xsile

I love my fishtank and the fish in it but the main fish all hide all the time.


Is there somthing i can do to get them out and swimming about more rather than hiding Are there like any amusements that help with this or more plants

Chief_waterchanger

To be honest you have a mix of fish that may not do well together for very long.

The clown loach can live for upwards of 70+ years and get upwards of 15-17 inches in length, not to mention be a pudgy bugger. They need to be in groups of 2 or more and in atleast a 75g by the time they are just a couple of years old.

So without companions the clown loach may perk up and become social or he may not. (We have a tank with 4 clown loaches in it and they are very social, but they've been in that tank for a year or more.)

Since your tank is only 2 months old I would give it more time. If you did the recommended fishless cycle then you've only had them for about 1 month? If you didn't do the fishless cycle even 2 months sometimes isn't enough bonding time, since the first month they were fighting to survive the chemical spikes. I would make habits of things, such as:

-Feed in the same spot of the tank everyday
-What ever motion you do at the tank, find one you like and do that one...even if you do others. Such as wiggling your fingers at the glass, or whatever works for you.
-Talk to them.. the vocal vibrations will hit the water and get their attention, usually.

From what I've observed in my years of fishkeeping is that teaching any fish a routine, or simply a set of habits, will work much better in your favor of getting social fish.

My dad has his betta where he goes to the same spot in his 10g tank when he wants food, or has him where he will behave certain ways depending on the action my father does. Dad can sit on one side of the room and talk in a semi-loud voice and the betta comes to look at him.. that sorta thing. (He's also training our clown loaches to dance kinda like flipper the dolphin in the old movies.)

Hope that helps.

Neville

Clown Loaches like to be in groups and rainbow sharks r bottom dwellers but they don't hide all the time, and neon tetras deffinitely don't hide if u keep them in a group of 6 or more.

xsile

Ok thanks, well i might have to sell of the loach down the track but for now hes quite small.


Im thinking of maybe getting gouramis when i part with the loach. The one gourami i have is allways out and around.

Blub

hssea

put in a floating plant for the gourami (real or fake) and lots of ground plants . in my experience if the tank has plenty of plants the fish feel secure and will come out more