My Fish Panic

[Eebie]

I have a 2ft aquarium which is about an 80litres, and it has always been a problem for me with the fish always going into a panic when I approach the tank.

No matter what I do, whether it is to feed them, do a water change or just even have a look at them, they all seem to panic, race to the back of the tank and look generally frightened. Even turning the light on and off seems to scare them!

When I move away, they seem to settle after a while until I walk up to them again.

The tank is not near a door way, or in an area with frequent traffic. It is in the corner of the room away from the doors and windows.

The water is fine, PH levels are good, nitrates, nitrites and hardness are all under control.

I have 3 Harlequins, 11 Neons and 3 other Rasboras in the tank currently.

Is there any reason why this always happens? I get so frustrated when I see other tanks in shops and other peoples places where there is no panic and the fish generally seem excited when someone is near the tank.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[jayjay]

How often do you feed the fish? How bright are the lights? Could anyone else, say a child in the house, be scaring the fish without your knowledge? What sort of setup is it, plants, bogwood, rocks etc.? How long have you have the fish?

To be honest the fish you have aren't really the most confident fish in the world, but I wouldn't expect them to continually be so shy if they are happy.

 

[rabbut]

I assume you and everyone else approaches quietly, and that nobody taps on the glass. Fish learn from experience, so something rutienly upsets them, and is easily linked to humans. Have a good think about everything you do arround the tank, and see if you can link in any caurses for stress. Fish become more bold, if they are given more cover. Possibly the shyness could be linked with a them feeling insicure, due to a lack of hiding places for instance? Sorry I can't offer any further ideas

HTH
Rabbut

 

[kpintheshed]

well mine is in my bedroom and the only person who goes in their is me and maybe member of my family but they are only in their for properly threw mins. because there's like no one moving or poking the fish tank they seem fine. infact mine come foward when i approach it and even follow me. light doen't really effect mine when i lift the hood they move up to eat. if you which the light on fast early in the morning when its dark that can scare them well add stress. some people add backgrounds to reduce stress maybe you check your water?

 

[Eebie]

I feed my fish twice a day, which has been increased from once a day recently, as I believe I was under feeding them due to a few fish dying.

The tank is reasonably well planted, with a combination of plastic and live plants, but there isn't a lot of hiding space however. I never seem to have much success keeping plants alive for some reason, despite feeding and having them nicely secure in substrate.
No rocks or bogwood in tank now.

The tank has two fluro lights, one white, one blue. They are now on for most of the day, until I just leave the blue light on at night. The fish seem to swim around ok in the tank with both lights on. In fact, they seem to enjoy it more when the lights in the room itself are off at night and just the tank is lit up at night.

There is no-one else in the house apart from me, so for most of the day they are sitting in the house alone.

I personally think that the size of the tank is a problem because the fish can't get away from you when you are cleaning the tank and doing water changes or maintenance on it. I tend to think a larger tank would be better so the fish can move away and not feel threatened.

Would that make any sense?

 

[jayjay]

How long have you had the fish? Normally fish will come and "greet you" because they are hungry, I was going to suggest cutting feeding too see if they would come out more "in search for food".

Could try some floating plants (live or plastic) too see if they like it in the shade.

The harlequins might be scared due to being in such a small group, but that wouldn't really explain the neons... Though it could be the opposite of dithers, the harlequins being scared and the neons copying possibly?

 

[Eebie]

I have tried to do the feeding less routine as well to see if they come to the tank, but this has proven a waste of time as well. Makes no difference.

The harlequins have been in the tank for about 6 months, all other fish are new additions to the tank in the past few weeks.

When I got the harlequins they started out fine and were fantastic, but this always seems to happen. The fish start out fine and OK and then over time they become spooked.

I am always at a loss as to why this continues to happen. It is very frustrating I have to say.