Nervous Archer

[Scatta]

Three days ago, I got myself a young Archer Fish (Toxotes jaculator). He seems to have settled into my tank well, but he is extremely nervous. He is eating well, too (flakes, bloodworm, spirulina brineshrimp and pellets). The problem is, he seems to find a quiet corner of the tank and stays there, only venturing out occasionally and whenever the aquarium lights are out. No other fish are bothering him or showing aggression (tanks mates are; two Mono Argenteus, two Mono Sebae, Purple Spotted Goby, Knight Goby, and two Orange Chromide cichlids).

What is causing this shyness? I imagine that he's still settling in, but my tank only contains rocks at the moment and no plants. Could the feeling of being so "exposed" with minimal hiding space be the main factor? I understand that these are shoaling fish, but I read that it is best to keep a single specimen rather than two or three if you haven't got room for a shoal of six or more due to an aggressive pecking order among Archers.

I have done my research and my water parameters seem to be fine. I just want my Archer to be happy in his new home.

 

[kanzaris]

Three days ago, I got myself a young Archer Fish (Toxotes jaculator). He seems to have settled into my tank well, but he is extremely nervous. He is eating well, too (flakes, bloodworm, spirulina brineshrimp and pellets). The problem is, he seems to find a quiet corner of the tank and stays there, only venturing out occasionally and whenever the aquarium lights are out. No other fish are bothering him or showing aggression (tanks mates are; two Mono Argenteus, two Mono Sebae, Purple Spotted Goby, Knight Goby, and two Orange Chromide cichlids).

What is causing this shyness? I imagine that he's still settling in, but my tank only contains rocks at the moment and no plants. Could the feeling of being so "exposed" with minimal hiding space be the main factor? I understand that these are shoaling fish, but I read that it is best to keep a single specimen rather than two or three if you haven't got room for a shoal of six or more due to an aggressive pecking order among Archers.

I have done my research and my water parameters seem to be fine. I just want my Archer to be happy in his new home.

Hi Scatta

I have got one single Archer and he used to be very shy when I first got him. Even now after nearly 2 years he stays in one corner then swims to the other corner and stays there for a while. I think it is because they are kept as a single fish. I had the same with my Mono he was very shy and kept hiding but now I have got a bigger tank I added 6 more Monos and he is out swimming in a shoal. Just give it some time.
Sabby

 

[nmonks]

Not much really to add to what Sabby has said above. Archers are tricky fish because while they are schooling fish (and shy/nervous when kept alone) in twos and threes they often (but not always) become problematical because one fish bullies the other*. The ideal number to keep is six or more, but at 12-15 cm even for the smaller species, that's not so easy to accommodate in the average aquarium. Your species will likely get to around 20 cm, so buying six is even more demanding.

What Sabby describes -- having one fish lurking in a corner -- is exactly what I have observed when keeping them. Gradually, they will lose some of their shyness, especially if the tank has some cover and shade (tall plastic plants floating at the top of the tank are ideal). To some degree they judge things by looking at the other fish in the tank, so if the monos and scats are bombing about, the archer will likely come out to play as well.

Cheers,

Neale

*Possibly it is the males that fight, but I'm not aware of any means of sexing archerfish.

 

[beechey]

is the archer fish the smallest in the tank?

my archer fish is always swiming about not one bit shy (knows he is the top dog) in the tank.

only gets skitish at night when the tank lights are off and some one walks past the tank.

 

[Scatta]

Thanks for the advice, all!

He seems to be coming out of his shell a little, now. He swims out to the middle of the tank to grab food, rather than snatching any scraps that get past the Monos. He also doesn't get startled when I approach the tank. I will have to post a picture of him soon, because I'm having doubts as to whether he actually is Toxotes jaculator. Maybe one of you brackish know-it-alls ( ) can help me identify which type of Archer he is.

EDIT: Sorry, beechey, forgot to answer your question! He isn't the smallest. The smallest is the Orange Chromide. The Archer is about 8cm (ish) long.