prairielilly

Hi everyone,

I found a lot of neat stuff here about how to clean and maintain your aquarium (thanks capekate for the siphoning video!) So I know what I'm supposed to do, and I have been doing most of that. Problem is for me that whenever I put the gravel vacuum into the tank the fish get all freaked out and stressed. I moved it around slowly and always gave them time to find another hiding spot but they were still freaking out, and over two months they never seemed to get used to it. They would hide as soon as I came near the tank! I was hoping my fish would see me as a bearer of good things instead of a threat - any suggestions??

Butters

It might be the fishes personality, I know that my platy is deathly afraid of me whenever I look in the tank, but when I feed him then he loves me. It might just take some time for the to get used to you.

soldieroffortune1974

prairielilly The short answer is no..............

The good news is,the fish will eventually get used to you and the vacuum. If you do it regularly and around the same time,they will expect it and not be afraid.It takes time and patience,like training puppies. They will get used to it.

prairielilly

Like training puppies...that I can relate to (:

I'll give it some more time then. My betta has no issues with anything I do in or out of his tank, he's just fine. My gourami is a little skittish but he's getting better (haven't had him very long). I guess it does have a lot to do with their personalities.

Thanks for the help!

Angela_96

They will def get used to it after a while, my cichilds are so bold when I am just siphoning water out they will swim in the tube and back out. They also play with my hand when I have it in the tank.

But the fish I have I have had for a long long time and they are used to my hands being in the tank. I have them very tame though I can stick my hand in the tank and they will all swim up to it. Even my newborn fry are that friendly.

mjordan

befor i gave my tiger barbs to my sis they would come up and nip at my hand durring water changes. it was kinda cool