My Fish Hate Me :(

[snowflake311]

All my fish love me they always come out and beg for food. They greet me when ever I go in the room. But then there are the uaru. They hate me. I hide in the doorway so they can't see me. I see them swimming around nipping at wood haveing a good time. Then as soon as they see me they get all shy and swim in the corner were I can't see them. What the heck!!!

I'm starting to think they hate me. If they keep it up I'm going to let them go. What fun are fish if they will not let you watch them. Oh and they are 98% recovered from the HITH. After all I have done for them and all I get is the cold fin.

What should I do?

 

[Curiosity101]

How long have you had them? Were they wild caught?

 

[snowflake311]

I got them may 26 . I treated them in a 20 gal for hith. Then moved them to this 100 gal June 14th.
No they are not wild caught. My parrot is she can be skitish but always comes out to say hi.

 

[Wills]

My fish are like that sometimes maybe they need dithers to calm them down? Or maybe up the group to give them confidence? I wouldnt take it personally if those fish knew what you did for them I saw a pic of your block head earlier on in an other thread and he looks amazing now he is healed up

Wills

 

[Curiosity101]

My idea... starve them for a couple of days, then get something really tasty and feed them it whilst you stand at the front. Repeat and they'll soon warm to you I'd have thought... Make sure you leave them a bit hungry as an extra incentive.

 

[Curiosity101]

Having said that and having looked at the back story I'd have thought food as a bribery would probably have worked by now. Hmm...think Wills could be on the money with the thought of dithers... perhaps they just need to see that actually it's safe to be out with people around. If I were a fish you certainly wouldn't see me the first one out 'risking my life' ... let the underlings do that lol.

 

[snowflake311]

There is a cute 4" uaru at one of the shops. He Is the only one and has been there for some time. I thought about getting him but I don't think I will have room for all of them once full grown. I'm working on dithers. I have a few still in the QT tank I hope to move them to the 100 gal in a week or so.

 

[pumh]

my firemouthxsajicas do that as well!!! well 3 of them anyway and sometimes the third but the parrot is out all the time!

 

[Wills]

100 gal 1 True parrot,2 uaur,3 Pictus cats, and 1 Blue acara. - is that the full stock from your 100g? If so I dont see a problem with adding the third one in at all, even if it pushed it a bit I think it is worth a try to balance out their confidence a bit. But I dont think you are pushing it if you do add an other one so I think it will work.

Wills

 

[snowflake311]

100 gal 1 True parrot,2 uaur,3 Pictus cats, and 1 Blue acara. - is that the full stock from your 100g? If so I dont see a problem with adding the third one in at all, even if it pushed it a bit I think it is worth a try to balance out their confidence a bit. But I dont think you are pushing it if you do add an other one so I think it will work.

Wills

Humm I don't know. this little guy at the store is not shy like mine so maybe. Ahhh but I don't need more fish on the other hand I do want to see how they would be in a group of 3.

Hummm I will think about this.

 

[hamfist]

I suspect that you simply haven't given them enough time yet. You haven't even had them 2 months yet.

These are slightly shy, but very intelligent, fish. Just give them time.

I can think of several of my current fish that literally took months to lose their nervousness. Including one of my sevs, who is still a bit of a scaredy cat at times but generally does enjoy interaction with me now. I did start to lose faith that he would ever become tame for a while, but patience did the trick.

The idea of adding another, much tamer, uaru might well work, and speed up the process but I would bet that your pair will get there in the end.

Snowflake, can I ask how often you do water changes and generally "fiddle" around in your tank ? Personally, I try to mess around in the tank at least once every other day as I find that the fish get used to me and are generally tamer than if I don't. Some fish don't seem to need this and are tame anyway, but for generally nervier fish i find that it really helps.
I swear that if I don't do anything in the tank for 5-6 days then particular ones of my fish get a bit nervier.
It's a policy that has worked for me anyway.

 

[rdp50734]

My discus were the same. I've had them a while and the used to hide in the plants (I had quite a few). So I thinned the plants out, then they hid behind and under the filter! In the end they all got sold and I'm re-stocking today with hopefully non-shy fish!

I would try the 3rd uaru, they will be more active in numbers. Hope it works out well for you!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Are you serious? Don't re-home your fish because they are shy.. Is the tank brightly lit? Are they young? Don't be afraid to walk around the tank and stick your hands in during cleaning, hand feeding helps too. Remove any large objects they are tending to hide behind. Get them used to you and they won't be shy anymore, but please don't give them up because they are shy, just doesn't seem right to me...

 

[snowflake311]

No I don't want to get rid of them just because they are shy. I did no pick these fish they found me. When I saved them I was not sure I would keep them. The plan was just nurse them back to health and find them a good home. If I can't find the perfect home I will keep them. So I think I will end up keepig them. But if I find someone
with a 125+ gal tank that has other uaru I will let them go. Basicly if I find them a better home then mine they are gone. I don't think my tank is big enough for the 4 fish I have now they all can get to be 12". 5 fish that are 12" in a 5ft 100gal is way too much. Also yes I could end up with a pair if I got another so.... I'm not gettig a third. I just need to say away from that fish store.

As for moving stuff around. I do weekly wc and always stick my hands in the tank to clean off algea and move sand. They are very out going when feedig and will take from my hand. They are in my "fish room" away from the action so when we do go in the room they hide. I think the big change I just did made them shy again these fish do not do well with change.

Thanks guys. I will try messing around in the tank more and kind of working on that.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

No I don't want to get rid of them just because they are shy. I did no pick these fish they found me. When I saved them I was not sure I would keep them. The plan was just nurse them back to health and find them a good home. If I can't find the perfect home I will keep them. So I think I will end up keepig them. But if I find someone
with a 125+ gal tank that has other uaru I will let them go. Basicly if I find them a better home then mine they are gone. I don't think my tank is big enough for the 4 fish I have now they all can get to be 12". 5 fish that are 12" in a 5ft 100gal is way too much. Also yes I could end up with a pair if I got another so.... I'm not gettig a third. I just need to say away from that fish store.

As for moving stuff around. I do weekly wc and always stick my hands in the tank to clean off algea and move sand. They are very out going when feedig and will take from my hand. They are in my "fish room" away from the action so when we do go in the room they hide. I think the big change I just did made them shy again these fish do not do well with change.

Thanks guys. I will try messing around in the tank more and kind of working on that.

Ok that makes more sense, sorry for accusing you of that.

How big are they? In Discus, small discus (especially if kept in small groups) tend to be quite a bit more shy, they also tend to feel more comfortable in dimmer light, so maybe turning them down/off may help you.