Scared Red Eye Tetras

Hello gang.

Currently I have six Red Eye Tetras (I intended for 4) in a 10 gallon quarantine tank. From the time I took them home days ago to now they have been very skiddish and frightened of any human contact. They will swim around in a hurry and try to find a place to hide. I have given them more places to hide with decorations but this does not seem to dispel their fears. I just looked behind me right now and they are swimming normally. See the video to see what I mean.


*pH is in an acceptable range. I verified this.
*Temperature is in an acceptable range. I verified this.
*Ammonia level yesterday was high at 0.5 ppm. I don't think this is the cause of their skiddishness, but it certainly doesn't help. This morning it reads 0-0.125 ppm.
*Nitrites 0ppm.
*Nitrates 0ppm.
*The water has been treated with a correct amount of Seachem Prime.
*There are no loud sounds, vibrations or shaking going on near their tank. It is quite 'quiet' in here.
*Water is crystal clear.
*Light exacerbates their stressed out condition, so I leave it off.
*Fish in my main tank do not exhibit these behaviors, and are inquisitive as to when exactly I am opening the lid and dropping in food.
*The red eyes in the quarantine tank ate, from what I can tell- once in the past three days.


Is there anything I can do to reduce their stress levels? I have been draping the tank in a blanket overnight (note: I left space for ventilation and did not cover open areas of the lid)

Thanks.

-Robert

 

Add some gravel and more decorations.

 

Add some gravel and more decorations.

Agree and some coverage from above (floating plants) Personally I think a 10G is small for red eyes.

 

I have been told that gravel is unnecessary in a quarantine tank and that it makes it harder to clean. Is it possible that they are afraid of their reflections on the bottom of the tank? We'll see if the gravel does anything. I must note that when I added my black skirt tetras to quarantine over 50 days ago- they had no problem with a clean bottom. But to be fair- that is comparing apples and oranges.

 

I have been told that gravel is unnecessary in a quarantine tank and that it makes it harder to clean. Is it possible that they are afraid of their reflections on the bottom of the tank?

it is necessary because the waste and excess food gets trapped in there and broken down creating less ammonia and a cleaner tank. they are schooling fish they can't be scared of their reflection. They are know to be skittish so to reduce stress you NEED gravel more hidings spots and more plants.

 

it is necessary because the waste and excess food gets trapped in there and broken down creating less ammonia and a cleaner tank. they are schooling fish they can't be scared of their reflection. They are know to be skittish so to reduce stress you NEED gravel more hidings spots and more plants.

That makes sense when you think about it. I don't mind cleaning the substrate. It seems that we agree on apples/oranges thing. I'll see how they do in the morning. Right now they are exploring around the decorations. Hopefully there is enough in there for them.

 

They seem to be doing better. They will dart off if they see me approaching- but not as fast or 'intensely' as the last time. They will look at me and breathe fast, but not as fast as before. I took the liberty of feeding them after I approached and all of them will come out and eat. Hopefully the fish are intelligent enough to associate 'big unknown thing' with 'food' soon. I am beginning ich treatment today (they don't have ich, I just run this as a preventative after the last fiasco I had nearly killed off my entire main tank).

The lights are also on now and they aren't trying to hide all of the time. I turned around real quick to look at them as I was typing and they are swimming low to mid level right now (and NOT hiding).

Thanks for the input.

-Robert

 

Sorry I have not updated this thread in a while. Past August 11th the decorations and gravel seemed to help. They were still skiddish, but over the next few days were OK with me sitting next to the tank. They became even more comfortable when food became involved. They then began to learn that when the big thing outside the tank appears that food appears. They were less frightened.

Since then they have been transferred to the main tank. The 6x black skirt tetras in the main tank have taken to their new neighbors well- and likewise. They will all group up for safety when I stick my hand in the tank- but they no longer freak out. Rarely they will segregate and school with their own kind- but usually they are all about the tank swimming. The red eyes seem to like the upper third and the black skirts anywhere, usually in the upper two thirds.

One fish died in quarantine of unknown causes. I believe it was sickness due to acclimation. The others have been eating (voraciously, like pigs) and show no signs of illness.

 

Great. Think about some plants along the surface.

 

Thank you so much for the update! I’m always wondering what happened here there and everywhere. But I have trouble finding threads. Keep up the great work?