# Cichlids all of a sudden hide when someone approaches tank



## Markito (Feb 26, 2010)

so im fairly new to the game of fishes, as usual my cichlids would be out and about all day until i turned off the light. i used to be able to enjoy watching the tank untill recently...

the other day i noticed that they would hide once i came close to the tank or if they saw anything moving in the area. i can get them out with food, and maybe they will swim about around the tank but if i make any sudden moves they all scram back inside the rocks and hide around inside. they never did this before.

i have about 20 fishes in a 60 gallon, most of which are about 1"-3" but only about 6 of em are 3" the rent are smaller. my water levels are good

nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 5ppm
ammonia 0ppm
ph 7.8
temp 80

i put in a 3" rusty the day before but didnt notice anything till the day after, he seems to hang out in the back of the tank and not seem to be as active like the others when they are out. also that night i noticed everything. my nephew flew a big paper airplane across the tank and was looking at the fishes while holding the plane. would the fishes think its a larger fish or bird and be terrified? how can i fix this? i heard about adding dither fishes but i dont really want them in the tank and dont want em to be target fishes for them to kill. could the rusties behavior affect everyone else behavior and cause them to be skittish?

any help or info would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys!


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

I had the same thing happen to me. I had yellow labs and acei and when they were young they would always be out looking to be fed, but as they grew older they became very skittish and when anyone approached the tank they would hide. I tried removing rocks and making the tank less bright. The only way I could watch the fish was from across the room. I finally gave up and traded them in at a couple of local pet stores. In the spring I plan to go back to a planted tank with either barbs or tetras. I don't think your nephew's paper airplane had any lasting effect on the fish.


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## Markito (Feb 26, 2010)

man i hope they get all active again when people around cause thats what made them cool to watch


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## Aura (Oct 29, 2005)

I wouldn't be surprised if the paper airplane started the behavior. Something similar happened to one of my tanks recently. I was vacuuming in front of the tank and somehow dropped it, making a loud thud causing every fish to disappear into the rocks. For about a week they would hide when they saw me. It looked like an empty tank and was so different from the thrash they usually greeted me with.  But they did slowly start coming back out and are back to normal now. It just took a few days.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Nine times out of ten this behavour is caused by extreme ugliness. I have seen some tanks where the fish wouldn't even come out from behind the rocks to eat and eventually died of starvation due to the owner being absolutely hideous. I personally have extremely active fish in all my tanks.
:wink:


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

noddy said:


> Nine times out of ten this behavour is caused by extreme ugliness. I have seen some tanks where the fish wouldn't even come out from behind the rocks to eat and eventually died of starvation due to the owner being absolutely hideous. I personally have extremely active fish in all my tanks.
> :wink:


 not true at all. my labs never hide from me and the tank is even located within site lines of the bath. 
seriously....try dropping your temp a few degrees. temperature affects metabolism, and i find many activities can be influenced by keeping fish at the high or lowest of their tolerances. for example, i dropped the temperature of my lab tank to 72, to accommodate a new group of cool water corydora, and the labs have stopped breeding since. 
and if your nitrate is managed with XL water change volumes, you might want to experiment with smaller changes more often. big water changes are a great maintenance catch up, but their downside is a probable affect on water parameters. 
bottom line, your fish are sensing change, which drives them into an instinctive, cautious attention.

...and if all else fails, where a bag like noddy does.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I find it happens now and then with my Tropheus but it's usually early in the morning before they have woke up properly. They soon get over it when the food comes out. They also seem to more comfortable when I am sitting or kneeling down.
James, it sounds like your labs may have some cloudy eyes.


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## Markito (Feb 26, 2010)

hey lloyd thanks for the information, i will try dropping the temp a little, theyre starting to get better i usually try to hang out infront of the tank, make slow movements or atleast not walk right up to the tank. but theyre getting better and starting to swim when someone is watching them but they still dart into the rocks if anything scares looks suspicious to them.
figured id give em a few days, just didnt know if this was gonna turn into a normal thing or not. once again i appreciate the information :thumb:


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

noddy said:


> ...James, it sounds like your labs may have some cloudy eyes.


 ouch. :lol:


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

Markito said:


> ...theyre starting to get better i usually try to hang out infront of the tank, make slow movements or atleast not walk right up to the tank....


 you might also time your lights to match room activity. it is better to leave the lights on late than to walk by a tank already in darkness. and feeding less, more frequently, can also convince them to accept constant approaches. HTH.


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## Markito (Feb 26, 2010)

yah *** been feeding them like 6 pellets every once in a while so they can put seeing people with being fed. when i sit infront of the tank i try to warm them up to me so they can get used to it, like how they were before... im going to try and rearrange some rocks tonite when i do my water change and see if that does anything for them... once again i appreciate the feedback


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## vfc (Feb 13, 2007)

I hate to say this but I had the same thing happen and they never changed back.

Mine started when I built an aquarium stand in the unfinished part of the basement; just behind the wall of a very friendly mixed African Cichlid tank. After a few days of drilling and running the circular saw, they started hiding whenever I passed by them. I even tried covering the side of the tank where I walk by, but that didn't help.

After a year, I pulled the ACs and took them back to the LFS. I now have a very friendly community tank.

You can see from the attached picture how I covered the right side of the tank to help them calm down. The only way I got this picture was to come slowly from the blind side with the camera.


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## Markito (Feb 26, 2010)

thats what im afraid of that they'll never be the way they were... i just started this whole fish thing this month and have already dumped some money into it and gas trying to find all the cool fishes to put in the tank haha. i hope they get back to normal if not then ill have to pawn it off on my nephew and buy all new fishes again


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## CoolCichlid (Feb 12, 2010)

LOL maybe they are shy..


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