New fish being shy

[jcrabbit]

Hi everyone, I spent the last year of keeping neocaridina in a 5 gallon tank. This year, I got a 40-gallon tank with the intention of keeping fish. I started by adding plants and waiting until they are thriving and growing new leafs. I also waited until I had gone through the brown algae phase. Last weekend, I got ten emerald eye rasboras from a LFS and put them into my quarantine tank. 

My quarantine tank is simply a sponge filter in a 10-gallon tank, with some slate from my backyard for shelter. I keep the entire tank shielded from light for most of the day (Not in complete darkness, however). The fish have been very shy. They might swim around the bottom of the tank. When I remove the covers to see if they look healthy or not, I sometimes find them hiding under the slate shelter I've made for them. 

I'm not surprised that they'd be shy. I am, however, worried that they might not be eating. I'd break up flake food into tiny pieces and let them float. However, I'm not sure if the fish are eating. I guess I'm not sure if I should be doing anything different. My plan is to keep the same routine: Clean the tank of any debris and do a water change daily (unfortunately I forgot to clean the slates before adding them to my tank, so the water got a bit cloudy); Feed them three times a day; and keep the tank dark so they'd feel more secure. I'd love to hear if there's anything else I should be watching out for.

Thanks, everyone!

Edited January 31 by jcrabbit

[mynameisnobody]

@jcrabbit What meds are you using to quarantine? Reason I ask is cuz if you are using the ACO med trio, then I would suspend feeding for the week. Let the meds take effect and pass through them. They will be perfectly fine with no food for the week. Also, if the tank is covered and basically dark, then I wouldn’t expect much movement out of anything unless it’s nocturnal. Good luck. 

[jcrabbit]

@Mynameisnobody I didn't add any meds since the fish look healthy. I do have the med trio available if any symptoms of bacterial, fungal, or parasite infection appears.

Thanks for the feedback!

Edited January 31 by jcrabbit
forgot to add thanks

[mynameisnobody]

So they aren’t in a quarantine tank? 

[jcrabbit]

I added them to a separate 10 gallon tank to keep watch on them before adding them into the 40 gallon tank, where they will end up eventually. I am going with the advice from this blog post, specifically

Quote

Add the fish, observe their physical appearance and behavior, and treat with medication if needed. 

They seem physically ok. When it comes to shyness, The Internet says it's natural, given the change in environment.

tldr; they are being quarantined, as far as I know how to quarantine things.

[Pepere]

An argument can certainly be made to not treat for bacterial or fungal infections unless you see signs of disease, especially if you quarantine for around 6 weeks.

i tend to think I would still proactively treat for parasites.  As fish are co mingled and exposed to so many different communities in the journey to your tank, the liklihood for exposure is certainly there….

Internal parasites might well not show any sign until well after introduction to display tank.

 

for myself I prefer to treat the whole med trio within a day or two of putting them in their quarantine tank. I figure it is far easier to knock down a bacterial or fungal infection before it progresses to showing signs, and given the supply chain handling of fish, the likelihood of exposure is high and the process has certainly imposed stress on them.