to you as well, a little bit of time with them never hurts.

 

[HULON]

With cichla that small, a group of 5 worked for me. But, dithers and target fish will get them out and about. Let them get use to you as well, a little bit of time with them never hurts.

X2

 

[andre6000]

Ive had these guys for 3 months now so they should have gotten use to me which they have. at night when the misses and i are on the sofa watching tv sitting still they will come over and watch us its just the time during the day and when we have people over when i want to show them off that they hide. anyway I just duckt out and got a dozen dither fish will let you know how they go.

 

[Tyranno]

I have seen it before.. IMO the best way to raise them is as a large group, they will not be shy and they are easier to convert to non life food.

 

[revival]

I used dithers....Planned on getting some silver dollars but ended up getting 6 tin foil barbs. Worked like a charm. They got my cichlas out of hiding in no time. the barbs eat everything i throw in the tank so my cichla caught on real quick. The barbs are always on the move too so it should help get your cichla active.

 

[Chizzle]

I was having a similar problem w/ my orinos. They wont come to the surface for bio gold because thats where my arowanas are, but i could barely get them to accept one massivore a day. Now the bigger one eats 3 and the smaller one eats 2 at feeding time. My mono which is also the same size always eats shrimp and is totally unshy.

 

[fish junkie]

my orinos sit and "talk " to me i sit on one end of the tank on the computer they come over and hang out and watch the computer screen it did take a while to get them to be un shy i also added dither fish in the tank that hang out in the back it seems to force the orinos to hang out in front my monos practically jump out of the tank when i feed them they are too friendly lol

 

[The True Guapote]

Ya these guys are pretty shy. I think I'll wind up getting some kind of schooling fish...just want something out of the ordinary kinda and I'm pretty anal about them being from a similar ecosystem. I'm guessing silver $'s might be the way to go since the bass shouldn't be able to eat them.