Constantly Hiding

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Chris #

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Jul 8, 2007
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Hi,

I have a male and female Fyeri, one yellow lab and three yellow lab hybrids in my tank...

the tank itself has quite a bit of rock in and it's in the busiest room in the house.

The fish have been in the tank for two weeks but hide all the time when anyone comes into the room....

They have got a little better at feeding time when the dart out to catch food but other then that they just hide.....

I've peeked in and when nobody is there they all swim around together.

has anyone got any advice on how to encourage them to come out a little or will it just take time?

Thanks,

Chris
 
They do spend a lot of time hiding, after all they don't know that the giant monsters outside of their world don't mean them any harm. :lol: You could try removing all of the rockwork/decor to keep them in the open, but that's makes for a pretty boring tank.

You can also take some time to just sit queitly in front of the tank (don't fidget) for at least 30 minutes every day. Once they start coming out in the open while you are sitting there, you can slowly start to move, say move an arm or scoot your chair around, but stop if they hide and wait for them to come out again. It takes a lot of time and patience, but eventually they should stay out in the open more often.

They will also soon recognize whoever feeds them and only come out to see that person. :rolleyes: I've read many stories of people who go to show their mbuna off only to find they hide when strangers are around. Mine were notorious for that, I got so tired of hearing "I thought you had fish in there".

You said your tank is in a busy area, I'd suggest asking the others in your house to try to be quiet around the tank and make slow fluid movements (I know that can be nigh on impossible with kids, but try), that should also help the mbuna to be less shy.

Just remember, in the wild the rocks keep them from being eaten by predators, it's hard to kill the instinct of a species that has been around for thousands of years.
 

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