What to do when all your fishes hide under a leaf ?

[anewbie]

I've posted this picture before so it is nothing new but despite obvious appearance this aquarium has close to 30 fishes in it:

It is rather dim (maybe i need more light so they know it is day?); and if you shine a light under the leaf you might see this:


They tell you that you should provide hiding places so your fish will feel more secure and come out and play but of course that is just a myth why come out and play when you can stay hidden ?

Anyway to beg the question what can i do to encourage them to come out and say high without removing the leaves ?

 

[GaryE]

I get this a lot in my tanks. What kind of backing do you have on the tanks? Is the glass wide open into the room?

Fish hide a lot in tanks with the back not covered here. I have some species that always hide until I have been in the room for a minute or two. When I enter, they take cover. But they do venture out.

I recently saw a shoal of pygmy Corys in my 120. I knew they were there, alive and well from glimpses, but they gave me a parade before taking cover again... Maybe I'll see them next week. Or the week after.

Most people don't use leaf litter. If we do, it has the desired effect of causing more natural behaviour....

 

[gwand]

I have 17 new emerald dwarf raspora in a well planted 10 gallon quarantine tank. I rarely see any of them. Houdini

 

[anewbie]

I get this a lot in my tanks. What kind of backing do you have on the tanks? Is the glass wide open into the room?

Fish hide a lot in tanks with the back not covered here. I have some species that always hide until I have been in the room for a minute or two. When I enter, they take cover. But they do venture out.

I recently saw a shoal of pygmy Corys in my 120. I knew they were there, alive and well from glimpses, but they gave me a parade before taking cover again... Maybe I'll see them next week. Or the week after.

Most people don't use leaf litter. If we do, it has the desired effect of causing more natural behaviour....

The background is black - it was mostly to put there to block stray light that was causing algae. The cory do come out when i feed them but not the green neon. I did just order 6 more to see if more make them more friendly Of course it begins to beg the question just how many fishes can i stuff into a 20 long. I have 10 more c. hastatus arriving in another month. The guy who sold them to me held some back but he promises to ship them by the end of nov. Those suckers are hard to get these days - he had to order 4000. Well i don't know about 'had' but he did
He said they all sold in a couple of weeks.