Time To Acclimatise?

[Paul70]

Hi
I have referred to this in another thread already so sorry for partial repetition.

My fish that have been in my tank for 2 days now are lovely and active when the tank lights are off swimming all the way to the surface and using the whole tank but as soon as the lights go on they dart for cover and the substrate, especially my red tail black shark which hides constantly under a rock. is this normal or will it just take time for them to get used to being out in the lights? how long does this usually take.

 

[BPB]

Hi
I have referred to this in another thread already so sorry for partial repetition.

My fish that have been in my tank for 2 days now are lovely and active when the tank lights are off swimming all the way to the surface and using the whole tank but as soon as the lights go on they dart for cover and the substrate, especially my red tail black shark which hides constantly under a rock. is this normal or will it just take time for them to get used to being out in the lights? how long does this usually take.

That is very normal behavior. In my experience, it can take weeks for skittish fish to feel safe enough to swim freely. Fish that are natural cave dwellers may take even longer, such as your shark. Just make sure your water quality is top notch and that your fish are compatible and they will certainly come around. I forgot to ask, is your tank cycled?

 

[Paul70]

yes tank is cycled and both ammonia and nitrites were at 0 in 12 hours for more than a week.

i have tiger barbs and the shark and they do seem to get on generally well but my RTBS is really territorial over the large coloured rock in the centre of the tank. chases that tiger barbs away from it quite a lot when the light is off. with the light on however it is scared of its own shadow lol.

my water is currently at nitrites 0, ammonia 0.25 (background tap water is 0.25-0.50), testing twice a day at the moment.

i was hoping for a reply like this to be honest. as i have only had them for 2 days i should have guessed it would take a while for them to get used to it. i guess i am impatient with it lol and just want to see my babies in all their glory

 

[BPB]

Well I will say your swords look fantastic. I'm in the process of converting my tank to planted from just a plain rock scape. Is your substrate just plain sand or are you supplementing with anything? I am using the same sand right now and was debating on adding some organic soil underneath. I have flourish Excel instead of co2 and root tabs to use when I get some java fern and amazon swords. I have a school of 10 Buenos Aires tetras that still hide from me now two weeks after I introduced them. All 10 squeeze into one of the caves until I walk away. some fish take a while to recover from the stress of the lfs. they will come around soon.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Dont worry about shy fish, they will come around. I hardly ever see my 6 sterai corys now but the Angelfish comes to the front of the tank everytime I walk by.

 

[Joshwainwright]

I'm sure they'll come round.

 

[Paul70]

Well I will say your swords look fantastic. I'm in the process of converting my tank to planted from just a plain rock scape. Is your substrate just plain sand or are you supplementing with anything? I am using the same sand right now and was debating on adding some organic soil underneath. I have flourish Excel instead of co2 and root tabs to use when I get some java fern and amazon swords. I have a school of 10 Buenos Aires tetras that still hide from me now two weeks after I introduced them. All 10 squeeze into one of the caves until I walk away. some fish take a while to recover from the stress of the lfs. they will come around soon.

Unfortunately the red swords were dying and rotting away so had to remove. I was also told by a respected member on here that they are not aquatic plants and will eventually poison the water. They have gone in the 'unlucky file' in the kitchen (trash).
the green amazon sword is doing well and am pleased with it. I am going to get some vallis and indian fern in a few days and replant with that.
as far as substrate goes it is just plain old playsand with no supplement although I have supplemented the water with king british aquatic plant food as instructed but when i get more heavily planted I am gonna think about co2.

I have sadly had to remove the rocks also due to my pH creeping up. I have again been told that the rocks may be the source of this increase due to them being sedimentary in nature. pH is now 8.2 and tap water is 7.4 round here.

ammonia is constant at 0.25ppm but doesn't go any lower. i suppose I will have to wait for my a-bacs to get used to the lower water temperature (25c from previous 29c). tap water ammonia round here is 0.5ppm so at least the a-bacs I have are coping with not only my fish load but removal of tap water ammonia as well.