Skiddish fish

[Machine 79]

Hey everyone...
Just wanted to throw a question out there and see if anyone has had any experiences with the issue of skiddish fish. I have a 135 with jd, rainbows, redhead cichlids, bichirs. The dempseys and other cichlids always hide when you approach or walk past the tank or when you go to feed. The bichirs are not shy and will even follow your finger around. I've even pet them before. If you sit down they eventually come out and about after 10 mins. They stay under a large stump and it almost seems sometimes that I'm staring at a empty tank. The dempseys are about a year old maybe and others have been added within last couple months so I know they are still juveniles. Does this behavior pass with time? I have the tank wrapped in background (sides too) so as to not startle them when going in and out of a door which is next to the tank. What do you guys think?

 

[Deadeye]

Maybe some dither fish. Otherwise the behavior eventually gets better, but some species are just more skittish than others. My jd is about a year old and still gets startled, not as bad as before, but noticeable. Then there is my parrot which isn’t afraid of anything.
As the fish grow, so will their confidence. They will become more and more calm until eventually it will be a chore to get them to hide.

 

[duanes]

Cichlids are highly advanced as fish, and instinctually wary.
The most common predators of cichlids are birds, so any large shadow approaching a tank means danger (until they figure it out)
The pic below is from JD habitat in Mexico., with a cormorant fishing

In nature cichlids watch other fish like livebearers or tetras (dither fish) to judge the threat of danger.
If dither fish are dithering, cichlids presume it is safe to come out.
If dithers hide .......the cichlid hide. They will also hide if other cichlids hide.

Above a couple adult JDs feeling secure because the dithers are dithering in a Cenote in Mexico.
This wariness applies to most cichlids all over.
Below a river in Colombia.

They will probably lose the skittishness, but one of the ways experienced cichlid keepers stock tanks, is to provide a shoal dither fish in tank.
For Central American cichlids these may be swordtails, mollies, or tetras big enough, to not be thought of as cichlid food.

In my current tank of Andinoacara cichlids, I use Roeboides tetras as dither fish, they are large enough to not be attacked

 

[Machine 79]

I was considering dither fish. Would rosaline sharks be a good choice? Large danios were suggested but to me it's kind of a clash of habitats

 

[Deadeye]

Rosaline sharks are also from different areas. If you want something from the same habitat, get a couple of swordtails. They are from the exact region that jacks are.

 

[Machine 79]

Yes, I had sword tails in my tank but my bichir decided to eat all 4. (He is '11 inches)

 

[Deadeye]

Bichir may complicate things...
Good options are:
Silver dollars
Tinfoil Barbs
Filament Barbs

 

[duanes]

Roseline sharks, are from seasonally cool, fast flowing streams in Kerala India, so no less a clash than giant danios (also from India and Sri Lanka.)
I would use these as dithers for Cichlids of the genus Etroplus, also from India and Sri Lanka, but I wouldn't use them as dithers for Central Americans....but that's because I'm anal about being geographically correct.
Housing African bichirs and new world cichlids is already going international, so danios or rose lines would not be that much of a stretch.

 

[Machine 79]

Very true. It's interesting how the bichirs came to be in that tank. My wife and son came home with them because they were sold labeled as "dinosaur fish" as a gift. At that time , I had never heard of those at the time so after googling there species name and dropping my jaw, I had to mesh them together because I didn't have another tank. I was nervous about meshing them but they get along great and create a massive bioload, so I've had a crash course in filtration, in what works and what doesn't and cost effectiveness etc. But that's a whole different thread really