Fish Behavior

[SFF.Aquatics]

I am jealous what I see Cory and other fish channels and their fish are bouncing off the front of the glass when they see their owner. I have several tanks that are mostly species specific. White Clouds, Glowlight Danios, Celestial Pearl Danios, Platies and Swordtails. The White Clouds and CPD's are the least skiddish. The platies are the most skiddish and the swordtails mope and hide. These are mostly new, within the last couple weeks or so, I do have Java Fern on wood and Anubias on rock as well as a very little floating water sprite. Any tips to get them less nervous? would a dither fish work well? any suggestions? I do hope to breed them so hopefully nothing that will take away from that aspect,

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I was just discussing this very thing with @Mmiller2001 today as he has a beautiful planted tank with 14 Harlequins that are not afraid of him and I have 10 that swim away from me (and we both likely have hands IN tank every day). With "schooling or shoaling" fish I have a feeling it depends on numbers- what might be a sweet spot (14 for miller for example) for some. Sometimes it can be cover- do the fish feel safe? It might be something as simple as hand feeding your fish every day doing the same thing. Miller shared a video where he taps the glass and the Harlequins come for food- while tapping the glass for other households is a sign for fish to swim away! Fish do respond to routine- I feed my bottom feeders in bowls- they know where they are. My Black Neons (who also keep away from me) do come to the front of the tank when they know it's feeding time. Maybe you can think of something you can do on a regular basis that will get your fish to respond to you. I'm going to be working on that more myself and see what they react to. 

[SFF.Aquatics]

Awesome tips! I will give 'em a try. They are still new so it might just take a little while too,

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Well to me even better, you can start now and hopefully they'll warm up to you! 🙂 All I can say is for now, at least my Guppies love me. 🙃

Edited January 23, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Fish Folk]

On 1/22/2022 at 7:48 PM, SFF.Aquatics said:

I am jealous what I see Cory and other fish channels and their fish are bouncing off the front of the glass when they see their owner. I have several tanks that are mostly species specific. White Clouds, Glowlight Danios, Celestial Pearl Danios, Platies and Swordtails. The White Clouds and CPD's are the least skiddish. The platies are the most skiddish and the swordtails mope and hide. These are mostly new, within the last couple weeks or so, I do have Java Fern on wood and Anubias on rock as well as a very little floating water sprite. Any tips to get them less nervous? would a dither fish work well? any suggestions? I do hope to breed them so hopefully nothing that will take away from that aspect,

New fish are still adjusting to their environment within the first weeks. In general, something to filter / mute the light can sometimes help. More plants is always a good plan. Some fish are distressed by fast movements. Think through what they are looking out of their tank at. If there is a light that they can see outside of the aquarium, whenever someone passes in front of that, it may trigger a sudden bolting reaction.

For example, I have a tank full of German Blue Rams that I am growing out that are always very skittish. Now, here is a shot of my little basement with a couple tanks:

And here, on the top of this little rack is the 20-long with the Rams:

So what happens, is that when I stand in front of it, my large, dark silhouette passes in front of this tank across from them and terrorizes them:

While the same is true when I stand in front of the larger tank, they're usually so starving that my presence is most welcome!

Another thing I've posted about from time to time is that I use this cheap DIY idea of placing porous cupboard liner beneath my LED lights to "filter" the light / dim the light some, and make the fish less jumpy:

Hope this helps!

Edited January 23, 2022 by Fish Folk

[SFF.Aquatics]

Thanks! My fish room is a tiny spare bedroom about 8' by 10'. I currently have everything on a heavy duty storage rack while I build my tank walls. The room is pretty bright but most of the tanks have some areas where the lights are blocked so there is a little darkness. I think with a little time they will come around. The Glowlight Danios don't stop moving. They school pretty tight. They look like a bait ball of sardines in the ocean. lol

[Guppysnail]

This may sound silly but I train all my fish. I release a TINY dab of food where I want them to eat right below the water surface and only there with the filter off so uneaten falls straight down. Then repeat a few times. Vac up uneaten immediately. Within 2-3 days every fish I have ever kept gets hungry and comes to eat. Then they see me and hello fish. It’s a nuisance when I try to vac because they are used to my hands in tank daily so eventually have no fear and I need to be really careful. I even had a pleco juvenile latch on my hand a few times. Mom n dad pleco will eat veggies while I hold them. 

[lefty o]

after a short time, platy's and swordtails will probably come tot he front when they thing its feeding time. if you want fish that will absolutely mob the front of the tank, consider guppies. they have no shame getting right up front for food.

[Jennifer V]

On 1/22/2022 at 7:53 PM, lefty o said:

 if you want fish that will absolutely mob the front of the tank, consider guppies. they have no shame getting right up front for food.

Or pea puffers! I have to hide to watch them do their normal thing. Otherwise they are all up front and center begging for food. Fish puppies. 

[SFF.Aquatics]

I love everyone's ideas. Thank you so much. I used to raise most of these fish for my local pet store. It was a chain store but they still paid me cashy money. I used to have the tanks stacked broadways like most display tanks. This time for space, they are stack deep to get more in a row. I never had swordtails before. I got them home and they just hid. I switched them to my garden tank where I grow out my stem plants. They do like to pick muck off the leaves so I think it will work out well.