Black Phantom Tetra Behaviour

[gbuckingham89]

Hello!

I'm pretty new to all this. I've got a 110L tank which took about 7 weeks to fish less cycle and has been pretty stable since.

I went out and brought 10 black phantom tetra on Saturday. How do they normally behave? They seem very shy - they go and hide behind rock as soon as they see movement outside the tank, and they don't come up to feed. They are eating, but not much - just nibbling as it falls down then leaving the rest on the bottom. I've tried flakes and pellets, but the same seems to happen with both food types.

Is this normal?

Thanks in advance!

 

[stu40]

Hello!

I'm pretty new to all this. I've got a 110L tank which took about 7 weeks to fish less cycle and has been pretty stable since.

I went out and brought 10 black phantom tetra on Saturday. How do they normally behave? They seem very shy - they go and hide behind rock as soon as they see movement outside the tank, and they don't come up to feed. They are eating, but not much - just nibbling as it falls down then leaving the rest on the bottom. I've tried flakes and pellets, but the same seems to happen with both food types.

Is this normal?

Thanks in advance!

Whenever i've had them, i found them to be quite timid.However they haven't been in your tank a week yet.Give them time to adjust.10's a good number to start with.

 

[james_fish]

I never really had a problem with my Black Phantoms being shy, but I have found this in some Tetra species I have kept.
As said, just give them a while to settle in. Don't worry about them not feeding for a week or so, as they will easily survive without food for that amount of time.

Lower the duration you have your lighting on for, as too long can stress the fish out. They should be fine given a few more days, nothing to worry about

James.

 

[Tizer]

Mostly every Tetra i've owned has been very shy, always hid if someone passed the tank.

 

[littlegreentiger]

My Dad has some in one of his tanks. They're a bit skittish when startled by the sudden arrival of a person peering into the tank, but quickly settle again.

 

[fluttermoth]

Never underestimate the power of Pavlovian conditioning!

For the first few weeks, don't do anything to the tank; switching lights on, even walking past, without dropping in a pinch of food (do make sure you don't end up overfeeding; a tiny pinch each time). They'll soon learn to associate you with nice things