Hey everyone,
Ive seen quite a few people mention their Dovii being extremely shy, even to the point the Dovii goes days without food because it wont come out of hiding... Ive seen this mostly with juveniles in grow out tanks but also when people bought a mature Dovii and brought it home. This is definitely frustrating and disappointing! The shyness can last a lot longer than you'd expect for a fish like the Dovii. Ive raised several batches of Dovii from fry to adolescence and I think I may be able to help some of you guys out. If you wanna get right into it, skip to the 4th paragraph with an arrow like this: -----> in front of it.
Every time I read someones post about their shy Dovii they ask why its so shy and what they can do...Every time the responses say: its because as babies theyre prey, every fish is different, give it time and be patient.
Well, if this answer doesnt satisfy you, youre not alone... I decided to tackle it!
First off, all fish are prey as newborns, even whales... In my years of fish keeping ive raised plenty of different fish species from fry without them being this shy including many other cichlid species.... this seems to be rather unique to Dovii and a few other cichlids like Jaguars... I believe this is because they are more mindful of what is going on outside of the tank than most fish. For lack of a batter term, id say they are more intelligent than most fish species. They observe you as much as you observe them. Its not just that, its the fact they are still pretty feral fish. Most pet fish have been domesticated by this point because they are household pets... predatory Dovii are not. There is still a lot of wild in them, its like trying to keep a pet fox.
So, with this in mind, I decided to try a few things.
====>>> Remember, this strategy is to help baby Dovii get out of constant hiding so they eat more and grow faster. First off, when theyre really young and in grow outs, and because I know how shy they can be , I keep them in a spare bedroom if possible. In a living room theres too much noise vibration, light, movement etc... if you can set up a temporary tank for the fry in your bedroom you certainly should. After a few months you can move them. Anyway, I noticed whenever I walked in the room they were out and about but the second they saw me they moved faster than lightspeed toward their hiding spots never to be seen again. This meant when I went to feed them theyd be hiding and the food would sour the water and their growth slowed down... So, I took cardboard and set it against the side of the aquarium facing the door so they couldnt see when I walked in! I also placed cardboard on top of the tank on either side of the light so they couldnt see my arm reach over the top of the tank to drop food in, normally when they saw this they probably thought it was a hawk coming for dinner and they bounced. When it was time to feed them, i walked up besides the cardboard and theyd be none the wiser to my presence. Id drop their food in the top of the tank and they ate like champs. I never let them see me for at least 2 hours before or during meal time. This is to make sure they will be relaxed and out and about when i go to feed them. When youre standing by the cardboard you can lean around the side and be able to see them without them seeing you if you do it right. stay above the light source and dont lean too far over...just enough to see if theyre eating, how much theyre eating and when theyre done.
This is something I did but you dont have to, I usually use 2 HOBs on my 75 growout... i have them both plugged into a power strip that turns them off with a switch. Whenever I feed them I turn the HOBs off... they fry will miss a lot of food and it can be wasted going into your filter. Not to mention water quality. Letting the food sit for 5-10 minutes gives them more time to find it before being removed by the filter...
Next, after trial and error I found out that light makes a world of difference. Low light , low light, low light. I had a leftover t5 light I put over my 75 gallon growout. I used a 6500K bulb that was a yr old, I thought that it being so old made it dim enough. I didnt realize how much lighting made a difference until I switched to an old bulb made specifically for plants. It gave off a dim, rosy red light. The difference was night and day,,, they were now out away from their hiding spots everytime i went and checked on them! Id recomend getting a light similar to this... at petstores they sell t8 and t5 bulbs that are called "plant" or "color enhancing". They are ideal for making dovii fry feel safe. Bright white lights make them feel vulnerable. If you use LEDs, use a dim setting. If its not dimmable, what I do is cut little pieces of electrical tape or duct tape and put it over some of the LEDs to block the light. You can do whatever works for you, but dim the light if you can.
This brings me to my next point, decor. I use black sand. I used white for a while but after my revelation with the lighting, I decided to switch to dark substrate too. Anything you can do to help them feel like theyre camouflaged. For hiding spots, dont give them perfect spots where they can hide themselves entirely. If it blocks their view, they wont see the food when it comes, they wont see siblings and come out to chase....I use some wood sticks I got off buce plant . com. They were pretty thick and Id criss cross a few to provide some cover. It gives them something to hide under, but they can still see around them. It helps them get used to being out in the open while still helping them feel secure so theyre not stressed. Also, they will dig little foxholes in the sand under whatever they can.
Its my opinion that when theyre still pretty young, its best to keep 2 or 3 siblings together. When they see each other swimming around it helps them feel secure; they also chase one another and begin to claim territory at an extremely early age... this chasing of siblings encourages them to come out of hiding and reinforces to them its safe to do so. Its also extremely interesting to watch them have so much "personality" at such a young age. You can keep them with other fish species at this age too but its not the same. After they age a few months you can let them fly solo or room them with dithers.
Now, to get them used to you.... when they began getting a bit older and felt at home in their tanks Id start showing myself. How you do this makes a big difference.
At first I would turn the light off in the room so I was kinda hidden, I also took a piece of cardboard and set it on the top of my tank leaning against my light fixture. This stopped the aquarium light from shining on me so I was in darkness and I was hard to see. I do this for a few weeks. The first few days I sit still and will spend time just watching them. Yeah, they will sit still and hide for a while but this is where what I said about hiding spots is important. You want them to be able to see you looking at them. After some time they will figure out youre not there to hurt them and theyll slowly learn to trust you. If they are able to hide from you, theyll never learn that they dont have to hide. Slowly but surely they will start to move around while youre watching so sit still. play a game on your phone or something. read... let them feel comfortable. eventually theyll come check you out. One thing i have observed with larger cichlids like dovii is they recognize when youre making eye contact or not....
After a while you can start moving....then remove the cardboard..then keep the room light on and so on. Id spend about a week or more doing each.
This may sound like its too much but its made a world of difference. Youre missing out if you dont watch these guys at a young age!!! Put some live plants in their tank, drift wood ( not too big or theyll hide) and small rocks! Every time you do a WC move the stuff around and give them stuff to explore. They are extremely curious, intuitive and observant fish. Anyone who takes the time and effort to observe them as juveniles is in for a treat.
Every once in a while my little Doviis crack me up! To be honest, I prefer them as younglings rather than fully grown adults.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I hope this at least helps one person. If not, I feel stupid wasting the time it took to write this all out
Ive seen quite a few people mention their Dovii being extremely shy, even to the point the Dovii goes days without food because it wont come out of hiding... Ive seen this mostly with juveniles in grow out tanks but also when people bought a mature Dovii and brought it home. This is definitely frustrating and disappointing! The shyness can last a lot longer than you'd expect for a fish like the Dovii. Ive raised several batches of Dovii from fry to adolescence and I think I may be able to help some of you guys out. If you wanna get right into it, skip to the 4th paragraph with an arrow like this: -----> in front of it.
Every time I read someones post about their shy Dovii they ask why its so shy and what they can do...Every time the responses say: its because as babies theyre prey, every fish is different, give it time and be patient.
Well, if this answer doesnt satisfy you, youre not alone... I decided to tackle it!
First off, all fish are prey as newborns, even whales... In my years of fish keeping ive raised plenty of different fish species from fry without them being this shy including many other cichlid species.... this seems to be rather unique to Dovii and a few other cichlids like Jaguars... I believe this is because they are more mindful of what is going on outside of the tank than most fish. For lack of a batter term, id say they are more intelligent than most fish species. They observe you as much as you observe them. Its not just that, its the fact they are still pretty feral fish. Most pet fish have been domesticated by this point because they are household pets... predatory Dovii are not. There is still a lot of wild in them, its like trying to keep a pet fox.
So, with this in mind, I decided to try a few things.
====>>> Remember, this strategy is to help baby Dovii get out of constant hiding so they eat more and grow faster. First off, when theyre really young and in grow outs, and because I know how shy they can be , I keep them in a spare bedroom if possible. In a living room theres too much noise vibration, light, movement etc... if you can set up a temporary tank for the fry in your bedroom you certainly should. After a few months you can move them. Anyway, I noticed whenever I walked in the room they were out and about but the second they saw me they moved faster than lightspeed toward their hiding spots never to be seen again. This meant when I went to feed them theyd be hiding and the food would sour the water and their growth slowed down... So, I took cardboard and set it against the side of the aquarium facing the door so they couldnt see when I walked in! I also placed cardboard on top of the tank on either side of the light so they couldnt see my arm reach over the top of the tank to drop food in, normally when they saw this they probably thought it was a hawk coming for dinner and they bounced. When it was time to feed them, i walked up besides the cardboard and theyd be none the wiser to my presence. Id drop their food in the top of the tank and they ate like champs. I never let them see me for at least 2 hours before or during meal time. This is to make sure they will be relaxed and out and about when i go to feed them. When youre standing by the cardboard you can lean around the side and be able to see them without them seeing you if you do it right. stay above the light source and dont lean too far over...just enough to see if theyre eating, how much theyre eating and when theyre done.
This is something I did but you dont have to, I usually use 2 HOBs on my 75 growout... i have them both plugged into a power strip that turns them off with a switch. Whenever I feed them I turn the HOBs off... they fry will miss a lot of food and it can be wasted going into your filter. Not to mention water quality. Letting the food sit for 5-10 minutes gives them more time to find it before being removed by the filter...
Next, after trial and error I found out that light makes a world of difference. Low light , low light, low light. I had a leftover t5 light I put over my 75 gallon growout. I used a 6500K bulb that was a yr old, I thought that it being so old made it dim enough. I didnt realize how much lighting made a difference until I switched to an old bulb made specifically for plants. It gave off a dim, rosy red light. The difference was night and day,,, they were now out away from their hiding spots everytime i went and checked on them! Id recomend getting a light similar to this... at petstores they sell t8 and t5 bulbs that are called "plant" or "color enhancing". They are ideal for making dovii fry feel safe. Bright white lights make them feel vulnerable. If you use LEDs, use a dim setting. If its not dimmable, what I do is cut little pieces of electrical tape or duct tape and put it over some of the LEDs to block the light. You can do whatever works for you, but dim the light if you can.
This brings me to my next point, decor. I use black sand. I used white for a while but after my revelation with the lighting, I decided to switch to dark substrate too. Anything you can do to help them feel like theyre camouflaged. For hiding spots, dont give them perfect spots where they can hide themselves entirely. If it blocks their view, they wont see the food when it comes, they wont see siblings and come out to chase....I use some wood sticks I got off buce plant . com. They were pretty thick and Id criss cross a few to provide some cover. It gives them something to hide under, but they can still see around them. It helps them get used to being out in the open while still helping them feel secure so theyre not stressed. Also, they will dig little foxholes in the sand under whatever they can.
Its my opinion that when theyre still pretty young, its best to keep 2 or 3 siblings together. When they see each other swimming around it helps them feel secure; they also chase one another and begin to claim territory at an extremely early age... this chasing of siblings encourages them to come out of hiding and reinforces to them its safe to do so. Its also extremely interesting to watch them have so much "personality" at such a young age. You can keep them with other fish species at this age too but its not the same. After they age a few months you can let them fly solo or room them with dithers.
Now, to get them used to you.... when they began getting a bit older and felt at home in their tanks Id start showing myself. How you do this makes a big difference.
At first I would turn the light off in the room so I was kinda hidden, I also took a piece of cardboard and set it on the top of my tank leaning against my light fixture. This stopped the aquarium light from shining on me so I was in darkness and I was hard to see. I do this for a few weeks. The first few days I sit still and will spend time just watching them. Yeah, they will sit still and hide for a while but this is where what I said about hiding spots is important. You want them to be able to see you looking at them. After some time they will figure out youre not there to hurt them and theyll slowly learn to trust you. If they are able to hide from you, theyll never learn that they dont have to hide. Slowly but surely they will start to move around while youre watching so sit still. play a game on your phone or something. read... let them feel comfortable. eventually theyll come check you out. One thing i have observed with larger cichlids like dovii is they recognize when youre making eye contact or not....
After a while you can start moving....then remove the cardboard..then keep the room light on and so on. Id spend about a week or more doing each.
This may sound like its too much but its made a world of difference. Youre missing out if you dont watch these guys at a young age!!! Put some live plants in their tank, drift wood ( not too big or theyll hide) and small rocks! Every time you do a WC move the stuff around and give them stuff to explore. They are extremely curious, intuitive and observant fish. Anyone who takes the time and effort to observe them as juveniles is in for a treat.
Every once in a while my little Doviis crack me up! To be honest, I prefer them as younglings rather than fully grown adults.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I hope this at least helps one person. If not, I feel stupid wasting the time it took to write this all out
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