Skittish Celebes Rainbowfish

[Gemtrox42]

I have a school of 8 celebes in my 29g, who I absolutely love. The problem is, I can't say they think the same of me! They're rather easy to disturb, flinching whenever someone walks through the room, and will often panic when someone walks up to the tank, darting around for cover and sometimes running into the walls. When I purchased them in the pet store, they were in a similarly sized group in a 10g tank, and had no problems with people walking by or standing in front of the tank. When I first got them, I couldn't feed them and be in front of the tank at the same time. When I approach to feed, they will shy away and sometimes freak out at first, but once they realize I have food they come right up and practically eat out of my hands, no problem with me being there. I've also put a dark wallpaper on the back and sides of the tank, which seems to have reduced the head-on collisions quite a bit.

However I am still stumped as to why they freak out so much. My I've messed around with the placement of the decor, creating two out-of-sight pockets in the tank for them to hide behind, but they are still just as spooked as they were without it. I'd really like to get at the heart of this, because I don't want my fish to live in fear! Any help or tips for things to try appreciated.

Occupants: 8x Celebes, 1x Clown Pleco, 2x Dwarf Cory, 1x Pearl Gourami
Nitrate <10
Nitrate 0
gH ~225
Chlorine 0
kH ~150
pH ~7.8

*the picture accurately represents my setup, not my stock.

 

[Byron]

The skittishness can be relative to the placement of the tank. A tank in a room that only sees people in it for limited periods, compared to a tank with activity such as you mention in the store. I have seen this with many fish, cories are particularly this way, or can be.

But there can be other issues too. And here there doesn't seem to be a background on the tank, and this should be corrected. Plain black as with black construction paper is easy and inexpensive, and would probably help. Sometimes the side can be covered, it all depend upon the tank's placement and people. But the background is an issue for many fish.

 

[Gemtrox42]

The skittishness can be relative to the placement of the tank. A tank in a room that only sees people in it for limited periods, compared to a tank with activity such as you mention in the store. I have seen this with many fish, cories are particularly this way, or can be.

The same tank in the same location has had mollies, swordtails, guppies, dwarf and pygmy corys, cardinal and neon tetras, dwarf gourami and honey gourami in it before, and none have even flinched when approached.

But there can be other issues too. And here there doesn't seem to be a background on the tank, and this should be corrected. Plain black as with black construction paper is easy and inexpensive, and would probably help. Sometimes the side can be covered, it all depend upon the tank's placement and people. But the background is an issue for many fish.

There is a background! It's a poster with a photo of dense greenery, and is very good at blending in (also helps that the resolution is low!) The sides are dark blue. I can definitely give a black backdrop a shot though.

Just curious, do you think having a very freindly fish like a livebearer might help convince them there's no threat?

 

[Byron]

The same tank in the same location has had mollies, swordtails, guppies, dwarf and pygmy corys, cardinal and neon tetras, dwarf gourami and honey gourami in it before, and none have even flinched when approached.

There is a background! It's a poster with a photo of dense greenery, and is very good at blending in (also helps that the resolution is low!) The sides are dark blue. I can definitely give a black backdrop a shot though.

Just curious, do you think having a very freindly fish like a livebearer might help convince them there's no threat?

A background is a background, unless it is garish, but not the case here. There seem to be other fish in the tank, so adding more in not going to help. Assuming they are recent additions, they may settle.

 

[Gemtrox42]

Assuming they are recent additions, they may settle.

They've been doing this for months I'm afraid. Here's a video I took a few days ago

 

[GaryE]

It's a nervous species. Is the filtration slow moving? They like a current.

Edit addition: they lived in the outflow of a large HOB filter, and seemed very engaged in running the current. A lot of fast water fish get weird in slow moving water.

 

[Gemtrox42]

It's a nervous species. Is the filtration slow moving? They like a current.

Edit addition: they lived in the outflow of a large HOB filter, and seemed very engaged in running the current. A lot of fast water fish get weird in slow moving water.

That's great to know, thanks. I've got a canister myself, but I can angle it to create more of a current. The head (is that the right term?) of my outflow is fan-shaped, maybe they'd benefit from a more concentrated flow?

 

[Colin_T]

The fish could be wild caught.
You need more regular movement around the fish. You can have a mobile in the room with a fan blowing on it. You can have 18 inch long streamers on a fan and have the fan oscillate so the streamers wave about. Have a television on (no sound needed), the flickering lights provide movement. Move the tank into a lounge room so there are more people moving around it.

Salt can sometimes calm them down but the other fishes you have don't do well in hard water or with salt.