Are Fish Stupid?

[Maxta]

As in mentally.

I have 5 cory cats who of course all love being at the bottom of the tank because its in their nature, and theres sand down there to mess around in. Anyways, i dont think they like the light that much, or the current/flow in the water. The logic behind me thinking they dont like the light, is that soon after the light gos off, they come out and become more active.

So why dont they go into the cave i bought for them? Itl give them privacy, its dark, and probably has very little current. Theres enough for 5 of them since theyre only small ATM.

But theyd prefer to lie down in the open, and hide under/in the plants, or round the back of the cave.

Are my fish stupid? They go in now and then, but havent gone in no where near as much as i thought they would. I wonder if its the betta? Sometimes he will go in and theyl come flying out, but only sometimes does that happen.

Hmmm.

Anyone else experienced this? Anyone got any views on why this is happening lol? Dont get me wrong i love to look at my fish, but i dont see why they hide round the back of it, instead of in it. Weirdos

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

As in mentally.

I have 5 cory cats who of course all love being at the bottom of the tank because its in their nature, and theres sand down there to mess around in. Anyways, i dont think they like the light that much, or the current/flow in the water. The logic behind me thinking they dont like the light, is that soon after the light gos off, they come out and become more active.

So why dont they go into the cave i bought for them? Itl give them privacy, its dark, and probably has very little current. Theres enough for 5 of them since theyre only small ATM.

But theyd prefer to lie down in the open, and hide under/in the plants, or round the back of the cave.

Are my fish stupid? They go in now and then, but havent gone in no where near as much as i thought they would. I wonder if its the betta? Sometimes he will go in and theyl come flying out, but only sometimes does that happen.

Hmmm.

Anyone else experienced this? Anyone got any views on why this is happening lol? Dont get me wrong i love to look at my fish, but i dont see why they hide round the back of it, instead of in it. Weirdos

maybe they don't like the darkness or something ?

my cories swim off when i get close to the tank but i've only had them a week but i guess after time they'll be more active in the day !

 

[Maxta]

Well at first when i got them, they were very active. Very edgy though as its on my desk, so every slight knock they jumped, now theyve settled in and only get startled if its a big bang. Dont understand though, theyre more active when the lights off - thus dark. So the cave shouldnt be a problem. Theres a little bit of light shining in it, but other than that, dark.

Lights are on from 7am to 10/11am. Then 6pm to 11pm. I have a power glo buld in - the ones with a purpley tinge to them. Looks alot nicer than the standard sun glo i got with the tank. Also alot better for growing my plants.

 

[WILDER]

Took my corys time to get used to me now they are at the front with the lights on.
Only time my go in the cave is for food.
They like plants better.
How long have you had them?

 

[Maxta]

Peppered corys - 6 weeks
Albino corys - 1 and 2 weeks

Its not so much the albinos, because they dont hide round the back of the cave, just like to dig little holes usually at the front cf the tank in which they can sit in, or hide under or in the bottom of the plants.

Its the peppers im curious about. Because they spend the majority of the time behind the cave, although i must give one of them credit as he gos in more than the others.

Like, my light has just gone off as its on a timer. So i left it 5 minutes and then turned my torch on, and all my peppers were out from behind the cave.

 

[WILDER]

How much time do you spend with them, it can take a while for them to get used to you, some fish are more nervous than others.
Its not the other corys then if there coming out when you turned the lights off.
Put the lights on and watch them for a while, till they get used to you being around, maybe add some peas as corys are always seem to be eating.

 

[ABNM]

Cories are nocturnal! Of course they hate light.

My youngest cories seem to be out all hours but my old ones stay inside a cave until night.

 

[Maxta]

Most of the day usually. PCs in my room, as is my tank, and im always at my PC or in my room when im in the house. Sometimes i may be at my girlfriends and be there all day though.

You just reminded me of something. They used to always be active, like picking at the sand and stuff, the usual cory behaviour searching for food. The peppers dont seem to do that much anymore. I used to like watching them do that

 

[WILDER]

Mine don't they always out in your face most of the time lol.
Soon as food hits the tank there out from there napping.

 

[Maxta]

Most of the day usually. PCs in my room, as is my tank, and im always at my PC or in my room when im in the house. Sometimes i may be at my girlfriends and be there all day though.

You just reminded me of something. They used to always be active, like picking at the sand and stuff, the usual cory behaviour searching for food. The peppers dont seem to do that much anymore. I used to like watching them do that

Haha just as i said that and waited for your reply, i turned the light on and fed them, and they all came out and started doing what iv highlighted above lol. Maybe theyre only gonna do it when foods there or when theyre hungry. Il just have to feed them more if i want to watch them Only joking, dont want them to explode

I feed them king british catfood pellets, and the betta also loves them too over his own food Lol. Occasionaly i put some frozen bloodworms in which my betta love. Gave up with the flake food as none of them seemed to eat it, and made my tank messy

My dad feeds his flake food and frozen daphnia. Do corys like frozen daphnia?

 

[GoldLenny]

Well at first when i got them, they were very active. Very edgy though as its on my desk, so every slight knock they jumped, now theyve settled in and only get startled if its a big bang. Dont understand though, theyre more active when the lights off - thus dark. So the cave shouldnt be a problem. Theres a little bit of light shining in it, but other than that, dark.

Lights are on from 7am to 10/11am. Then 6pm to 11pm. I have a power glo buld in - the ones with a purpley tinge to them. Looks alot nicer than the standard sun glo i got with the tank. Also alot better for growing my plants.

Why do you have such an unusual lighting schedule? That could certainly be a part of the problem. With my lighting, on all of my tanks, I try to mimic the natural lighting schedule of the sun/moon.

Around 7am each morning, I turn on a room light to give the fish a chance to get adjusted to lighting (like the sun coming up). Then around 9am, I turn on their tank lights (sun is up now). Then around 6-7pm, I turn on a room light and turn off the tank lights (sun is going down). By 8pm, it's lights out with maybe the TV on (moonlight).

Many catfish are more nocturnal and are much more active after lights out. I know my Pleco is.

As far as the coconut cave, if your Betta likes it, you should get another one or more for your cory's. Betta's do like to sleep in caves and if he has claimed that cave then the cory's are actually being pretty smart about not going in there. Betta's can be pretty aggressive if they want to be.

 

[Maxta]

Why do you have such an unusual lighting schedule? That could certainly be a part of the problem. With my lighting, on all of my tanks, I try to mimic the natural lighting schedule of the sun/moon.

Around 7am each morning, I turn on a room light to give the fish a chance to get adjusted to lighting (like the sun coming up). Then around 9am, I turn on their tank lights (sun is up now). Then around 6-7pm, I turn on a room light and turn off the tank lights (sun is going down). By 8pm, it's lights out with maybe the TV on (moonlight).

Many catfish are more nocturnal and are much more active after lights out. I know my Pleco is.

As far as the coconut cave, if your Betta likes it, you should get another one or more for your cory's. Betta's do like to sleep in caves and if he has claimed that cave then the cory's are actually being pretty smart about not going in there. Betta's can be pretty aggressive if they want to be.

Just i heard that lights should be on for 8-10 hours a day. Only way im going to achieve that is to split it like that, seems pointless having the lights on during daylight as its a waste of energy.... Do you think i should keep it off in the morning, and only have them on 6-11pm at night? Or..

I have peppered cory cats and albinos. BTW its not a coconut cave, just an artificial ornament thats hollow and acts as a cave, pebble type on the outside n all. And iv never seen my betta be aggressive or harm them, sometimes he will chase them but only for a second, the cats are too fast for him lol

Was thinking about getting something small to put in the other corner that is too small for my betta, therefore the corys could claim it and be safe. May get a half log and embed it into sand so only a small entrance big enough for corys.

 

[GoldLenny]

I think you should try to mimic natural light cycles like I explained. If the room is very dark during the day, I guess you could change their "natural light cycle" so that the tank is lit at hours other than normal daylight hours but I would still stick to some kind of regular schedule and if you only want the tank lights on 8-10 hours a day, then it should be non-stop for those 8-10 hours. Splitting them up into 4-5 hour shifts would cause havoc to the psyche of the fish in the long term and could cause stress and health issues.

 

[celaeno]

I think you should try to mimic natural light cycles like I explained. If the room is very dark during the day, I guess you could change their "natural light cycle" so that the tank is lit at hours other than normal daylight hours but I would still stick to some kind of regular schedule and if you only want the tank lights on 8-10 hours a day, then it should be non-stop for those 8-10 hours. Splitting them up into 4-5 hour shifts would cause havoc to the psyche of the fish in the long term and could cause stress and health issues.

i thought a break between lighting hours only served to control algae growth?

 

[GoldLenny]

I think the overall amount of light and time of light would affect algae growth but I've never heard that breaking it up would do it. Besides, if it's going to stress out your fish and cause them health problems, there are better ways to deal with algae.

A simple way would be to add some fast growing plants like Anacharis or Hornwort that could just float on the surface to get good lighting and CO2 while sucking up excess nutrients out of your water column to starve the algae. Hornwort also releases an allopathic chemical that inhibits algae growth.