Skittish Dovii

[jayo]

Hello all,

I have a male Dovii about 5 to 6 inches at this point. He is housed in a 150 gallon by himself. He is a beautiful fish with nice hues of blue. After watching all the wild videos out there on Youtube I was excited to get him. I purchased 2 and turned out I got lucky with a male and female so I separated them once he got this size. He will literally hide at the site of anything moving in front of the tank. He also does not actively eat when feed and I find that food sometime goes to waste. Any ideas what I can do to break this cycle? I understand he may be a little upset that I moved the female but its been about 2 weeks with this behavior and i'm getting a bit bummed. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,
Jay

 

[anzo1993]

That’s just how they are at that size from what I’ve seen, I had one a few years ago that I got at about 7 inches and kept him in a 120 until he was about 13inches, to be honest he was skittish and always hiding the entire time I had him lol wasn’t much fun lol so I eventually traded him for a Jaguar with a lot of personality

 

[LDPatton]

I think most fish that live in waters that have big predator fish or birds will be skittish when they are small. Instinct tells them they are at the bottom of the food chain until they get bigger and become the larger predator. Its how they survive to become that large bad tempered fish. They dont know they are in a tank with no chance of a predator eating them.

 

[duanes]

Dovii at that 5-6" stage are prime prey for birds, so it is instinctual to hide, especially from shadows from above, and that instinct doesn't diminish just because they are in a tank..
Many dovii remain skittish until they are too big to be eaten be most birds (12"+).
This is also the case when they are housed alone, without dither fish to help them judge the thread of danger.
Although keeping dithers with dovii can be an expensive proposition.

The birds above are primary predators of young dovii,
The eagle or hawk below can even take larger ones, 12" +, but most larger dovii, stay at depths raptors like eagles won't dive to


When young, I always kept dovii with other cichlids too big to eat, but kept vigilant for the day they snapped.

 

[jayo]

anzo1993 Thanks for your input. Thats what I was kinda afraid of as well. I keep mostly Amps but feel in love with the videos out there so I figured I'd give it a shot. Any other thoughts or suggestions? I don't wanna get rid of him but he is occupying a nice size tank that could be used for something else more personable.

 

[jayo]

When young, I always kept dovii with other cichlids too big to eat, but kept vigilant for the day they snapped.

Thanks for that information duanes any suggestions on a worthy tank mate? I agree dithers are probably out the question but maybe something hardy. I was thinking convicts but the ones i've found probably would be lunch sooner than later.

 

[Deadeye]

You should get some sort of dither. Something cheap like livebearers or giant danios (even convicts work). The small, fast fish swimming around will make it think that it is safe, and provide a meal when it gets big enough.

 

[LDPatton]

Try adding over head cover and maybe some other fish that are to big to be food like duanes mentioned.

 

[jayo]

Thanks for everyones info, I'll pick up some convicts and give it a try. One thing I did forget to mention is that he is surrounded by tanks on both sides. I havea pair of Trimac on the right of him, and a barred Midas female to the left. He will occasionally flare up to them however once he see's anything move in the room he darts!

 

[Gourami Swami]

Big tank, small solo fish, bright lights, no real cover in the tank. That's the problem imo.
Add the convicts sure that may help, (wouldn't go for any schooling/livebearer fish- sure to be eaten with a piscivorous cichlid like a dovii) but I think adding cover/decor will also be important to helping the dovii become outgoing. Fake plants with suction cups that go on the top will help alot. Like duanes explained the hiding is instictive to avoid predators, and especially if there is nothing going on in the top half of the tank, they feel like a sitting duck waiting to be eaten. And yes, dovii are usually pretty shy fish until about a foot long anyway.

Here's an example of what I mean by cover in the upper reaches. One of my tanks from a few years ago. More subdued lighting also helps.