Blueberry Red Fin Rainbow Shark Is Extremely Shy

I looked at another thread about this but it didn't really help because the person had the wrong tank size housing a rainbow shark.

So, I purchased a rainbow shark a few weeks ago. He is terrified of everything. He will not come out of the castle I bought for him. He literally swims all the way to the tower keeps to hide from other fish because I have lifted the ornament to make sure he wasn't dead.

I have a 75 gallon tank with a fluval fx6, I use an API master test kit and all levels are in proper range.

I have 3 blue platty's, 6 cherry barbs, and 4 red chilI guppies. The platty's are near full grown but the others are just babies maybe an inch or less.

So to show the series of events I introduced the shark first (2 Friday's ago) hoping he would get more comfortable.

I added all the fish I mentioned last Thursday (so nearly a week later).

The rainbow shark did come out at night for a brief time and if I walked near the tank he would fly into a decoration and just hide.

Now that the other fish were introduced I never see him come out. He is like 3 1/2 inches at least (twice the size if not more than any other fish in the tank) yet he never comes out.

My questions is, what are some things I can do to make him more comfortable? I already throw some food in his castle at night to make sure he is getting access to something to eat.

Are there any tips on how to give the little guy some confidence? lol.

 

You added all those fish at once? I know you have a good filter and a test kit but would you mind posting your current ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

 

I think it feels really exposed tbh .. got any plants?

 

I posted a pic of my setup.

I don’t have a pic but I’ll test my water tonight and take one.

Ph is 8 to 8.2 and the city I buy from has ph of 7.8 to 8.

My nitrite was blue, nitrate yellow and ammonia yellow every time I test

Just completed the tests. All looks good. I follow the directions 100% and it always looks good.

Not only do I run fx6 I have 4 kilos of biohome ultimate, I used apI quick start and bio balls to introduce bacteria and though that’s a lot of fish to put in over the course of a week they are small.

 

Fish, like many other animals, have personalities. While some have more than others (betta or rams > tetra), I would think individual fish, such as the rainbow shark, have specific personalities. Some are more sociable, some are more shy. I agree with CichlidTai, maybe plants and other forms of coverage could help it feel more comfortable.