Shy RTM

[Gogs28]

Hi all,
I would appreciate some advices from our great fishkeepers comminity.I have mota pair in 100 gal on their own (M-7",F-5").Everything goes fine,fish are eating well,breading regularly.BUT they are too shy,especially the female,when I go next to the tank,she tries to hide desperately even hitting herself to the decorations.I considered adding some dither fish,but from my experience with that pair I doubt that anything can survive with them.My pair is overly hostile,in just a week after I bought them,they killed and ate the few plecs that were in the tank(though one still survives under the pot as they can't get it).Do you think that I can give a shot with some convicts?Or any other solutions?
Regards.

 

[Jexnell]

Overhead coverage such as floating plants fake or real.
Wear lighter close, mine freak out with black t-shirts, fine with white.
If possible dim or even turn off lights if enough natural light in the room.
Build them a cave with rocks or use flower pots to provide a cave. This gives them a save place to get completely out of site and they feel more secure with a hide so will be more confident.

 

[Gogs28]

Overhead coverage such as floating plants fake or real.
Wear lighter close, mine freak out with black t-shirts, fine with white.
If possible dim or even turn off lights if enough natural light in the room.
Build them a cave with rocks or use flower pots to provide a cave. This gives them a save place to get completely out of site and they feel more secure with a hide so will be more confident.

Thanks mate.

 

[Gogs28]

Thanks mate.

They have pots.Light is on for 4 hrs per day.But she is always scared of me,apart of it when no one is around she is acting normal,even during their little fights she always kicks her Misters ass.She spends hours next to the big pot,tryin to ambush that remaining pleco.I wonder if I add some convicts,is it going to help her ease that fear from humans?

 

[Rocksor]

They have pots.Light is on for 4 hrs per day.But she is always scared of me,apart of it when no one is around she is acting normal,even during their little fights she always kicks her Misters ass.She spends hours next to the big pot,tryin to ambush that remaining pleco.I wonder if I add some convicts,is it going to help her ease that fear from humans?

I think it's lack of activity outside of the tank and the fact that overhead tank lights make it so bright in the tank that they don't see you approaching until the last few seconds. Without the light on above the tank, they can see further into the room that the tank is in so they can see you approach from further away sooner. Once they get accustomed the normal traffic they see inside the room, they are much less skittish.

 

[Allblackedout]

I had this problem with my pair, I don’t know why it made a difference but it did, I didn’t do anything else but move the tank a higher place, when mine were skittish I had the tank at waist level but when I propped the tank up to eye level, they started acting normal, just weird but it made a difference

 

[Rocksor]

I had this problem with my pair, I don’t know why it made a difference but it did, I didn’t do anything else but move the tank a higher place, when mine were skittish I had the tank at waist level but when I propped the tank up to eye level, they started acting normal, just weird but it made a difference

Predators from above is what it looks like to the fish when the tank is at waist level or below. I've found that simply sitting so that I am no longer lurking higher than the tank dramatically calms down the fish. A move from the garage tank to the main tank also calms them down since the main tank is higher than waist level.