Scaredy cat fish... why?

[JohnHuff]

This is an indoor tank question... longish story...

So I have these 3 balloon belly red eyed tetras. They're scaredy cats and always hide behind stuff. I was afraid that they'd starve to death because other fish always get the food.

So I put them into a different tank by themselves. They're still scaredy cats. So I buy another bbret hoping that he will bring the other 3 out of hiding since they like company. He swims by himself, the other 3 still hide. I buy a 5th one. The last 2 are somewhat bigger than the other 3. Eventually the 3 come out of hiding and all 5 swim around. The 3 old ones are still more shy.

During this time I add an orphan guppy, a small molly, 2 swordtails. All are kind of orphans and don't really bother the bbrets. All of them swim around the tank and seem happy.

The tank has been in a bad location so I buy a stand and move them to a better location. Because the tank is only 29 gallon, I leave some of the water in and just move the tank and fish to the new location.

I take out the molly and the guppy and move them into different tank. I add 3 old platys. Now the 29g tank has 5 bbrets, 2 swordtails and 3 platys.

Here's my problem. For some reason after the move, the bbrets have become scaredy cats again. Even the 4th and 5th one are hiding behind stuff. Worse, the 2 swordtails who have been swimming happily are now scared too and confine their swim to the bottom back of the tank. I don't know if moving them in the tank caused this, though the tank was only moved 5 feet away. The 3 platys from my old tank are also scaredy cats now and hide a lot. The molly and guppy that I moved into the other tank are fine.

So what is causing the bbrets to be scared? Even the 4th and 5th and the two swordtails ones who never were. Worse, they've made the 3 platys scared too. Is fear contagious? The tank is the same, just in a different location. What gives? I present this problem to my learned gpf friends...

 

[Fishylove]

Idk if it so much that its contagious, and idk anything about tank fish, but I have noticed that almost all of the smaller fish ( with exception to the two shubbys I just moved in there, they haven't conformed yet ) follow the behavior of the the 20ish inch Koi ( the biggest one)
When I feed them, if he doesn't come up to eat right away, they don't either. And if I sick around to wait and see how long it take for them to come up and eat, he will start swimming in a big circle, and keep doing that until all of them are doing the same thing! Soon as they all do it, up he comes to eat, and they all follow! It's the crazies thing. And if he never comes up to eat while I'm there, they won't either!

 

[davepratt]

This is an indoor tank question... longish story...

So I have these 3 balloon belly red eyed tetras. They're scaredy cats and always hide behind stuff. I was afraid that they'd starve to death because other fish always get the food.

So I put them into a different tank by themselves. They're still scaredy cats. So I buy another bbret hoping that he will bring the other 3 out of hiding since they like company. He swims by himself, the other 3 still hide. I buy a 5th one. The last 2 are somewhat bigger than the other 3. Eventually the 3 come out of hiding and all 5 swim around. The 3 old ones are still more shy.

During this time I add an orphan guppy, a small molly, 2 swordtails. All are kind of orphans and don't really bother the bbrets. All of them swim around the tank and seem happy.

The tank has been in a bad location so I buy a stand and move them to a better location. Because the tank is only 29 gallon, I leave some of the water in and just move the tank and fish to the new location.

I take out the molly and the guppy and move them into different tank. I add 3 old platys. Now the 29g tank has 5 bbrets, 2 swordtails and 3 platys.

Here's my problem. For some reason after the move, the bbrets have become scaredy cats again. Even the 4th and 5th one are hiding behind stuff. Worse, the 2 swordtails who have been swimming happily are now scared too and confine their swim to the bottom back of the tank. I don't know if moving them in the tank caused this, though the tank was only moved 5 feet away. The 3 platys from my old tank are also scaredy cats now and hide a lot. The molly and guppy that I moved into the other tank are fine.

So what is causing the bbrets to be scared? Even the 4th and 5th and the two swordtails ones who never were. Worse, they've made the 3 platys scared too. Is fear contagious? The tank is the same, just in a different location. What gives? I present this problem to my learned gpf friends...

 

[davepratt]

ususally when i move a tank ill leave the light off for at least the first day or two so they can get used to the new surroundings maybe move what there hiding behind up towards the front of the tank for awhile so they get used to you looking at um although some fish are just like that ive had 3 pirahnas for 15 yrs or more and they always freak out to this day when i walk in front off the tank then i have a huge red devil that i have had for prolly 12 yrs that will actually let u pet its back and will follow your finger around if you move it around the outside glass so depends on the fish i guess

 

[Nepen]

I dont know, this really reminded me of my 3 mollies that suddenly got shy, but after a week they came out more. Probably combination of things. But I think the move scared them more than you thought.

 

[HARO]

It's not just fish! I have four turtles that live inside over the winter, where they will beg for food whehever anyone walks by. When the weather warms up, they go into a 300 gallon stock tank outside, where they IMMEDIATELY turn timid, to the point where they will dive off their "tanning bed" when I open the basement door even though they can't see me yet. :yikesu: Come fall, they go back inside, and return to their begging. If only we could read their confused little minds!
John

 

[JohnHuff]

Update: So a few days ago, I saw a balloon belly molly that I absolutely adored. And he was very friendly too, he was right up at the front of the tank all the time. So I bought him and decided to put him in the small tank where he could maybe encourage the red eyes to come out. Instead, after a few hours, the BBM was found hiding at the back of the tank. By this time I was pretty annoyed as I had a tank of timid fish and nothing swimming around like a tank of fish is supposed to be. In a fit of pique I decided to move all the red eyed tetras to the big tank where they would either starve to death by not coming out to eat or change their behavior. The good thing is that after I put the RET's in the big tank, they started to follow the active fish around and now they are no longer that timid. I don't know what's going to happen in the next few weeks but I think it's definitely better than when they were all in the small tank.

 

[fishin4cars]

John, My thinking is they are embarrassed, Man has recreated them to have Balloon bellies. I know if I was a deformed fish that was given a fat overly big belly I would be kind of shy and embarrassed too. Now they see all those trim and fit guys and they are trying to get fit and trim as well. LOL,

Seriously though there is a tiny bit of truth in the above statement. red eye tetras are schooling fish, and when I say schooling I don't mean a group of 5-10, more like 500-1000 in a group, along with them there are usually other species of fish that also school right along with them. they survive by the safety in #'s. One fish see's a predator and the whole stream becomes alerted. In a smaller tank that is well lit I imagine they are someone intimidated, plus the fact that about the time they start settling down they seem to have to readjust either to the location, new surroundings, being moved, new tank mates, different room lighting, etc. etc. red eye's aren't usually shy, so once they feel comfortable they should come out more and more. You might also try planting some tall slender grasses like valsinaria in the tank, they live in streams and slow flowing rivers that are full of these grassy patches, This might also make them feel more comfortable and this type of grass doesn't really need any special requirements to grow, a little light and a substrate for the plants to root is about all that is needed, no special planting media or CO2 is required to keep it.

 

[JohnHuff]

Thanks! The two big RET's already seemed to have resumed their former bullying selves!