# Fish staying in one side of tank



## twankyfive2 (Sep 19, 2012)

Just curious if anybody else has experienced this issue - I have a 180 full of peacocks/haps. The water is always fine and they all eat a ton etc. Nothing crazy going on. The house does stay about 80degrees so that might be a bit high, but nothing crazy.

Anyway - when the lights go off all the fish (about 25) stay huddled in the corner closest to where we sit in the room the tank is in. It's like they are all just sitting there trying to get closer to us or something. Obviously they associate us with food. But when the lights come on they spread out much more. I'm thinking the glare from the lights makes it more difficult to see out into the room or something? I thought the mirrored glass just gave them a reflection anyway.

But - and this a bit more troubling - a few of the fish that are obviously lower on the power chain almost always hang out near the top. THey're not tucked into corners, or trying to hide from others, and they have great color...but they just hover under the surface. When we walk up to the tank they swim straight up with the rest of them, but any other time they stay real close to the surface. Two in particular. Not gasping for air or anything, just hanging out.

Common?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It's common for the fish to huddle near you...not a lighting problem I think.

Common but not ideal for they to hover under the surface. There is some aggression going on. They would not choose that position voluntarily.


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## twankyfive2 (Sep 19, 2012)

Yeah, there is for sure some aggression going on within the tank. There are two main aggressors that do a good job of bossing everyone else around. But, all the fish exhibit nice color and swim around with fins flared out mostly. I don't see many signs of the stress other than the positioning. But, the two in charge chase everyone around.

I was thinking that as long as they maintained good color and didn't just hide in the corners that the aggression issues would work themselves out once everyone got in their place. I recently introduced two new fish - which isn't ideal I know. I would have liked to bring in more, but only had the two. I figured they disrupted the structure within the tank.

Is that the wrong approach with dealing with it?


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Not necessarily, chasing is to be expected. However, If the aggressors are keeping all the fish under the surface, then it's time to remove the aggressors; either for a prolonged period (3-6 weeks) or permanently. But if the aggressor(s) are keeping only few fish at bay (as you described), then it's time to remove those two fish. 
Are there any females in the tank? If you have larger haps in the tank, then I would say you're fully stocked. If you have smaller haps and peacocks, then you could add a few more.


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## twankyfive2 (Sep 19, 2012)

Yeah it's primarily just two fish that kind of hang out near the back/surface a bit more. Both have great color and when I walk up to the tank they swim up with fins flared so I don't know if they're TOO stressed out. But I'll keep a close eye. The main aggressor is a stunning jacob and I don't really want to move him....but obviously if he's causing problems for multiple fish than he has to go.

I could try moving him to a separate tank for a few weeks and then re-introducing him. Maybe that will knock him down a peg or two.

I have 25 fish all about 4inches...with two larger (6-7in) haps. It's a 180g. I'm getting 5 more to make an even 30. They all stay so huddled up facing us that the tank always looks empty!


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Are they facing the TV? In my youth I had a saltwater tank and some of the fish would come to the area of the tank closest to the TV and seem to watch it whenever it was on.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

You can try adding a few more to see if that alleviates the issue but if the two remain bullied, then it may be time to switch them out.

The fish are associating your presence with food. One suggestion would be to spend more time in the room with the tank (without feeding the fish). By spending more time around the tank, they'll become conditioned to your presence. Regardless, always expect them to always congregate in a corner when they first see you in the room; it's normal behavior.

There also could be the possibility that one of fish has claimed the entire tank for himself. Unlikely, but it's possible. Try observing the tank without the fish knowing you're in the room.

I doubt it's the latter but if your curious, it's worth a try.


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## twankyfive2 (Sep 19, 2012)

Yeah good suggestions.

I was watching the tank last night for quite a while and the jacob and a large borleyi were doing a lot of chasing. I'm not sure if it's all that bad though, I'll just keep a close eye on it. Nobody is banged up or anything.

One thing I was thinking was if the flow from the filters was uncomfortable for the fish. I have a 2262 on one side that angles kind of down into the tank. They hang out on the opposite end - which is also closest to us so hard to say. But, when I turn the filters off for water changes they all spread out much more. So today I tried turning off a powerhead I have to see if I can pinpoint what might be making it uncomfortable for them.

I might try drilling out the spray bar from the 2262 to reduce the power of the spray. Maybe will help.

I didn't think the filter would have a huge effect over a 6ft tank....but maybe it's just easier for them to swim away from it.


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

I have my outflow from the powerhead with a diffuser angled towards the surface to promote more oxygen in the tank. The strong current runs along the back top of the tank and the fish never hang facing into that current. What they do is hang in the current that bounces off the end of the tank and runs along the front. This is natural cause it's where they might find floating food in nature. Maybe that's what your fish are doing?


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## twankyfive2 (Sep 19, 2012)

That's an interesting situation there. I'm going to move the spray bar into various positions and see if that has any effect on where the fish hang out. I'd like them swim around more and fill up the tank space.


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Well mine swim around too as well as rest in the caves but around the time they think they should be fed they tend to line up and hang out in the current.


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