Opinions on boring tank inhabitants

[CosmicSquid]

So I'm curious what other people think.  I have a 125 gallon with the following stock.  1, 5 inch chocolate cichlid, 2, 4 inch leopard ctenepoma, 5, 3 inch yellow rainbows, 1, 4 inch festivum and 1, 4 inch delhezi bichir.  I have had these fish for 6 months. (Note, I had to replace their tank so they went into a temporary tank for a week, 3 months ago.) It is a heavily planted and aquascaped aquarium. Parameters 0, 0, 20ppm nitrate

OK, that's the info, now the problem.  All the fish are growing and eating great, but I never see them.  They all just hide constantly, the tank looks empty most of the time and I'm not sure why.  Everyone s getting along but they all just look terrified and hide behind the decor and plants 100% of the time.  Before I just sell all the fish and do something different I thought I'd get on here and see if anyone has an idea of what could be going on?

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Some pictures of the tank might help, but I have a couple of thoughts:

-When you’re not in front of the tank, are they out and about?

-Any lighting coming from behind you causing a shadow when you walk up making you look like a big scary predator? Like a tv on the other side of the room?

-Any loud noises by the tank? Like a tv perhaps?

[Lonkley]

Google up dither fish. 

But we shouldn't be surprised when we build a nice tank that allows fish to hide and then they proceed to do so.

[mynameisnobody]

Do you see the chocolate cichlid? These guys can get a bit aggressive as they get larger. If your rainbows hide all the time then there is definitely something wrong.  The rainbows could be hiding from the bichir. A photo would help your cause a ton. 

[face]

Ill start by saying everything is a gamble with cichlids personally plays a massive role that said my 110 definitely couldn’t be mistaken for empty with 2 severums or even my 1 Oscar they definitely would hide if anything was going on outside the tank but normally would swim and do they thing all the fish are still juveniles so that might be playing a role to baby fish are the popcorn of the fish would lol I agree a picture would help 

[anewbie]

The festivum is a quasi social fish and doesn't like being alone. The chocolate fish will be fairly large when it is an adult. Quite frankly you have too many species; too many fishes for the aquarium (when they are adults); incompatible species and well if i were in there i too would hide.

Don't take this wrong - but I think you shoudl return everything and plan out the aquarium. I think you have enough in there to fill a 300-400 gallon aquarium. Many of those species require companions to feel safe. Any dither you add will have to be large since the festivum, bush fish and chocolate will eat anything smaller than 3 inch and as an adult that chocolate fish might eat those rainbows. 

 

I'm also concern about that nitrate level - some of those cichild long term really require the nitrate to be lower - esp if they are wild caught. It is an indication of rising organics esp on an aquarium this young. 

Last but least cichild by nature are territorial and you have too many large fishes in a small area. I don't know much about bichir but vaguely i read somewhere they are predators - too lazy to look it up right now but you shoudl double check on how large they get and their level of aggression.

Remember as cichild reach maturity their behavior will change.

 

If you like live plants you definitely dont' want severums. I didn't cross check temp/water requirements for these fishes - though the species i do recognize prefer soft water - you also have several african species in there. As a general rule i don't like mixing african fishes with territorial south american fishes since they dont' recognize the warning signals and there is more likely to be aggression between them.

[AndEEss]

That’s a really strange mix of fish. 
 

Not saying every tank has to be a biotope but the parameters for those species are quite different.

[CosmicSquid]

Thanks for the opinions.  I have rehomed all the fish and turned it into a peaceful tank with Hatchets, tetras, Bolivian rams and Platies.

[mynameisnobody]

Wow that was quick. 

[Rewcolee1]

I was about to say the same thing😁

[Tony s]

I believe that was a polite way to tell off the previous two posts. 😂. I ran his stocking through a couple of calculators and it passed just fine. That’s what is truly great about this hobby. It can be done in oh so many ways. If that combo hit him just right. Than it great. Go for it. 
 

for his question, bichirs can be nocturnal. Chocolates like to hide when they can. Not sure why the rainbows are not out front and center. Ctenapoma also can be somewhat nocturnal and like to hide. Festivum prefer groups and don’t like to be alone. 
 

I think I might add a couple more either of the ctenepoma or 3 festivum. Whichever one he likes better. 

[AAE]

Super interesting discussion.  So glad to be on this forum!  Nice to be connected to you all!