# Cichlids are Afraid of me ??



## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt;

Well I did a normal water change like i always do.
Ever since my last WC the fish are afraid of me  they hide when they see me :-? Any noise i make they swim super fast under the rocks :? . They get spooked real easy :-?

My amonia is 0 ,ph is 7.4 little low ,nitrate 15 ,nitrite 0....They do to come out to eat...and come out when i turn off the light :fish:

Please advise :?


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## Robin

Anything unusual in how the water change was done? Had it been more than a few weeks since the last water change? (Ideally you want to do them weekly that way the water parameters will remain more consistant and the fish are use to your presence.) Did you move things in/out of the tank? Did you start/stop using any product(s)? Any new fish in the tank? Have you been able to observe them when they can't see you?

If the fish are only skittish when you're around then it's likely a temporary thing. If they are not swimming around when you are not around then I'd wonder about an aggressive tank mate and also water quality.

Robin


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt;

If i turn off the light they all come out. I dint do anything different on the water change.
And they were not acting like that after the wc. The next day i came from work and they were acting like that :roll:


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt;

Update  Cichlids are still scared of me when I am around :-? They eat normal and they all come out when I am not around. I do weekly water changes never skip them either  
I cannot recall doing anything different in the wc compared to previous wc.

They see me and they all swim for there lives under the rocks


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## zazz

very odd.... normaly they will bite you when you put your hand in the water.. thats how ok they ought to be about you being there..

are you sure your not over feeding them.. normally if they are kept a little hungry they will be waiting for your next arrival.

maybe you should starve them for a bit.. it may also help any issues with water quality at the same time.


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt;

Thanks for your advise.

I dont have any water issues ,but i am gonna take you advise about starving them a little :fish: 
maybe that will do it.


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## zazz

good idea.. its really hard to underfeed .. they will last a long time without food.. but its very easy to overfeed.


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## smitty

For some reason they have become not used to figure in the room. They will come back. I have never heard of not feeding them to make them come out. My fish have reverted to this before and eventually settled down.


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## 748johnd

I had a 90g with yellow labs and aceis. When they were young they were always out and looking to be fed. As they got older they became more and more skittish and would hide whenever anyone came near the tank and would only come out when it was time to be fed. I tried increasing the number hiding places, decreasing the number of hiding places and using dimmer lighting. Nothing worked and I finally had enough and got rid of them except for one yellow lab straggler who I found in my Eheim 2028 the last time I cleaned it. He has been swimming around with 3 large goldfish who I had overwintering in the tank. They were rehomed today and he will be rehomed tomorrow. The tank has been heavily planted since getting rid of the Africans and I plan to lightly stock it with various strains of tiger barbs and keep it a species only tank. I liked the Africans, but if I have to stay 15 feet away to see them it's not for me. So I am "Out of Africa."


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## PfunMo

Are these Mbuna? I found adding some fish to my 75 brought the whole group out. When I had yellow labs and hap acei with a couple algeas and tons of rock hiding, I could rarely see my fish in that tank. I had three sizes of labs and two of haps but it didn't mean a thing. I went to the fish auction in San Antone and got too many fish so added four small hap moori (whatever they are now) and a handfull of guppies to be eaten. Now suddenly everybody including the guppies are out and about waiting to be fed. The guppies look a little gun-shy but that's their prob. :roll:

Wanna swap some fish?


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## bernreuther

My mbuna started getting skittish the other day after I moved. They're in the same tank but a temporary location down in a back bedroom. Before they were in the kitchen and would get excited for food anytime a person came around. Now there's no people most times and when I come to the end of the hall they dart into hiding places. If you just made some kind of change, maybe that's it. Mine still at least come out to eat so I figure it's only temporary. Plus I plan to put them into a larger tank in a more common area soon. Just have to build a nicer stand.


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## FlyHigh

It would help to know what kind of Cichlids you have. Some are naturally more reclusive then others and may be exhibiting normal behavior for their species. How many fish do you have? What size tank? It is possible you may need to add dither fish. Some fish need lots of other fish swimming around (aquariums and in nature too) to feel safe. Dither fish would be any other fish that would be swimming in the open to make other fish feel safe enough to swim about openly.


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt;

Its in a 44 gallon corner. Its in combination's which are not suppose to be mixed :roll: 
Blue ahli,Flame back,Red tail 44,convict,bumble bee,Jewel,yellow Lab,tire track eel,Pseudotropheus socolof,nyereri hybrid . They all get along fine...And all of them hide together now, when they see me.\

I did not feed them all day saturday and all sunday until 2 am monday morning and now they are not running away :thumb: like they were.
I hope that did it  Keeping my fingers crossed


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## zazz

cool :thumb:

i have a 150g with about 50 fish and literally the water is splashing out of the tank when i come down in the morning.


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## BenHugs

I have haps, peacocks and mbuna living fairly peacefully in my 255g peninsula style tank. My cichlids went through a phase where they did hide but seem to have outgrown it. One thing I found that bothered them was darker to black clothing. It seems weird but they would always go into fits when I was wearing a black sweater. I can't even stick my hand into my tank without being bitten. 
Dithers may help as mentioned above. I'm using denisoni barbs for dithers, they are way too fast for any of my africans.


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## jriver20

I have the same issue. I have a 5 gallons Fluval spec with 5 1.5" cichlids. At first they were active but since I notice that they were gathering in one side of the tank, I place I remove a manela folder that was there and place a black board on that side. Somehow they all went behinds the rocks and they look at me and hide hahahahahaha! Honestly it is kind of spooky cute! They eventually came to the front of the tank after a while.


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## hisplaceresort1

My (mostly) mbuna tank will get spooky occasionally like you describe. These episodes are relatively short-lived (2-3 days).

There are a lot of things besides water quality that can cause this. Children, pets, unusual noises, TV's playing too loudly, etc. Even the sight of people they don't recognize, and I realize that's a pretty incredible claim, will make them hide.

My fish typically swarm toward the glass when I am near or walk by (as I am the "foodgiver"). They will either do that or not react at all if my husband walks by. My daughter, housekeeper, and other people they don't recognize will make them hide when they walk by the tank (which is in an area you have to walk right beside.)

Glad yours came out of it, but honestly it could have been anything. I made a post once about mine being super-agitated when I wanted to sit by the tank and watch them, but that is because I am the one that feeds them... So for that, I just would pull up a chair by the tank and read without feeding them, but that's a different thing than what you experienced.

I still think sometimes it "conditions them" to pull a chair right up as close to the tank as you can get, and just sit there and read, kind of looking at them sometimes and ignoring them sometimes. It's really enjoyable now, because when I look up, certain fish have come up to the glass and are as close to me as they can get and are just looking at me...

Anyway, glad yours are fine, now!


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## jriver20

hisplaceresort1:

I am sure yours will be ok. I notice the same about watching tv, and sometimes sudden movements do spoke them a little. I am sure yours will grow out of it. I just got mine few days ago. They still are babies but can't wait for them to grow. here is a video I posted so you can see.


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