Skittish Cockatoo Cichlid

[Zac]

Hey all,

I’ve had a cockatoo cichlid for quite a few months now and all of a sudden he’s gotten very skittish. Primarily during feeding time. He shares a 30 gallon with about 15 smaller tetras, 4 ottos, a few pygmy, corys, and a clown pleco. There’s caves and whatnot for him to hide in as well and water is clean and toxin free with the exception of low nitrates. Anyways, he used to always be an aggressive eater along with the tetras, going up to the surface to get flake food, frozen food, or whatever it was. Now it seems the the smallest bump of the lid sends him darting off. Or he’ll see a fish coming over when he gets some food and darts off. He used to have a nice round belly but now he’s gotten a bit skinnier. He still shows enthusiasm to eat but his skittishness has drove him to eat less than he used to. He was attacked by my clown pleco a couple of times because he tried to steal his algae wafer but other than that the clown pleco leaves him alone. I have a hunch that might be causing the skittishness during feeding time. I try to separate the tetras and cichlid by luring the tetras to the other side with food. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But I’m usually able to get the cichlid to eat a bit more if I do that. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[Gannon]

Have you tried dimming the lighting, or shutting it off and then feeding? For some fish lighting plays a huge role in their level of bravery. In my case my archerfish are extremely afraid in the dark haha. I never walk in front of the tank when the lights are off because it leads to splashing and freaking out. But this is not a common occurrence and most fish prefer it darker. 

If your fish gets any thinner I'd higher recommend quarantining him and fattening him up in a very controlled environment like that. 

[Zac]

On 2/1/2022 at 1:05 PM, Gannon said:

Have you tried dimming the lighting, or shutting it off and then feeding? For some fish lighting plays a huge role in their level of bravery. In my case my archerfish are extremely afraid in the dark haha. I never walk in front of the tank when the lights are off because it leads to splashing and freaking out. But this is not a common occurrence and most fish prefer it darker. 

If your fish gets any thinner I'd higher recommend quarantining him and fattening him up in a very controlled environment like that. 

I will have to try that. My only other tank is a 10 gallon with shrimp and chances are he’ll gobble them up. I will have to try the light trick and then take it from there

Edited February 1, 2022 by Zac
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