Ember Tetra behavior

[Scaperoot]

     I've had a small group (6-8) of Ember Tetras along with a female Betta, Panda, Pigmy, and Venezuelan Corys, and 8 Chili Rasboras in a 20 long, planted tank. I've had the Ember Tetras for about a year. The Chilis spend most of the time in the open part of the tank, towards the front. The Embers, however, rarely come out from underneath my Tiger Lotus. Is it normal for them to be so skiddish? They always scatter when the light comes on, and they only dart out for food. The Betta gets along with all the fish, and never shows aggression. I'm just so surprised that the Rasboras are the smallest yet most 'outgoing' in the tank. 

Edited April 2 by Scaperoot
Added pic

[knee]

Yes that’s normal. I have a group of 13 and they like to stay in the shadows. They don’t really swim much but they’re not as skittish because I also keep them with fish that are always swimming all over the tank 

[beastie]

They are a lazy fish, same behavior was when I had 60 of them. Microrasboras, once settled, are no shy or skittish fish at all, that was a nice surprise for me too ( i have least) 

[Jeff]

My Embers do that too; but come out later in the day and swim around. Mostly skittish...but do come out and swim around in the front eventually. 

[Tanked]

I have a group of six. Their activity varies with the time of day.  One or two of them will swim with the big fish occasionally or at feeding time, but they mostly stay close to cover.

[FLFishChik]

I have a group of 18 in a community tank with 10 Cardinal Tetra and 5 Albino Cory. The Embers seem pretty outgoing compared to the Cardinals. They’ll swim up to the tank surface when they see me coming to the tank to feed them, where as the Cardinals hide until I back away. 
 

I don’t see them hiding much, they are definitely more active in the morning and mostly at a standstill midday, and then active again in the evening (coinciding with feeding time)

[MattyM]

Mine always hang out in their favorite plant. Even when I upgraded to a larger tank and moved both them and "their" plant, they still found the same plant and still hang out by it even though there's several other plants now. Some of the younger/smaller ones might explore a bit - but for the most part they don't do much except eat, and when I'm lucky, spawn. 

[Cinnebuns]

This is a big reason I got rid of mine. They are a boring fish to me. I like fish that are active and they are some of the laziest fish I've ever kept. 

[Odd Duck]

The bigger the group the less they hide.  When you get to 30 or more (might not be possible with your current set up) they are much bolder.  They are not as bold as some other species, but the bigger group does help.  They do like to have plenty of hides nearby and with a betta in the tank, they are much more likely to use them.  I don’t have any bigger top water fish (loads of cories and plecos on the bottom) and they are bolder.  When i tried a small group with pea puffers, they hid.  Those are now in with others in my 100G nanofish and bottom dwellers tank and much happier.