Starting to go mad!!

[nitro]

I have a 28gallon tank.

here is a long story cut short.(might turn out long)

When my parents went away for two weeks i decided to take back all of my fish (for various reasons)apart from two which were a guppy and bristlenose catfish.

So my Auntie and I went to the LFS looking at the fish. I wanted a large shoal of fish so i thought of neons and was slightly pressured by my auntie to get some fish before my parents got back.

So i did got 13 of them(suposed to be 12 but had an xtra one)

Well they looked nice to beginwith and shoaled together until about the second day.
When they began to hide at the back.

I read stuff on here about what they like so i added tall plants to the tank and one of them covers nearly a 1/3 of the surface area.

Still they hide......


I moved a rock to where they hide and it stopped them for abit until they found that they can hide behind the rok and various other places in the tank.

Still they hide.......

When my parents came back they went slightly mad at me for chaging the fish and now im going mad myself because the fish always hide even though they are in a bg shoal and have lots and lots of plants to wim amgonst and the tank has low lighting!!!!

Now i want to take them back to the LFS because it drives me mad to see the tank look empty everyday!!!

My parents will never let me take them back.. looks like im stuck with fish i wont see for the next 3 years or what ever......

I knew i should of brought that uncommon baby Bristlenose instead.

Well im finished now. I wrote this this because i reallly need to express how i feel right now because i my parents wont be interested.


Thanks for reading all.


If you got any ideas for my situation i would appreciate it alot.

 

[cat.fish]

i would say that you could still get a bristlenose for that tank

 

[nitro]

Yeh i was thinking that also but it doesnt remove the problem of 13 other fish always hiding.

 

[MrMashashin]

here's your answer- Neons hide durring the day becuase you look at thm constantly or tap the tank. They are scared of you or anyone alse. Here's some advice. Buy a pack of frozen Blood Worm Cubes, cut a cube into a 4th then put it in hot water till it thaws out and seperates. Dump it in there and sit eye level with the tank and watch them every time you do this so they become accostomed to getting treats when your around.

NOTE- do this once ever 2-3 days so they don't get constipated and die.

 

[clutterydrawer]

they are new, they'll obviously be shy at first.

 

[nitro]

Neons hide durring the day becuase you look at thm constantly or tap the tank

I dont sit right in front of the tank and i do NOT tap the glass.

they are new, they'll obviously be shy at first

I'll give it another couple of weeks and see how things are.

 

[canarsie11]

Neons are not the best schoalers IMO

 

[appleblossom]

the bloodworm trick suggested by MrMashashin will work.

after initial fear and desperate hiding as soon as anyone went near our newest tank, now all the fish are desperate to get to the front of the tank whenever someone sits by the tank or even walks past because they are expecting food, give it a try!

 

[canarsie11]

Even after they stop being scared, they still wont schoal together all that great. For neons schoaling together is a defense to being scared. So when they are calm, IMO wont get any better.

Only time mines come together is during water changes and feedings

 

[nitro]

the bloodworm trick suggested by MrMashashin will work

I sit infront of the tank when i feed tubifex so they should be used to me.

Why would you want fish that when you sit infront of the tank they just beg for food and not act natural??

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

my neons are the complete opposite lol. i have never had a problem like this with neons so i have no advice sorry.

 

[Boggle]

Give them time... and black gravel, that will make them feel much more secure.

 

[nitro]

How long do you think i should wait?

 

[Puffer_freak]

Try listening to some of the advice giver and/or try it. Not rying to be mean, but, it doesn't seem like you are listening.

 

[Boggle]

May I say, it's always the human that is the problem. We get an animal with expectations that it will behave in a certain way, and when it doesn't, we blame the animal.

Just adjust the the tank to resemble their natural environment as much as possible eg dark substrate, lots of plants, warm temp, and once they feel safe, they will swim around.

Otherwise, bite the bullet & get fish with more outgoing natures. But do your research first, it's not fair to the fish to be re-homed so many times.