Good Or Bad Idea

[joshrm115]

Ok I am tired of having all of these nice fish and not being able to see them. The reason I cant see them is because the second i walk in the room they all take cover/unless its feeding time. so I want to take 99 percent of the decor out so that they are forced to get used to me. At almost all fish stores that is how the tanks are set up so what could be come cons of me doing this??

 

[Truck]

i wouldnt do it, you should inhibit their natural enviroment as well as possible,

give this a thought, as you walk into the room give them a treat, try it for a few days then if they start to stick around, give them a treat only occasionally, then start to decrease these treats untill your not giving treats,

you have to treat them like children IMO

 

[foley69]

take a small amount out but not too much the reason aquatic shops do that is so that people can see the fish...whats the point of selling fish if people cant see them plus shops dont provide the best of homes for fish

 

[joshrm115]

Ok yes fish shops have little to no decor because they want people to buy but I did not buy so I can look at a tank full of water..

 

[doresy]

I would think the obvious reason why LFS don't have (or not much) decor in their tanks is how you going to catch the sob's with rocks/wood or flashing skulls etc! getting in the way

I have a very long pipete with which I use to suck up bloodworm then when I dip it in the tank I actually feed my fish one by one so they all get a go. I even 'hand' feed my corys this way. My Badis Badis were terible for hiding, especially the larger one but now it waits in it's special place and when he sees the pipite he knocks it to make the bloodworm come out even if it's empty!

Fish are eating machines so can easily be 'trained' Anyone who says a fish has a 5 second memory is wrong

No one hides when they see me, providing you make no sudden movements.

 

[Jazzzz]

A fish has a 3 month memory and can tell the time of day. This is scientificly backed up by rigorous testing

 

[andywg]

A fish has a 3 month memory and can tell the time of day. This is scientificly backed up by rigorous testing

Surely it will depend on the type of fish?

One cannot test one fish and characterise the rest of a group as large as fish. That could end up akin to looking at the great apes and concluding that all mammals have opposable digits.

And just what was the "rigorous testing"?

 

[rdd1952]

A fish has a 3 month memory and can tell the time of day. This is scientificly backed up by rigorous testing

I know some people that don't have a 3 month memory and can't tell time.

Seriously, depending on the type fish you have, removing all or most decor/hiding places could stress them to the point of causing sickness and deaths. Some fish need places to hide for safety, especially if there are potential predators in the tank. Even if all the fish in the tank are peaceful, the smaller ones may still see larger ones as a threat.

 

[Ficious]

i just read a very long article in a magazine saying why its bad to take out decor. so theres a fish we dont see in an aquarium...but we know it hides in the log. so we take the log away and it now its home and security are gone. the fish then stresses out and is more prone to disease. its very important to have cover and lots of it. i am 100% positive adding cover will make your fish come out more. give it a shot

 

[minxfishy]

With your fish josh, you need some decor to break up the spaces, so the fish have somewhere to call their own, they are territorial fish and if you leave the tank completely bare you are asking for trouble.

If the fish retreat when you walk it, its because they are new to the tank (youve only had them a week or so) and are not yet used to movement, Im guessing there isnt someone there all day to create constant movement, so when you go into the room it startles them and yes they will retreat. In time they will become used to it, especially if as said, you give them a small treat when you enter the room, until then, can you leave a TV on near the tank so there is some form of constant movement, even the flickering of a TV could make a difference. Also give them time once you have entered the room before turning on tank lights, again so its not a shock to them.

 

[StatMan]

i just read a very long article in a magazine saying why its bad to take out decor. so theres a fish we dont see in an aquarium...but we know it hides in the log. so we take the log away and it now its home and security are gone. the fish then stresses out and is more prone to disease. its very important to have cover and lots of it. i am 100% positive adding cover will make your fish come out more. give it a shot

Interesting I have a Bumblebee Catfish that came with the tank secod hand when I got it. he has two favorite places where he(she?) spends most of their time, either hanging vertically in a gap in a large man made rock or in a "sunken pirate ship", I would say that he spends most of the time when I am around on the rock, not sure about night time but daytime its 70-80% rock 20-30% pirate ship.

Now to be honest the pirate ship is not in my idea of great tank decorations, I guess it was sold in one of the bi pet stores as required to provide a "cave".

I have got a piece of Bamboo with an approximate 3" diameter ad about 6" long, this provides a reasonable amount of cover. but he has nt even looked at it once. I intend to do a major clean out of the tank as It has a lot of debris through the gravel in the bottom from when I got it and was intending to remove the ship.

Do you think this is a bad idea?

Statman