Fish hiding

[Tyler777]

Hey there, I finally cycled my 125 gallons tank n to start I added a few platties n a male swordtail. After the first day the swordtail n 1 platty just disappeared n don't even come out when I put some food.
The other platties are there but they don't swim in front much they're pretty much hiding. Any idea bout what's going on ?

 

[Tyler777]

Also the light on top is blue n a little dark should I change it for a normal white light ?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Your blue light is likely going to grow algae as pretty as it looks....

Why don't you post us a photo of your tank so we can see what you're seeing? We may be able to spot something that can make a difference

 

[Tyler777]

Your blue light is likely going to grow algae as pretty as it looks....

Why don't you post us a photo of your tank so we can see what you're seeing? We may be able to spot something that can make a difference

I found a white light shorter than the tank but it might show you a little bit

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Fish hide for any one or more or the following reasons:
1. They are scared. When they are picked on or if they think any of their tank mates may be a threat, they hide.
2. They are sick in soome way. This means they cannot hold their own in a fight, they cannot compete for food and they feel pporly etc.
3. Sometimes spawning is invloved. They may need to hide eggs, they may be livebearers about to give birth or they may be protective parents guarding offspring. Mouth brooders orfet hide to avoid being harassed.
4. Fighting is not uncommon, especially in groups of fish which have pecking orders. They fight to determine their ranking and often the winner is not willing to let things go, The loser needs to flee and to hide to prevent being further beaten.
5, In some species the males primary reason for living is spawning and they will continually chase and harass females. Males may fight with each other for to get the chance to spawn. This is somewhat related to item #4 behavior.
6. Fish often hide when we first put them into out tank. he have likely been netted, transported poorly fed and generally had their life disrupted. And then they are dumped into a completely new environment. This would be disruptive to almost any animal including us. So the initial reaction is to hide. When this is the case, the fish will usually stop being scared and hiding naturally as it gets used to its new home.

Some of the above are universal such as hiding when sick or put into a new tank while some of the other reasons are more species specific.

When I was working with spawning zebra plecos one of the first things I was taught was that a happy zebra was a hiding zebra. If anybody but the very youngest fish were seen hanging out in the open during the daylight hours, it was a good sign that the fish was sick in some way. That is because plecos tend to hide normally, so being out in the open, the opposite of what we usually expect from these fish, was a sign something was not right.

Over time, by onserving our fish, we should learn what is normal behavior in a tank for any given species. Once we learn this, it is easy to know when a fish is behaving abnormally.

 

[Tyler777]

Fish hide for any one or more or the following reasons:
1. They are scared. When they are picked on or if they think any of their tank mates may be a threat, they hide.
2. They are sick in soome way. This means they cannot hold their own in a fight, they cannot compete for food and they feel pporly etc.
3. Sometimes spawning is invloved. They may need to hide eggs, they may be livebearers about to give birth or they may be protective parents guarding offspring. Mouth brooders orfet hide to avoid being harassed.
4. Fighting is not uncommon, especially in groups of fish which have pecking orders. They fight to determine their ranking and often the winner is not willing to let things go, The loser needs to flee and to hide to prevent being further beaten.
5, In some species the males primary reason for living is spawning and they will continually chase and harass females. Males may fight with each other for to get the chance to spawn. This is somewhat related to item #4 behavior.
6. Fish often hide when we first put them into out tank. he have likely been netted, transported poorly fed and generally had their life disrupted. And then they are dumped into a completely new environment. This would be disruptive to almost any animal including us. So the initial reaction is to hide. When this is the case, the fish will usually stop being scared and hiding naturally as it gets used to its new home.

Some of the above are universal such as hiding when sick or put into a new tank while some of the other reasons are more species specific.

When I was working with spawning zebra plecos one of the first things I was taught was that a happy zebra was a hiding zebra. If anybody but the very youngest fish were seen hanging out in the open during the daylight hours, it was a good sign that the fish was sick in some way. That is because plecos tend to hide normally, so being out in the open, the opposite of what we usually expect from these fish, was a sign something was not right.

Over time, by onserving our fish, we should learn what is normal behavior in a tank for any given species. Once we learn this, it is easy to know when a fish is behaving abnormally.

I think the new environment could be the reason from all the options I'd seen.
The fish were put in the tank on Sunday n Monday.
First day swordtail male was swimming all over the place on Tuesday he just disappeared. I ended up getting 4 red platties but when I check after a few minutes I only see 3. I can't say if they're always the same 3 bcause the look the same.
Tomorrow or Saturday morning I will do a complete water test bcause the adding of the other fish into this tank depends on everything being ok with the water n the fish in there already

 

[Tyler777]

Also I noticed tiny babies swimming around, I guess some platty was pregnant

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Some folks will say that livebearer females are born pregnant. It is not true, it just seems to be the way it it is. Swordtails and platys can interbreed with ease.

Next, females of either of these two fish will store the males sperm. So, from just a single encounter the female can produce multiple spawns over time. There is usually about a month between them.

Levebearer math sneaks up on a lot of people. They are pretty neat fish but they do breed like rabbits. I got my first angelfish to eat BN pleco and swordtail fry for me. Most BN also breed like rabbits.

 

[Tyler777]

Some folks will say that livebearer females are born pregnant. It is not true, it just seems to be the way it it is. Swordtails and platys can interbreed with ease.

Next, females of either of these two fish will store the males sperm. So, from just a single encounter the female can produce multiple spawns over time. There is usually about a month between them.

Levebearer math sneaks up on a lot of people. They are pretty neat fish but they do breed like rabbits. I got my first angelfish to eat BN pleco and swordtail fry for me. Most BN also breed like rabbits.

poor babies

 

[Marc Pozz]

Your blue light is likely going to grow algae as pretty as it looks....

Why don't you post us a photo of your tank so we can see what you're seeing? We may be able to spot something that can make a difference

Does blue really ramp up algae growth? Can it simulate the sky on clear day?

 

[Tyler777]

Does blue really ramp up algae growth? Can it simulate the sky on clear day?

I can't help my man I'm in the middle of that myself

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Does blue really ramp up algae growth?

It does unfortunately. I'm way too stupid to be able to explain it on a scientific level but from what I understand it's more to do with light as a spectrum. Aquarium plants utilise red light but can't make use of too much blue light...however, algae can. OP doesn't have live plants in this tank (that I could see) so I suppose it doesn't really matter what kind of light he uses as long as it doesn't spook the fish

 

[Tyler777]

It does unfortunately. I'm way too stupid to be able to explain it on a scientific level but from what I understand it's more to do with light as a spectrum. Aquarium plants utilise red light but can't make use of too much blue light...however, algae can. OP doesn't have live plants in this tank (that I could see) so I suppose it doesn't really matter what kind of light he uses as long as it doesn't spook the fish

Yup all my plants are plastic. I tried live ones but no matter what I did they kept dying. The only one that survived n thrive was the duck weed but it grew uncontrollable so I got rid of them. And decided to have plastic plants to make it look nice n without having to care for them like u have to 4 live plants

 

[fishorama]

OK, I belong to a plant club & you need to up your game with a couple live plants, lol. Try a java fern & an anubias attached to wood or rock with thread or super glue gel. Don't plant either in the substrate, they hate that.

My bossiness aside, I have trouble with duckweed too, in 1 tank especially.

Back in the day, a long, long time ago, we had plastic plants that grew algae & other crud. It was a PITA to clean off. More work than live plants IME.

Try again!

 

[Tyler777]

OK, I belong to a plant club & you need to up your game with a couple live plants, lol. Try a java fern & an anubias attached to wood or rock with thread or super glue gel. Don't plant either in the substrate, they hate that.

My bossiness aside, I have trouble with duckweed too, in 1 tank especially.

Back in the day, a long, long time ago, we had plastic plants that grew algae & other crud. It was a PITA to clean off. More work than live plants IME.

Try again!