Today's a new day.

[elephantnose3334]

Fish settle down pretty quickly once they have been in an aquarium for a while. They might hide while you are cleaning but half an hour later they should be back out acting normally. As long as you don't chase the fish around and don't make sudden movements in the tank, they will be fine.

They've been hiding since a few months ago. They don't swim often, just hide. There are 3 silvertips left, the longest living inhabitants of that tank. Everything else slowly died, including all of the cardinals.

 

[Colin_T]

If there are only 3 fish left and the tank is bright they could be stressed from that (low numbers and a light tank). The other reason fish stress and hide all the time is if the water quality has gone bad.

Have you checked the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?
What colour is the substrate in their tank?
Does the tank have a picture on the back?
Has the filter been cleaned in the last few weeks?

 

[MattW]

What's lighting like? If the brightness is a lot they may not go to open swimming areas. My first tetras (ember) had a similar issue with hiding. Byron suggested floating plants which I added and saw a huge improvement in their behaviour.

 

[elephantnose3334]

If there are only 3 fish left and the tank is bright they could be stressed from that (low numbers and a light tank). The other reason fish stress and hide all the time is if the water quality has gone bad.

Have you checked the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?
What colour is the substrate in their tank?
Does the tank have a picture on the back?
Has the filter been cleaned in the last few weeks?

My old tank doesn't have a dimming light, and I turn off the light for the majority of the day. Light gravel. The tank has a black background, for housing the pump and filter sponges. I don't have a test kit, but would like to have one in the future.

What's lighting like? If the brightness is a lot they may not go to open swimming areas. My first tetras (ember) had a similar issue with hiding. Byron suggested floating plants which I added and saw a huge improvement in their behaviour.

Affirmative, but floaters would overwhelm the tank quickly, as I'm concerned. I would move the remaining tetras into the bigger tank. It's been 3 weeks since the new tank's cycled, but I might wait 1 more week before I move them in.

 

[elephantnose3334]

My mum and dad isn't going to care about the new tank anymore and they want to leave it into my own hands because the cycling process is a 'waste of time' and they just want to put my fish into the new tank. I'm disappointed at them for showing a defeatist attitude towards my hobby. It's been almost a month since it started cycling. Parents are supposed to help their children look after their pets, not just leave the matter into the child's hands.

 

[Colin_T]

My mum and dad isn't going to care about the new tank anymore and they want to leave it into my own hands because the cycling process is a 'waste of time' and they just want to put my fish into the new tank. I'm disappointed at them for showing a defeatist attitude towards my hobby. It's been almost a month since it started cycling. Parents are supposed to help their children look after their pets, not just leave the matter into the child's hands.

That's funny. They didn't want fish at all, now they want fish in the new tank asap They just don't understand the cycling process and want the tank looking nice for Christmas. Will it be ready by Christmas?

Parents don't always encourage their children's hobbies. My mum let us do pretty much whatever we wanted as long as we looked after the bird, fish, animal and didn't get in trouble with the law. If anyone commented on how nice something looked, she took the credit for that

Unless one of your parents is into the same things you are, they probably won't want much to do with the tank or whatever your hobby is at the time. Don't be discouraged by it though, most people that have fish tanks are the only ones in their family that is interested in fish. One of my cousins had fish and none of his immediate family cared about fish except eating them. I was the only one in my house that kept pet fish, dad used to catch and eat them, mind you so did I when I was younger. More recently one of my younger cousins started keeping fish and none of her immediate family had any interest in fish. everyone I have worked with in pet shops have been the only ones in their family to keep fish. It's your hobby now, just enjoy it

 

[elephantnose3334]

That's funny. They didn't want fish at all, now they want fish in the new tank asap They just don't understand the cycling process and want the tank looking nice for Christmas. Will it be ready by Christmas?

Parents don't always encourage their children's hobbies. My mum let us do pretty much whatever we wanted as long as we looked after the bird, fish, animal and didn't get in trouble with the law. If anyone commented on how nice something looked, she took the credit for that

Unless one of your parents is into the same things you are, they probably won't want much to do with the tank or whatever your hobby is at the time. Don't be discouraged by it though, most people that have fish tanks are the only ones in their family that is interested in fish. One of my cousins had fish and none of his immediate family cared about fish except eating them. I was the only one in my house that kept pet fish, dad used to catch and eat them, mind you so did I when I was younger. More recently one of my younger cousins started keeping fish and none of her immediate family had any interest in fish. everyone I have worked with in pet shops have been the only ones in their family to keep fish. It's your hobby now, just enjoy it

Affirmative on that statement.